Sure, the charming Charlottetown of today might be all Avonlea preserves, and Gilbert’s Toffee, and Anne’s teas, and green gables as far as the eye can see.
But, to hear it told, Charlottetown at the time of Confederation — for which everything from the handsome city square to the well-groomed trail to the bridge from the mainland are named — was the nearest thing to Gomorrah on the Northumberland Strait.
“When the boys went down to Charlottetown they spent a lot of time in places other than the library,” former prime minister Brian Mulroney once declared, with no small admiration.
Right he was. And “boys” they were.
As Canada celebrates the 150th anniversary of Confederation this year, it’s worth recalling that the country came into being as something of a lucky accident, the product — fitting for a nation that’s produced Bob and Doug McKenzie, the Trailer Park Boys and Letterkenny — of booze-soaked chin-wagging in 1864 among 23 men of varied enthusiasm for the nation-building project.
Happily, what happened on Prince Edward Island that summer — long before there was Rick’s Fish ’n’ Chips shack in St. Peter’s Bay, long before there was any concern whatever about where Mike Duffy put his head on the pillow — didn’t stay on P.E.I.
George Brown, a Father of Confederation and founder of the Globe newspaper, chronicled the making of the deal that led to Confederation in regular letters home to his wife, Anne. Together, they amount to a veritable tweet-storm of reportage on the Charlottetown goings-on.
Before the high-stakes hijinks were over, Brown himself, as he told Anne, was laid low with a bilious attack: “The natural result of such a round of dissipation.”
But let us put that ghastly image aside and look back, first off, to the beginning of the union.
Across the British colonies in North America, anxiety was afoot. The American Civil War and worries about the loss of reciprocity with the U.S. had left the Maritime colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island concerned about the future of small, separate provinces.
They agreed to meet in Charlottetown on Sept. 1, 1864, for an inter-colonial conference — five delegates from each of three provinces — to discuss Maritime Union.
Arthur Gordon, lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, is credited as being the catalyst for the Charlottetown conference. He had hoped to unite the three Maritime provinces on the assumption that he would govern them.
But statecraft seldom goes smoothly.
Nova Scotia Premier (and future prime minister) Charles Tupper refused to attend unless delegates from the opposition came with him — the better to spread the blame should unpopular deals be cut. Naturally, P.E.I. and New Brunswick followed suit.
So Gordon’s hope that an agreement could be reached by three colonial governors was taken over by politicians from all parts and all parties.
Meanwhile, the confederation-minded leaders of central Canada in Ontario and Quebec saw an opportunity and asked to send a delegation to put the case for confederation of all the colonies in North America.
Permission granted, the eight delegates from the Canadian government set sail from Quebec aboard the excellently appointed steamer Queen Victoria in ideal weather on Monday, Aug. 29, 1864, arriving at Peake’s Wharf on the Charlottetown waterfront on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 1.
If Brown arrived with a measure of central Canadian arrogance — the Queen Victoria “evidently inspired the natives with huge respect for their big brothers from Canada’’ — he was soon chastened.
Formally dressed, the delegates were fetched ashore from the Queen Victoria in boats manned by four uniformed oarsmen and boatswain.
They were met, however, by no formal reception, just P.E.I.’s provincial secretary in a rowboat. Everyone else, it turned out, was taking in the attractions of Slaymaker and Nichol’s Olympic Circus, making a rare visit.
Not only that, the popularity of the circus had filled all the hotel rooms in the island capital of about 7,000. The Canadians would have to sleep on their boat.
That first day, there was a bit of “how-d’ye-do,” Brown reported, and the central Canadians were told their confederation proposal would be first on the agenda the following day.
Evening brought a dinner given by P.E.I.’s governor. It was built, Brown recorded, on lobster, oysters and champagne.
The next day, the conference adjourned at 3 o’clock to attend a sumptuous buffet hosted by journalist and politician William Pope, featuring yet more lobsters, oysters and champagne.
“This killed the day,” Brown noted.
Perhaps, but the social whirl was apparently vital to helping delegates who scarcely knew each other make common cause.
On Saturday, a long lunch was held aboard the Queen Victoria, where “eloquent speeches” were made, Brown recorded. “And whether as a result of our eloquence or of the goodness of our champagne, the ice became completely broken, the tongues of the delegates wagged merrily.”
According to dispatches, Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister and by most accounts the country’s architect, and his chief ally, the equally loquacious Irishman Thomas D’Arcy McGee, entertained and enticed delegates with witty and cogent arguments in favour of Confederation.
As far as Brown was concerned, it was that day that “the banns of matrimony between all the provinces of British North America” were as good as proclaimed (though P.E.I. would come reluctantly to the Confederation altar in 1873, six years after Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick had pledged their troth).
One historian even dates the conception, if not the birth, of Confederation from the moment the Canadians started pouring from their huge onboard stock of champagne.
That night, P.E.I. Premier John Hamilton Gray gave a dinner, followed by dancing at his country estate. Sunday brought a blessed day of rest. But the new week saw negotiations continue apace, as did the festivities.
On Monday, the island’s opposition leader, George Coles gave a lunch. On Tuesday, P.E.I. Attorney General Edward Palmer did likewise. And that night, Lt.-Gov. George Dundas and his wife hosted a ball at Government House.
The formal proceedings of the conference allowed for no observers and no transcripts, obliging participants to forgo theatrical oratory and deal with details. And, evidently, some work did get done.
By Tuesday, the Canadians had made their pitch on the benefits of confederation, its ways and means, finances and, of course, an inter-colonial railway so coveted by the eastern delegates.
On Wednesday, the Maritime provinces said they found the idea of confederation to be “highly desirable” — provided satisfactory terms of union were reached.
Afterwards, naturally, the Canadians received the Maritimers back aboard their steamer.
On the closing day of proceedings, to celebrate what became known in some circles as the triumph of “union and champagne,” the gang of 23 gathered for a grand ball at Province House, reportedly the most enthusiastic wassail of all.
One newspaper correspondent reported wryly that when delegates took their leave from P.E.I. the next day, leaving the formalities of confederation to Quebec and 1867, the statesmen were as befogged as the harbour.
Or, as the historian J.M.S. Careless aptly put it, “so ended the episode of Charlottetown, the gayest whirlwind courtship in Canadian history.”
1. Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt
Born in England, he emigrated to Sherbrooke, Que., and became a member of the Canadian parliament in 1849. He once signed a manifesto arguing for union with the U.S. on the grounds it was the only way the Anglo-Saxon Protestant ascendancy could be maintained in Canada. He was the first Canadian finance minister, insisting Canada have dollars and cents rather than pounds and shillings. He was later high commissioner to Britain.
2. Sir Hector-Louis Langevin
Born in Quebec City, Langevin was called to the bar of Lower Canada in 1850. For 10 years, he served in the Canadian assembly of the united central Canadian provinces. At Confederation, he became secretary of state in Sir. John A’s first cabinet. He was knighted during Macdonald’s second government, but resigned over corruption allegations in his public works department.
3. John Hamilton Gray, N.B.
The younger Gray was born in Bermuda, son of a British diplomat. He was called to the bar in New Brunswick and became Speaker of the assembly there until 1867. He was elected to the Commons at Confederation, before resigning to become a judge on the British Columbia Supreme Court.
4. Sir George-Etienne Cartier
Cartier was exiled from Canada as a young lawyer by the British after the rebellions of 1837. But by 1848, he had returned and was elected to the Canadian (Ontario and Quebec) parliament. For four years, he was joint prime minister of the colonial Canadas with Sir John A.
5.Sir John A. Macdonald
The Glasgow-born lawyer was a schemer, alcoholic, gifted orator, wit and, in history books, father of the Canadian nation. He dominated the three conferences leading to Confederation and crafted the compromises resulting in the union of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. He died in office in 1891.
6. John Hamilton Gray, P.E.I.
The older of the two John Hamilton Grays, this one was born and educated on P.E.I. before spending 20 years in the British army in India and Africa. On return home, he was elected to the assembly and served as premier until 1865. He was chairman of the Charlottetown conference, but retired from politics after the rejection by the P.E.I. legislature of the terms of confederation.
7. Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley
The reputation of the Charlottetown conference as a drink-fuelled frolic cannot be blamed on Tilley. He was an ardent teetotaller from New Brunswick. He was premier of the New Brunswick assembly until 1865, when he was defeated over his support for Confederation. After the union in 1867, he held several federal cabinet posts before serving as lieutenant-governor. His final words, at his death in 1896, were: “I can go to sleep now. New Brunswick has done well.”
8. Sir Adams George Archibald
A Truro, N.S., native born to a legal family who eventually became a judge himself, Archibald attended all three pre-Confederation conferences and was appointed secretary of state in 1867. He later served as lieutenant-governor of the Northwest Territories (now the three prairie provinces) and lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia.
9. Sir Alexander Campbell
The doctor’s son was born in England and came to Canada as an infant. Campbell was Sir John A. Macdonald’s law partner in Kingston, Ont. He was appointed to the Senate at Confederation and was named postmaster-general in Sir John’s first cabinet. He was later lieutenant-governor of Ontario.
10. George Coles
Coles was born on P.E.I. of modest means, building a business as a brewer and distiller. He was elected to the island assembly in 1842, but resigned six years later when the ruling clique resisted his calls for responsible government. He attended the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences, but became an opponent of Confederation. His opposition helped keep P.E.I. out of the initial union, before joining Canada in 1873.
11. George Brown
The Scottish-born Brown came to Canada in 1843 at age 25 and in short order founded the Globe as a weekly newspaper. He was elected to the Parliament of the United Canadas (Ontario and Quebec) in 1851 and would become the chief chronicler of the Charlottetown conference through letters written to his wife. Brown was named to the Senate in 1873. He was later shot by a disgruntled former employee and died in 1880.
12. Sir Charles Tupper
Born in Amherst, N.S., Tupper, Canada’s sixth prime minister, was the last surviving Father of Confederation. He was a doctor who became president of the Canadian Medical Association. He entered politics in the Nova Scotia assembly in 1855 and became premier. In 1867, he was elected to the federal parliament, served in various cabinet posts and as Canadian high commissioner in London. He was briefly prime minister during a revolving door that saw four men occupy the office between 1891-1896.
13. Edward Barron Chandler
A Nova Scotian who studied law and was called to the bar in New Brunswick, Chandler was one of the earliest proponents of a railway linking the British colonies of North America. He was present at all three pre-Confederation conferences, rejected a Senate appointment in 1867 and was later named commissioner of the railroad. In 1878, he became lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick.
14. Edward Palmer
Palmer was born in the P.E.I. capital on Sept. 1, 1809, 55 years to the day before the Canadian delegates came for the Charlottetown conference. He was a lawyer who was elected to the island assembly, holding several cabinet posts. Palmer opposed Confederation under the terms presented in 1867, but agreed to union in 1873. He later became chief justice of the P.E.I. Supreme Court.
15. Robert Barry Dickey
A Nova Scotia lawyer who attended the Quebec conference and believed the financial terms offered Maritime provinces to be unjust. He agreed to support a united Canada only after more liberal subsidies were agreed to.
16. Thomas D’Arcy McGee
McGee left Ireland at 17 during the famine and for years, back-and-forthed between his native land and America. He arrived in Montreal in 1857 and soon advocated for an independent Canadian nation. He was elected to the Canadian parliament in 1858 and served in cabinet until Confederation, earning a reputation as one of the country’s best orators. As he returned home from the Commons one night in 1868, he was shot and killed by a Fenian sympathizer.
17. William Alexander Henry
The Halifax-born lawyer was a Liberal for the first 16 years of his political career before joining the Tories in 1857. He was credited with helping draft the wording of the British North America Act. In the 1867 election, he was defeated in Nova Scotia — largely because of his pro-Confederation work. He returned to law and was named to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1875.
18. William Henry Steeves
The native of Hillsborough, N.B., was a businessman who served in the provincial assembly from 1851-67. At Confederation, he was appointed to the Canadian Senate and held that office until his death in 1873.
19. John Mercer Johnson
Johnson was born in Liverpool, England, and moved to New Brunswick as a child. He became a lawyer before being elected to the provincial assembly and serving in several cabinet posts. He was elected to the Commons in 1867, but died the next year.
20. Andrew Archibald Macdonald
Born in Truro, N.S., Macdonald was prominent at all three confederation conferences and was named to the first federal cabinet in 1867. But like many union backers, he was turfed out by angry Nova Scotia voters. He later returned to the Commons and was eventually appointed lieutenant-governor of his home province.
21. William McDougall
As a ɫɫ teenager, McDougall witnessed the burning of Montgomery’s Tavern during the 1837 rebellion. At the Confederation conference, he allied with Sir Oliver Mowat in seeking an elected Senate.
22. William Henry Pope
Pope was born in Bedeque, P.E.I., in 1825. He was called to the island bar in 1847 and became P.E.I.’s colonial secretary in 1859. It was Pope who was rowed out in an oyster boat to meet the Canadian delegates arriving in Charlottetown in 1864. After P.E.I. joined Confederation in 1873, Pope was appointed a county judge. He died in 1879.
23. Jonathan McCully
McCully was a teacher, lawyer, editor and judge from Cumberland County, N.S. An influential supporter of union, he was named to the Canadian Senate at Confederation, but resigned three years later to become a justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
