Canada
In 1898, the Yukon
District was separated from the Northwest Territories and established
as a separate territory. The northern boundaries of the province of Quebec
also changed in 1898.
[D] Click for larger version, 32 KB Photograph of the Town of MacLeod, Alberta
Yukon
Although the government of Canada had created the Yukon District because
of the need for law and order in the area, it was soon found that further
provision was needed because over 90 percent of the people in the district
were foreigners who had no wish to settle in the area.
In 1898, by an Act of Parliament, the Yukon was established as a separate
territory, in order to ensure the proper administration of the area. The
boundaries of the new territory were the ones established in 1895.
Quebec
The northern boundary of Quebec had been determined based on the boundary
of the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company. This boundary had been
set as the Rupert's River, but in 1701, the Company had accepted to
consider the Eastmain River as the boundary; this fact gave the province
of Quebec some claim to more territory. After the northern boundary of
Ontario was extended in 1889, Quebec asked to have its northern boundaries
extended. Before this could be done, it became necessary to survey the
area to determine which branch of the Eastmain would be followed. It
was only in 1895, that the Dominion Surveyor General reported that he
had enough information from the surveys to determine a new northern boundary
for Quebec. In 1898, new boundaries for Quebec were delimited in the
north, and in the east. The eastern boundary was not very precise, because
it was an international boundary with a British colony, which had never
been officially defined. The western boundary followed the boundary
that had been defined between the District of Ungava and the Province
of Ontario.
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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