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An Approach to the Problem of Tariff Burdens on Western Canada
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2014
Extract
The economic sphere of influence of the St. Lawrence region contracted after 1821 owing to the pressure of competition in the fur trade from Hudson Bay. Withdrawal from the light, highly valuable staple, fur, was accompanied by increasing concentration on a staple of a bulky character, namely, timber. Settlement emerged with the timber trade especially in Upper Canada. Settlement and wheat exports were stimulated by the steamship and necessitated improvement of the St. Lawrence by canals and railways. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 increased the urgency for improved navigation on the St. Lawrence, if Montreal were to compete effectively with New York. The pressure of geography, a small population, a lack of capital, and competition from the United States involved governmental support. Economic development was, therefore, inextricably linked to political growth to achieve this objective. Government construction of canals was handicapped by the division of the provinces, and contributed to the demands for union. The Act of Union of 1840 as a broader political base for expansion of public debt involved control of taxation, and responsible government. Disintegration of the old Colonial System in the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846 and the Navigation Acts in 1849 was accompanied by the emergence of control over tariffs as an essential device for acquiring revenue. The tariff became vital to the improvement of the St. Lawrence and the introduction of capital on a large scale by the government. The privilege of determining the course of economic development was accompanied by the problem of meeting the costs involved.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science/Revue canadienne de economiques et science politique , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , May 1938 , pp. 209 - 218
- Copyright
- Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1938
References
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