Canada as a Colonial Power
| Author | R. G. Trotter |
| Published date | 01 July 1946 |
| Date | 01 July 1946 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070204600100302 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Canada
as
a
Colonial
Power'
R.
G.
Trotter
N
ot
only
the
United
Kingdom,
but
each
of
the
nations
that
are
full
partners
in
the
British
Commonwealth,
is
a
colonial
power
(except
Eire, and perhaps
her
partnership
can
hardly
with
due
courtesy be
styled
full).
Canada
is
no
exception.
She
became,
indeed,
a
colonial
power
soon
after
the
establish-
ment
of
the
Dominion,
and
long
before
her
national
status
was
fully
attained.
Her
imperial
expansion
began when
she
ac-
quired
the Northwest
in
1870
by
arrangement
with the
British
Government
and
the
Hudson's
Bay Company;
it
ended
some
years
later
when
her
title
to
the
Arctic
islands
was
confirmed
by
Great
Britain.
The
Northwest,
apart
from
Manitoba, which
entered
Con-
federation
as
a
province,
was
at
first
governed
as a
territory
under
the
authority
of
Ottawa.
Part
of
it, after
passing
through
transitional
colonial
stages
of
representative
and
responsible
government
analogous
to
the
stages
through
which
other pro-
vinces
had passed
under the
British
Colonial
Office,
became
in
1905
the
provinces
of
Saskatchewan
and
Alberta.
Some
years
before
this
they
were
conceded
representation
in
the
Dominion
Parliament.
Not
till
later,
however,
did
these
provinces,
along
with
Manitoba,
receive
full
control
of
their
natural
resources
and
thus
outgrow
completely
a
colonial
relationship
to
Ottawa.
There have
been
differences
of
opinion
as
to
whether
this
Cana-
dian
colonial
r6gime
on
the
prairies
should
have
lasted
as long
as
it
did,
but
there
is
no
question
that
for
a
time
it
was
necessary
and
useful.
The
Yukon has
been
a
separate
territory
since
1898.
Its
relation
to
Ottawa
is
partially
colonial,
for while
it
is
repre-
sented
in
Parliament
(since
1902)
and
has
a
small elective
Legis-
'Since
this
article
was
written
there
has appeared
-a
comprehensive
account
of
the
"Administration
of
the
Canadian
Northland,"
by
C.
C.
Lingard
(Canadian
Journal
of
Economics and
Political
Science,
February,
1946).
It
forms
part
of
the
"Arctic
Survey," sponsored
by
the Canadian
Social Science
Research
Council,
which
is
appearing
serially
in
the
C.J.E.P.S.
215
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