Canada
After the creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905, the provinces
of Ontario, Quebec
and Manitoba said they
also wanted to get northern extensions. In 1912, the Government
of Canada passed Bills to extend the provinces of Ontario, Quebec
and Manitoba northward to their present boundaries. The District
of Keewatin lost much of its territory, while the District of
Ungava became part of the Province of Quebec.
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Photograph of Men with Large Polar Bear on Sled
The years after 1905 also saw the end of another boundary
conflict -- one between Canada and the United States over Alaska. The
Alaska boundary was described in an 1825 convention between Great Britain
and Russia; this document described most of the boundary clearly, except
for the part around the Alaska Panhandle. When the United States bought
Alaska in 1867, it inherited the 1825 boundaries.
Part of the problem with the Panhandle was that the territory
had not been well known at the time the 1825 boundary was drawn. As the
area was explored and its resources became known, a dispute arose over
the interpretation of the original description. When gold was found in
the Cassiar district of British Columbia, the only way into the area was
via the Stikine River through U.S. territory. In 1872 and 1874, the government
of British Columbia officially asked that the boundary be demarcated.
After gold was found in the Klondike, the dispute erupted
again when the claims of both countries to passes and ports leading into
the Yukon clashed. In 1889, a commission was appointed to study the question,
and its provisional decision stated that the Chilkoot and White passes,
and the point where the Chilkoot River met the Dalton trail were points
on the boundary. In 1904, a convention between Great Britain and the United
States created an Alaskan Boundary Tribunal to attempt to settle the question.
A convention between the two countries was finally signed
in 1906, which set the boundary as it exists today. This boundary effectively
shuts off Canada's access from the sea in the area of the Alaskan Panhandle.
The boundary was officially demarcated between 1904 and 1913.
Ontario
Ontario claimed a right to a northward extension of its territory. It also supported Manitoba's right to expand northward and suggested a boundary: a northward extension of the eastern boundary of Manitoba as it was then, to the Churchill River, then straight up the middle of the channel of that river to its mouth; the territory of Manitoba would also be extended to the 60th parallel. The territory belonging to the district of Keewatin and situated east of the boundary of Manitoba would then be included in the province of Ontario. The geographical reasons for this claim were not stated.
The eastern boundary of Manitoba, as decided by the government
of Canada, did not follow this suggestion, because the government feared
that the town of Churchill would be divided between the two provinces.
So the eastern boundary of Manitoba (and the western boundary of Ontario)
was drawn as a straight line north from the existing boundary of Manitoba
to the east end of Island Lake, and then a straight line from there to
the intersection of the 89th meridian of longitude and the shore of Hudson
Bay. The territory to the east of this line passed from the District of
Keewatin to the Province of Ontario.
Quebec
Quebec's claim to a northern extension was made on November
9, 1907. The province claimed the District of Ungava: all the territory
between its northern boundary and Hudson Strait, and between Hudson Bay
in the west, and the Atlantic Ocean or to the limits of Newfoundland in
the east. The province also asked for all the islands in Hudson Bay next
to the mainland.
The province claimed that this area belonged to it geographically, since it was completely separated from any other province. The province also believed the government of Quebec was the best suited to govern and develop the natural resources of Ungava. Quebec also requested this extension as compensation for any advantages that Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan (the province had claimed an extension to Hudson's Bay, but it was denied) might gain from having their territory extended to Hudson Bay.
The province was given most of the territory it had claimed. The district of Ungava became part of the province of Quebec. Quebec did not get any coastal islands, because a proper description of the islands would be difficult, and because the federal government wanted to keep control over them for purposes of navigation and defence.
Manitoba
Manitoba wanted to increase its size to match the size
of the newly created provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It claimed
a large part of Keewatin for several reasons, including the fact that
for several centuries, the only means of communication between the outside
world and the Red River settlement was through this territory, by way
of Hudson Bay. The province also claimed that it would be better to join
this territory to Manitoba because the Government of Ontario was too far
removed from the area to properly secure it.
The province also claimed those parts of the former districts
of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Athabaska which had not been included
in the province of Saskatchewan. Its main reasons for this claim were,
again, to match the size of the neighbouring provinces, and because the
province had been requesting an extension of its boundaries over this
area for over 25 years. Manitoba's strongest argument for control of these
territories was the fact that when the province of Saskatchewan was created,
the government of the Northwest Territories had stated that these territories
could be given to the province of Manitoba.
In 1912, the eastern boundary of Manitoba (and the western
boundary of Ontario) was defined, by the Government of Canada, as a straight
line north from the existing boundary of Manitoba to the east end of Island
Lake, and then a straight line from there to the intersection of the 89th
meridian of longitude and the shore of Hudson Bay. This decision did not
follow Manitoba's eastward claim which would have brought the boundary
into the vicinity of Fort William, Port Arthur and Lake Nipigon.
Manitoba's western boundary was extended north to the 60th parallel of latitude,
thus giving to the province the parts of the territories of Assiniboia,
Saskatchewan and Athabasca which had not been included in the province
of Saskatchewan.
The animation Territorial
Evolution 1867 to 1999 shows sequentially the history of the
political boundary changes in Canada from Confederation to the creation
of Nunavut.
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