On July 1st, 1867, Canada became a country. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces. The British Province of Canada was divided into the new Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and two other British colonies, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, also became provinces of Canada. Today, let’s go back 144 years to take a look at Owen Sound on the cusp of Canada’s birth.
It was Monday, July 1st, 1867. The first firecracker of the day detonated with a wake-up bang in an alley off Frost Street. The last Canada West drunk to be seen on Owen Sound streets weaved his way up Scrope Street where he had dozed off after celebrating in advance the great event to come. It was Dominion Day. Confederation had finally arrived after four years of debate. The anxieties of the endless months, the fears and the unknown were slowly receding as the Leith Rifles formed in a still-awakening market square.
It was a political dream of wonderful audacity. Canada would soon rank with the nations of the world. A struggling group of discordant provinces with a population of barely four million had forged a union for the future. A nation had been carved out of the long argument from Charlottetown to Quebec. Now, the British North American Act gave Canada her identity. True, there was resentment in the land. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were both complacent and defiant. Quebec remained uncertain while British Columbia struggled with their need for a transcontinental railroad.
And in Ontario, sleek, smug, wealthy British Ontario, there was celebration. It was boom time in the province and its many towns like Owen Sound that was filling up with immigrants searching for land and work. And now, as Confederation Day drew near, Owen Sound was typical of the mood and aspirations for Canada on her birthing day.
Originally aired December 11th 2016
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