style="font-size:15px;"> Mr. Howe proposes to reduce the British Colonists to the position of a Russian ‘serf.’ It would be impossible to conceive of a scheme more oppressive or unjust. For the honour of having one single representative in the British Parliament, the 350,000 inhabitants of Nova Scotia would not only be called upon to suffer an enormous amount of taxation, but the person of every man in the Colony would be liable to be drafted at an hour’s notice to fight the battles of Great Britain in India, or any other part of the world.
The Maritime conference that ultimately became the meeting place for Confederation was a Tupper inspiration. He saw strengthening and unifying the Maritimes as a prerequisite to negotiations on a larger union.
Tupper was one of only eleven Fathers of Confederation to attend all three conferences in Charlottetown, Québec City, and London. Future Liberal leader Wilfrid Laurier described Tupper’s contribution to Confederation: “I believe I speak my mind and speak the fair judgment of my countrymen when I say that, next to Macdonald, the man who did most to bring Canada into Confederation was Sir Charles Tupper.”
Tupper had no fear of engaging Howe in debate. In the winter of 1864, delegates from the Maritime provinces were to meet in Charlottetown to discuss the possibility of a union of the Maritime colonies. Tupper wanted Joseph Howe present: “The first man I invited to attend, as I valued the strength of his influence.” Howe, unable to participate, was enthusiastic about the project, and assured Tupper that he “would do everything in his power to carry out any policy [the delegates] adopted at Charlottetown.” But when discussions about a Maritime union expanded to include Confederation, Howe led the formidable forces of opposition.
Although few contributed more to Confederation than Tupper, he graciously set aside personal honour and status to ensure the success of the Dominion. As Tupper told the story, Macdonald was in a difficult position during the formation of the first government. He had asked Tupper to join his Cabinet, but this would have upset the religious and regional balance necessary for harmony in Macdonald’s first government. “I went to [Thomas D’Arcy] McGee and said: ‘The union of the Provinces is going to end in a fiasco unless we give way. We are the only two men who can avert that calamity.’ I then proposed that he should stand aside in favour of Sir Edward Kenny, of Halifax, as the representative of Irish Catholics, and that I should likewise surrender my claims to a portfolio.”
McGee agreed to this proposal and Macdonald offered Tupper a governorship, which he declined. “I would not take all the governorships rolled into one. I intend to run for a seat in the Dominion Parliament.”
In the first Canadian federal election, Howe’s anti-Confederation party won every seat in Nova Scotia, except for one—the seat won by Conservative Sir Charles Tupper. Howe sailed to England to request that Nova Scotia be removed from Confederation. He insisted he had the backing of “eight hundred men in each county of Nova Scotia who will take an oath that they will never pay a cent of taxation to the Dominion.” Tupper— in bold response—made the same trip to offer the opposing view.
Tupper was determined to make Confederation work. He rebuked Howe’s inflammatory claims by arguing that without taxes there would be no funds for necessary public services like roads and schools. Eventually, however, Tupper seduced Howe with a more pragmatic quid pro quo: “If you will enter the Cabinet and assist in carrying out the work of Confederation you will control all the provincial patronage and you will find me as strong a supporter as I have been opponent.” Having secured an agreement, Tupper was able to send word to Macdonald that Howe was ready to abandon his anti-Confederate stance.
Tupper joined Macdonald’s Cabinet on June 21, 1870, as president of the Privy Council. Two years later he became the minister of Inland Revenue. During the federal election that year, Tupper bragged of “not a single anti confederate being elected.” Following the Pacific Scandal, Tupper was one of only two Conservatives elected to the House from Nova Scotia in 1874.
His attacks on the Liberals were not all partisan bluster. Tupper genuinely opposed Prime Minister Mackenzie’s tepid railway policies, in particular the unwillingness of the Liberal government to make the investments necessary to connect the country by rail. Tupper was also upset that Mackenzie was contracting the project out to non-Maritimers, which ran counter to the economic benefits that Confederation had promised.
Tupper made the railway an issue in the 1878 election, where Conservatives won government and took 14 out of 21 seats in Nova Scotia. When Tupper was made minister of public works, completing the railway was his top priority. But when he pressured a contractor on cost, and the quality of the work declined, a displeased Macdonald signalled to his inner circle that Tupper should not be seen as his successor.
In1882, Tupper was made high commissioner to London. Four years later, Macdonald wanted Tupper to return to Canada to become finance minister and assist in the coming election. Macdonald was gloomy about the prospects and wrote to Tupper on June 21: “We are not in a flourishing state in the present state of public opinion ...We have rocks ahead, and great skill must be exercised in steering the ship.” Tupper wrote back that he heard positive reports from Nova Scotia and was of the opinion that he was not needed there. On January 11, 1887,Tupper received an insistent cablegram from Macdonald: “Come out. I sent message before. Must have miscarried.—Macdonald.” Tupper dutifully responded on January 25, telling Macdonald he was at his disposal and would do whatever he thought would best serve the interests of the country.
Macdonald appointed Tupper finance minister on his return and Tupper once again helped to carry Nova Scotia in the 1887 election, with the Tories winning 14 of 21 seats. In 1888, Tupper resigned from cabinet and once again returned to his post in London.
Though a proud member of the British Empire, and a founding member of the Imperial Federation League in 1884, Tupper opposed colonies contributing money to the empire without receiving anything in return. He pushed instead for “a policy of mutual preferential trade between Great Britain and her colonies [that] would provide the tie of mutual self-interest in addition to the purely sentimental bond which now exists.”
On Macdonald’s death, Tupper paid tribute to the Old Chieftain in a letter to his son, Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper: “It is a source of great satisfaction to me in this sad hour to feel that through good and evil report I have stood at his side, and in sunshine and in storm have done all in my power to sustain and aid him in the great work to which he has, since we first met, devoted so successfully all his great powers. He has left a bright example for us to follow; let us endeavour to emulate him as far as we can, and we will deserve well of our country.”
Tupper was overlooked as a candidate for prime minister by the governor general, who nominated Abbott, Thompson, and Bowell in succession. But as many in Cabinet long expected, the torch was ultimately, if belatedly, passed to Tupper, who had long had the support of Agnes Macdonald to succeed her late husband. Tupper recalled the short period that led to his taking over the government: “Asked by the recalcitrant members of the [Bowell’s] Cabinet to assume leadership, I refused, declaring that I would not do so except at the request of the [Prime Minister] Mackenzie Bowell. It was not until all efforts on his part at reconstruction had failed that he requested me to become leader of the party.”
After winning a seat in the House of Commons through a by-election in Cape Breton in February 1896,Tupper became the leader of the government in the House of Commons. He believed that the promise made to Catholic minorities had to be honoured and introduced a remedial bill to resolve the Manitoba Schools crisis. But it was too little too late. Parliament was dissolved, Bowell resigned and Tupper reluctantly became prime minister of Canada on May 1.Tupper, along with Kim Campbell (1993) and John Turner (1984), are the only prime ministers ever to hold the position without Parliament being in session.
The election, which finally came on June 23, 1896, was fought over one issue:
