The usual suspects for me. I wonder if the National Policy had not been implemented, would Canada have mirrored the United States with its primary city on the east coast, Halifax, and smaller ones in its Great Lakes provinces. I suspect Montreal would've been on top either way, but I also suspect Halifax would've taken on a lot of the roles that allowed Toronto to boom and the Maritimes would probably be one of the dominant centres of the country today.
I wonder had we not given up our independence in 1933, or joined Canada in 1949, what it would be like? Assuming I still exist, what are my politics? Am I like some Albanian, from the poorest corner of North America, completely unimpressed with my country, desperate to afford some legal mechanism to emmigrate to Halifax or beyond? Or are we Iceland, a perfectly contented little country. They were certainly worse off than we were in 1949 - so if they could turn it around, perhaps we could've done as well. I wonder if Quebec had voted to separate in 1995, where would we be now. I imagine a string of increasingly conservative federal governments would've strained relations between what's left of Canada to the extreme. I think 2018 is a long enough time for that to have pushed out BC, NS, PEI, and NL. Maybe we'd be under President Trump by now. :haha: And finally I'd be curious to see what North America would be like today if colonization had never happened. |
It's interesting to consider how things like NAFTA calculus would change with an independent Quebec (and to a lesser extent NFLD).
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So there are about 300,000 Acadians living in the Maritimes today. Probably a good 200,000 more Maritimers are of Acadian origin but are assimilated and don't identify as Acadian. If the deportation effectively halved the Acadian population at the time (either through death or exile), then we could imagine that the Acadian population of the Maritimes might be double what it is today. Or 600,000. Also, with a greater critical mass like that it's highly possible that there would have been less assimilation and that those people would also have multiplied with Acadian francophone offspring over the generations. Which means that an Acadian population of 800,000-1 million in the Maritimes is a definite possibility under an alternative history scenario where the Grand Dérangement did not happen. |
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The current Anglophone population of the Maritimes is about 1.5M. I doubt that it would be higher in the above scenario, and could be less, especially since some of the Anglophone population simply displaced the old Acadian population. I would guess about a million Anglophones as well. So, the population might be a 50/50 split, which would be similar to the situation that existed in the Canada's prior to confederation. Would there have been institutional paralysis in the Maritimes (even worse than currently exists in NB)??? Interesting thought......... Also, I'm keeping to my guns that the Acadian metropolis would be in the Wolfville area (as the original heartland of Acadia). With an Acadian population of a million, such a city could be similar in size to Halifax or even slightly larger. These cities would be less than an hour apart. That would be an interesting dynamic, wouldn't it........ :rolleyes: |
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If the Canadian border went as far south as the Columbia River, I suspect that as long as Canada maintained immigration levels which could sustain growth, the area would arguably grow to be a legitimate second core to Quebec-Ontario. It also would have changed how the prairies provinces were settled. The area west of the Cascades has fairly good agricultural land (similar to BC’s Fraser Valley) which would attract settlers and development, so it’s likely that it could become a "California north" in terms of attraction. Because of Fort Vancouver (present-day Vancouver, WA) being the important centre and the Canadian government building the trans-continental rail as a way to check American northern expansion, the CP probably would have terminated at Fort Vancouver. The CP would have probably taken a different route through southern Alberta, staying closer to the 49th parallel and passing through Lethbridge and the Crowsnest Pass, as opposed to Calgary. Depending on the location of the eastern boundary; the Continental Divide, the Bitterroot Range (geographic barrier that separates Montana and Idaho, or the Columbia River), the CP mainline would have passed through either Nelson, BC or Spokane, WA before continuing southwest. As a result, the West Kootenays would be less isolated and more populated, along with one of either Lethbridge or Fort Macleod being the major southern Alberta city, while Calgary would have been relegated to a lower tier city. The same would go for Canada’s second trans-continental railway, the Canadian Northern. The Palliser Triangle made preferred agricultural land in the central, parkland areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta, hence today’s Winnipeg-Saskatoon-Edmonton-Yellowhead Pass-Kamloops-Vancouver CN line. The question is would the line follow the same route if the Pacific ports were further south? As far as the Canadian Rocky’s go, the terrain is fairly tame between Edmonton and Kamloops with wider valleys and lower elevation, but if the destination didn’t have to be Vancouver, BC, then it might have followed an alternate route. Prior to the 1846 Treaty, the Okanagan valley functioned as a major travel corridor to Fort Vancouver, so it might have followed that south before turning west in central Washington. It also might have chosen not to go as far north as Edmonton, instead taking the Howse Pass west of Red Deer. Present-day Vancouver BC’s location along Burrard Inlet would still make it an attractive port, so it probably would have eventually get a railway connection, but might have been left out of the first two trans-continental railways which would have delayed its development. The two biggest losers probably would have been Prince Rupert, which may have never gotten a railway, and the Roger’s Pass area which might would have been bypassed (or received road/rail connections a lot later). Because of geography, the Fraser Valley/Vancouver, BC would probably be part of the same province as present-day Seattle/Vancouver, WA; while the interior would be a separate province, possibly centered around the Kelowna-Wenatchee corridor. What we regard as the major cities west of Winnipeg in present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan would probably be completely different, and arguably the provincial boundaries would be different as well. Quote:
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Closer to 3/4 of all Acadians were deported, many were killed, and a huge amount of wealth was destroyed. Before the deportation there was a "golden age" for Acadians when they were one of the wealthiest peasant groups on earth (if you believe the arguments of "A Great and Noble Scheme") and the population was growing by 3-4% a year. That was all horribly derailed, setting the region back by perhaps 50 years in development. Even from the perspective of the colonial overlords it would have been better to tax the Acadians than to burn everything down and spend 30 years resettling and rebuilding. Only the new settlers themselves profited in the end. Quote:
New Brunswick has its different cities but Moncton isn't even the "French" city, it's another example of Francophones moving to a majority English city in the 20th century. |
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English speakers in the Maritimes tended to move all over the place. Had this not happened it would have been a region of 3-4 million people by now. |
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The Europeans were present in an imperialistic way all over the world at one point. But for a variety of reasons they didn't send legions of European settlers everywhere. Only to certain parts of the world. Obviously North America was destined to have some measure of European influence, but what if it had been just limited to influence? With almost no settlement of Europeans? What would a North America demographically dominated by aboriginal peoples be like? (Like Africa and Asia largely are today.) |
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But an interesting angle is that an affinity for moving around is definitely part of the cultural DNA in a lot of Atlantic Canada, just as it seems to be in the British Isles. This probably started because so many people lived in port towns and worked in some sort of seafaring profession (which became empire building, banking, etc.). In inland agricultural regions people just settled down, farmed, and tried to get more adjacent farmland when possible. This is all less relevant in 2018 but there is still definitely a sense in Atlantic Canada that you are more successful if you move away (even if you do one day move back). In fact it is such a big phenomenon that people complain they cannot get hired for good jobs locally until they return after experience elsewhere. One thing that's disappointing is how this has been interpreted as a negative thing in the rest of Canada. It also leads to a misleading picture of what people from Atlantic Canada are like because so many leave. Newfoundland may have a 14% unemployment rate but I doubt Newfoundlanders do! |
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The only heavily European settled areas are the ones kind of like Europe in terms of natural environment. Canada, US, NZ, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, and higher altitude parts of countries like Mexico. Generally the Spanish-speaking tropical countries have a high percentage of aboriginal ancestry. Spanish settlers in these areas had extremely high mortality rates. It was considered a death sentence if you got sent to a tropical jungle (convenient for, say, French political prisoners sent to Guyana; you could pretend you were only exiling them). Even the Southern US was marginal because of malaria and other diseases, which is why they ended up with a plantation economy based on African slavery. |
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In the alternate universe, the Grand Pre area (Wolfville) might have been the beneficiary of this. I imagine a large francophone town in this area would have gradually developed and grown in the 19th century. At some point, the Acadian elite would have demanded their own Universite d'Acadie (instead of Acadia University), and this would naturally have been built in the Grand Pre area. The same sort of process that occurred for Acadians in the Moncton area would have occurred in Grand Pre instead - the difference being that Moncton remained a majority English town, while Grand Pre would have been heavily francophone. I still think a sizeable Acadian city would have grown in Grand Pre eventually, and this would have been the cultural heart of Acadie. It is more arguable however if this city would also have been a mercantile centre like Halifax. Perhaps Halifax would have 500,000 people now, with 100,000 Acadians as a minority, with Grand Pre totalling 250,000, being 90% French. In this latter scenario, Halifax would be the equivalent of Montreal and Grand Pre would be the Maritime version of Quebec City........... |
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The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence area has the population and dominance that it does because of geography, not politics. |
Winnipeg without the Panama Canal
By 1914, Greater Winnipeg had grown to 250,000 people, making it the third largest city in Canada. The First World War slowed the city's growth slightly for the next few years, but the city had slightly surpassed 300,000 according to the 1921 census. The winning "greek iconic" design for Winnipeg's new city hall was completed in 1917, making it one of the largest and most beautiful in the nation. The City Beautiful Movement also made its impact in the city, with Memorial Boulevard being transformed into the Winnipeg's smaller equivalent to the National Mall in Washington, DC. Following the war, the city's growth rate picked up again in the 1920's, many politicians and businessman were optimistic about the city's future, envisioning a city of millions by the turn of the century. As such, some of the largest national retailers at the time unveiled plans for new department stores along Portage Avenue. Eaton's proposed a massive, 12 floor, two block long department store on the location of its newly completed Eaton's store. Nearby, the Hudson's Bay Company was proposing an equally massive department store at the corner of Portage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard. The new store was to be topped by a dome that would rival that of the newly completed Legislative Building. Both the new Eaton's Store and HBC Flagship store were completed by the mid-1920's, and in 1929 the Richardson's began construction on its new headquarters at Portage and Main, its spire reaching over 250 feet into the sky. By the time the Great Depression hit, the city's population was approaching the 500,000 mark. The 1930's saw the city's growth rate come to a halt, as with many cities in North America it grew only slightly. Combined with the Great Depression, the "Dust Bowl" years in the 1930's also severely impacted the city's grain industry, and in turn its manufacturing industry. The city's growth once again picked up during the 1940's as the economy recovered, and the post-WW2 baby boom also increased the city's population. However, the city's growth rate lagged behind that of other cities in Canada during these decades as more people flocked to Alberta and it's growing and prosperous oil industry. Still, by 1971 the city's population was closing in on the 1 million mark, but Vancouver had now surpassed Winnipeg, which was bumped to the position of fourth largest city in the country. The 1970's saw many Canadian cities see slower growth rates and Winnipeg was not immune to this, growing at a comparative rate to Montreal during this decade, however the 1980's brought a bit of an uptick in growth. Since then, the Winnipeg CMA has been growing at about 10% per decade and today is closing in on the 1.5 million mark. It's growth rate has still lagged behind those of Calgary and Edmonton, which will both likely surpass the city's population in the next 10 years.
Downtown Winnipeg: Downtown Winnipeg has declined in population since the 1950's but is on the upswing as of late. The last skyscraper boom occurred in the 1980's, which saw many of the city's current highrises built, however the city only has five buildings that exceed the 500 foot mark. The Exchange District is largely protected and has seen many of its unused and underused buildings transformed into apartments and condos. The South Portage neighborhood is increasingly turning into the city's "financial hub", however despite the recent success of this area, both the Eaton's store and HBC store are underused and combined have over 5 million square feet of vacant space. Union Station on Main Street functions as the hub for all transit and rail service in the city, and is the focal point for the city's light rail system that was largely built in the 1980's. Other notes: The city's West End has become a hotbed for recent immigrants and is pumping new life into this inner city district that declined for several decades prior to 2010. The city's North End is still struggling to reinvent itself as it is plagued by many vacancies and high crime rates, but the city's growing Aboriginal population is beginning to transform the area, albeit slowly. Winnipeg's urban area covers 700 sq km, including the city itself, and the municipalities of Headingley and East and West St. Paul. The urban area has a population of 1.25 million. |
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What Kind Of Alt. History Would You Of Liked To Seen For Some Canadian Cities? |
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Montreal was therefore destined to be the primary city, at until well after the Lachine Canal was constructed. |
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I've always wondered how it would be if Nova Scotia was able to hold onto it's Gaelic language roots and if that language became dominant like French is in Quebec today.
"By 1867, Gaelic was the third most spoken language in Canada and by 1900, as many as 100,000 Nova Scotians spoke Gaelic as their first language. However, changes in the late 19th and early 20th century, including the growth of cities, the boom of industrial jobs, the expansion of railroads and the introduction of English-only school systems, eroded the Gaelic language to near extinction." https://cch.novascotia.ca/stories/le...-gaelic-spirit How would a Gaelic language dominant culture be able to function in Canada (let alone the broader international community)? |
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