Transcript A Close Look at Macdonald`s National Policy

A Close Look at Macdonald’s
National Policy
7.4.1 explain how the expansion and development of
Canada during the 1870s and early 1880s affected
its various peoples and regions
Investigate how the National Policy empowered and
disempowered the regions of Canada
Instructions: Using pages 154-159, critically analyze
Macdonald’s National Policy in terms of its benefits
for the country, and the advantages and
disadvantages it would bring to selected regions
Policy Ideas
Encouraging immigration
 Building of the railway
 Protection of Canadian industries

Encouraging immigration
National Benefits
 Build European-style market economy producing
grain & cattle to be sold
Regional Advantages
 Dominion Lands Act encourage homesteading
(farmers & ranchers move to an area never farmed)
on prairies
Regional Disadvantages
 DLA rules to stop people buying land and sell later
at higher price (only encouraged homesteading)
Building of the railway
National Benefits
 Transport settlers to West & farm products to East
 Longest railway in the world
Regional Advantages
 Transport settlers to West
 Transport farm products to East
 Jobs: 5000 men 24 hrs. for 2 yrs. to build prairie part
 B.C. promised a railway
Regional Disadvantages
 Challenges in swampy north shore of the Great Lakes
 Getting through steep Rocky Mountains to B.C.
 High cost of labour & finding workers willing to do
dangerous jobs
Protection of Canadian industries
National Benefits
 Canada would do more of its own
manufacturing (improve economy)
 People would buy more goods manufactured in
Canada (less expensive than taxed imports)
Regional Advantages
 Central Canada manufacturing industries grew
strong & provided jobs
Protection of Canadian industries
Regional Disadvantages
 West: cost of shipping raw materials was high; i.e.
hard to make profit
 West: depended on how well business did in Central
Canada
 West: high price of manufactured goods (shipping
costs & import taxes)
 East: import taxes slowed international trade
 East paid high price for Central Canada’s
manufactured goods but weren’t paid high price for
raw materials
 East: NP only helped Central Canada’s
manufacturing, not Eastern manufacturing