Charles Tupper
Encyclopedia
Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, GCMG
, CB
, PC
(July 2, 1821 – October 30, 1915) was a Canadian father of Confederation: as the Premier of Nova Scotia
from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia
into Confederation
. He later went on to serve as the sixth Prime Minister of Canada
, sworn in to office on May 1, 1896, seven days after parliament had been dissolved. He would go on to lose the June 23 election, resigning on July 8, 1896. His 69-day term as prime minister is currently the shortest in Canadian history. At age 74, in May 1896, he was also the oldest person to serve as Prime Minister of Canada.
Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia
in 1821, Tupper was trained as a physician
and practiced medicine periodically throughout his political career (and served as the first president of the Canadian Medical Association
). He entered Nova Scotian politics in 1855 as a protege of James William Johnston
. During Johnston's tenure as premier of Nova Scotia in 1857–59 and 1863–64, Tupper served as provincial secretary
. Tupper replaced Johnston as premier in 1864. As premier, Tupper established public education
in Nova Scotia. He also worked to expand Nova Scotia's railway network in order to promote industry.
By 1860, Tupper supported a union of all the colonies of British North America
. Believing that immediate union of all the colonies was impossible, in 1864, he proposed a Maritime Union
. However, representatives of the Province of Canada
asked to be allowed to attend the meeting in Charlottetown
scheduled to discuss Maritime Union in order to present a proposal for a wider union, and the Charlottetown Conference
thus became the first of the three conferences that secured Canadian Confederation
. Tupper also represented Nova Scotia at the other two conferences, the Quebec Conference
(1864) and the London Conference of 1866
. In Nova Scotia, Tupper organized a Confederation Party
to combat the activities of the Anti-Confederation Party
organized by Joseph Howe
and successfully led Nova Scotia into Confederation.
Following the passage of the British North America Act in 1867, Tupper resigned as premier of Nova Scotia and began a career in federal politics. He held multiple cabinet
positions under Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald
, including President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
(1870–72), Minister of Inland Revenue
(1872–73), Minister of Customs
(1873–74), Minister of Public Works
(1878–79), and Minister of Railways and Canals
(1879–84). Initially groomed as Macdonald's successor, Tupper had a falling out with Macdonald, and by the early 1880s, he asked Macdonald to appoint him as Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Tupper took up his post in London
in 1883, and would remain High Commissioner until 1895, although in 1887–88, he served as Minister of Finance
without relinquishing the High Commissionership.
In 1895, the government of Sir Mackenzie Bowell
floundered over the Manitoba Schools Question
; as a result, several leading members of the Conservative Party of Canada
demanded the return of Tupper to serve as prime minister. Tupper accepted this invitation and returned to Canada, becoming prime minister in May 1896. An election was called
, just before he was sworn in as prime minister, which his party subsequently lost to Wilfrid Laurier
and the Liberals
. Tupper served as Leader of the Opposition from July 1896 until 1900, at which point he returned to London, where he lived until his death in 1915.
to Charles Tupper, Sr. and Miriam Lowe Lockhart Buckner. His father was the co-pastor
of the local Baptist church. Beginning in 1837, at age 16, Tupper attended the Horton Academy in Wolfville, Nova Scotia
, where he learned Latin
, Greek
, and some French
. After graduating in 1839, he spent some time in New Brunswick
working as a teacher, before moving to Windsor, Nova Scotia
to spend 1839–40 studying medicine
with Dr. Ebenezer Fitch Harding. Borrowing money, he then moved to Scotland
to study at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
at the University of Edinburgh
: he received his MD
in 1843. During his time in Edinburgh
, Tupper's commitment to his Baptist faith faltered, and he drank Scotch whisky
for the first time.
Returning to Nova Scotia, in 1846, he broke off an engagement that he had contracted with the daughter of a wealthy Halifax merchant when he was 17 years old and instead married Frances Morse
(1826–1912), the granddaughter of Col. Joseph Morse, one of the founders of Amherst, Nova Scotia
. The Tuppers had three sons (Orin Stewart, Charles Hibbert
, and William Johnston
) and three daughters (Emma, Elizabeth Stewart (Lilly), and Sophy Almon). The Tupper children were raised in Frances' Anglican denomination and John and Frances regularly worshipped in an Anglican church, though on the campaign trail, Tupper often found time to visit Baptist meetinghouses.
Tupper set himself up as a physician in Amherst, Nova Scotia and opened a drugstore
.
, James William Johnston
, a fellow Baptist and family friend of the Tuppers, encouraged Charles Tupper to enter politics. As such, in 1855, Tupper ran against the prominent Liberal politician Joseph Howe
for the Cumberland County
seat in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
. Joseph Howe would be a frequent political opponent of Tupper the years to come.
Although Tupper won his seat, the 1855 election was an overall disaster for the Nova Scotia Conservatives, with the Liberals, led by William Young
, winning a large majority. Young consequently became Premier of Nova Scotia
.
At a caucus
meeting in January 1856, Tupper recommended a new direction for the Conservative party: they should begin actively courting Nova Scotia's Roman Catholic minority and should eagerly embrace railroad construction. Having just led his party into a disastrous election campaign, Johnston decided to basically cede control of the party to Tupper, though Johnston remained the party's leader. In the course of 1856, Tupper led Conservative attacks on the government, leading to Joseph Howe dubbing Tupper "the wicked wasp of Cumberland." In early 1857, Tupper succeeded in convincing a number of Roman Catholic Liberal members to cross the floor to join the Conservatives, reducing Young's government to the status of a minority government
. As a result, Young was forced to resign in February 1857, and the Conservatives formed a government with Johnston as premier. Tupper became the provincial secretary
.
In Tupper's first speech to the House of Assembly as provincial secretary, he set forth an ambitious plan of railroad construction. Thus, Tupper had embarked on the major theme of his political life: that Nova Scotians (and later Canadians) should downplay their ethnic and religious differences, and instead focus on developing the land's natural resources
. He argued that with Nova Scotia's "inexhaustible mines", it could become "a vast manufacturing mart" for the east coast of North America. He quickly persuaded Johnston to end the General Mining Association's monopoly over Nova Scotia minerals.
In June 1857, Tupper initiated discussions with New Brunswick
and the Province of Canada
about an intercolonial railway
. He traveled to London
in 1858 to attempt to secure imperial
backing for this project. During these discussions, Tupper found that the Canadians were more interested in discussing federal union, while the British (with the Earl of Derby
in his second term as Prime Minister
) were too absorbed in their own immediate interests. As such, nothing came of the 1858 discussions for an intercolonial railway.
An election was held in May 1859, with sectarian conflict playing a large role, with the Catholics largely supporting the Conservatives and the Protestants now shifting towards the Liberals. Tupper barely managed to retain his seat. The Conservatives were barely re-elected and lost a confidence vote later that year. Johnston asked the Governor of Nova Scotia, Lord Mulgrave
, for a dissolution
, but Mulgrave refused and invited William Young to form a government. Tupper was outraged and petitioned the British government, asking them to recall Mulgrave.
For the next three years, Tupper was ferocious in his denunciations of the Liberal government, first Young, and then Joseph Howe, who took over from Young later in 1860. This came to a head in 1863 when the Liberals introduced legislation to restrict the Nova Scotia franchise
, a move which Johnston and Tupper successfully blocked.
Tupper continued practicing medicine throughout this period. He established a successful medical practice in Halifax, rising to become the city medical officer. In 1863, he was elected president of the Medical Society of Nova Scotia.
In the June 1863 election, the Conservatives campaigned on a platform of railroad construction and expanded access to public education. The Conservatives won a huge majority, with 44 of the House of Assembly's 55 seats. Johnston resumed his duties as premier and Tupper again became provincial secretary. As a further sign of the Conservatives' commitment to non-sectarianism, in 1863, after a 20-year hiatus, Dalhousie College was re-opened as a non-denominational institution of higher learning.
In May 1864, Johnston retired from politics, accepting an appointment as a judge
, and Tupper was chosen as his successor as premier of Nova Scotia.
Tupper introduced ambitious education legislation in 1864 creating a system of state-subsidized common schools. The next year, he introduced a bill providing for compulsory local taxation to fund these schools. Although these public schools were non-denominational (whch resulted in Protestants sharply criticizing Tupper), they did include a program of Christian education. However, many Protestants, particularly fellow Baptists, felt that Tupper had sold them out. In an attempt to regain their trust, he appointed Baptist educator Theodore Harding Rand
as Nova Scotia's first superintendent of education. This in turn aroused concern among Catholics, led by Archbishop Thomas-Louis Connolly
, who demanded state-funded Catholic schools. Tupper reached a compromise with Archbishop Connolly whereby Catholic-run schools could receive public funding, so long as they provided their religious instruction after hours.
Making good on his promise for expanded railroad construction, in 1864, Tupper appointed Sandford Fleming
as the chief engineer of the Nova Scotia Railway
in order to expand the line from Truro
to Pictou Landing
. He would later (Jan. 1866) award Fleming the contract to complete the line after local contractors proved too slow. Though this decision was controversial, it did result in the line from being successfully completed by May 1867. A second proposed line, from Annapolis Royal
to Windsor
initially faltered, but was eventually completed by 1869 by the privately owned Windsor & Annapolis Railway
.
entitled "The Political Condition of British North America." The title of the lecture was an homage to Lord Durham
's 1838 Report on the Affairs of British North America and served as an assessment of the condition of British North America in the two decades following Lord Durham's famous report. Although Tupper was interested in the potential economic consequences of a union with the other colonies, the bulk of his lecture addressed the place of British North America within the wider British Empire
. Having been convinced by his 1858 trip to London that British politicians were unwilling to pay attention to a small colony like Nova Scotia, Tupper argued that Nova Scotia and the other Maritime
colonies "could never hope to occupy a position of influence or importance except in connection with their larger sister Canada." As such, Tupper proposed to create a "British America", which "stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, would in a few years exhibit to the world a great and powerful organization, with British Institutions, British sympathies, and British feelings, bound indissolubly to the throne of England
."
With the commencement of the American Civil War
in 1861, Tupper worried that a victorious North
would turn northward and conquer the British North American provinces. This caused him to redouble his commitment to union, which he now saw as essential to protecting the British colonies against American aggression. Since he thought that full union among the British North American colonies would be unachievable for many years, on March 28, 1864, Tupper instead proposed a Maritime Union
which would unite the Maritime provinces in advance of a projected future union with the Province of Canada. A conference to discuss the proposed union of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
and Prince Edward Island
was scheduled to be held in Charlottetown
in September 1864.
Tupper was pleasantly surprised when the Premier of the Province of Canada, John A. Macdonald
, asked to be allowed to attend the Charlottetown Conference
. The Conference, which was co-chaired by Tupper and New Brunswick Premier Samuel Leonard Tilley
, welcomed the Canadian delegation and asked them to join the conference. The conference proved to be a smashing success, and resulted in an agreement-in-principle to form a union of the four colonies.
was held on October 10, as a follow-up to the Charlottetown Conference, with Newfoundland only attending to observe. Tupper headed the Nova Scotia delegation to the Quebec Conference. He supported a legislative union of the colonies (which would mean that there would be only one legislature for the united colonies). However, the French Canadian
delegates to the conference, notably George-Étienne Cartier
and Hector-Louis Langevin
, strongly opposed the idea of a legislative union. As such, Tupper threw his weight behind Macdonald's proposal for a federal
union, which would see each colony retain its own legislature, with a central legislature in charge of common interests. Tupper argued in favour of a strong central government as a second best to a pure legislative union. However, Tupper felt that the local legislatures should retain the ability to levy duties on their natural resources.
Concerned that a united legislature would be dominated by the Province of Canada, Tupper pushed for regional representation in the upper house of the confederated colonies (a goal which would be achieved in the makeup of the Senate of Canada).
On the topic of which level of government would control customs
in the union, Tupper ultimately agreed to accept the formula by which the federal government controlled customs in exchange for an annual subsidy of 80 cents a year for each Nova Scotian. This deal was ultimately not good for Nova Scotia, which had historically received most of its government revenue from customs, and as a result, Nova Scotia entered Confederation with a deficit.
was the only member of the Liberal caucus to support Confederation. Former premier Joseph Howe now organized an Anti-Confederation Party
and anti-Confederation sentiments were so strong that Tupper decided to postpone a vote of the legislature on the question of Confederation for a full year. Tupper now organized supporters of Confederation into a Confederation Party
to push for the union.
Finally, in April 1866, Tupper secured a motion of the Nova Scotia legislature in favour of union by promising that he would renegotiate the Seventy-two Resolutions
at the upcoming conference in London Conference.
Although Tupper did attempt to renegotiate the 72 Resolutions as he had promised, he was ineffective in securing any major changes. The only major change agreed to at the London Conference was one that arguably did not benefit Nova Scotia - responsibility for the fisheries, which was going to be a joint federal-provincial responsibility under the Quebec agreement, became solely a federal concern.
.
In honour of the role he played in securing Confederation, Tupper was made a Companion in The Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 1867. As such, he was now entitled to use the postnomial letters "CB".
for the new Canadian House of Commons
were held in August–September 1867. Tupper ran as a member for the new federal riding of Cumberland
and won his seat. However, Tupper was the only pro-Confederation candidate to win a seat from Nova Scotia in the 1st Canadian Parliament
, with Joseph Howe and the Anti-Confederates winning every other seat.
As an ally of Sir John A. Macdonald and the Liberal-Conservative Party
, it was widely believed that Tupper would have a place in the first Cabinet of Canada
. However, when Macdonald ran into difficulties in organizing this cabinet, Tupper stepped aside in favour of Edward Kenny
. Instead, Tupper set up a medical practice in Ottawa
and was elected as the first president of the new Canadian Medical Association
, a position he held until 1870.
In November 1867, in provincial elections in Nova Scotia, the pro-Confederation Hiram Blanchard was defeated by the leader of the Anti-Confederation Party, William Annand
. Given the unpopularity of Confederation within Nova Scotia, Joseph Howe traveled to London in 1868 to attempt to persuade the British government (headed by the earl of Derby, and then after February 1868 by Benjamin Disraeli) to allow Nova Scotia to secede from Confederation. Tupper followed Howe to London where he successfully lobbied British politicians against allowing Nova Scotia to secede.
Following his victory in London, Tupper proposed a reconciliation with Howe: in exchange for Howe's agreeing to stop fighting against the union, Tupper and Howe would be allies in the fight to protect Nova Scotia's interests within Confederation. Howe agreed to Tupper's proposal and in January 1869 entered the Canadian cabinet as President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
.
With the outbreak of the Red River Rebellion
in 1869, Tupper was distressed to find that his daughter Emma's husband was being held hostage by Louis Riel
and the rebels. He rushed to the northwest to rescue his son-in-law.
The next year was dominated by a dispute with the U.S. regarding American access to the Atlantic fisheries. Tupper thought that the British should restrict American access to these fisheries so that they could negotiate from a position of strength. When Prime Minister Macdonald traveled to represent Canada's interests at the negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Washington (1871)
, Tupper served as Macdonald's liaison with the federal cabinet.
.
Tupper led the Nova Scotia campaign for the Liberal-Conservative party during the Canadian federal election of 1872
. His efforts paid off when Nova Scotia returned not a single Anti-Confederate Member of Parliament
to the 2nd Canadian Parliament
, and 20 of Nova Scotia's 21 MPs were Liberal-Conservatives. (The Liberal-Conservative Party changed its name to the Conservative Party
in 1873.)
In February 1873, Tupper was shifted from Inland Revenue to become Minister of Customs
, and in this position he was successful in having British weights and measures
adopted as the uniform standard for the united colonies.
He would not hold this post for long, however, as Macdonald's government was rocked by the Pacific Scandal
throughout 1873. In November 1873, the 1st Canadian Ministry was forced to resign and was replaced by the 2nd Canadian Ministry headed by Liberal
Alexander Mackenzie
.
. The 1874 election was disastrous for the Conservatives, and in Nova Scotia, Tupper was one of only two Conservative MPs returned to the 3rd Canadian Parliament
.
Though Macdonald stayed on as Conservative leader, Tupper now assumed a more prominent role in the Conservative Party and was widely seen as Macdonald's heir apparent. He led Conservative attacks on the Mackenzie government throughout the 3rd Parliament. The Mackenzie government attempted to negotiate a new free trade agreement with the United States to replace the Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty
which the U.S. had abrogated in 1864. When Mackenzie proved unable to achieve reciprocity, Tupper began shifting towards protectionism
and became a proponent of the National Policy
which became a part of the Conservative platform
in 1876. The sincerity of Tupper's conversion to the protectionist cause was doubted at the time, however: according to one apocryphal story, when Tupper came to the 1876 debate on Finance Minister
Richard John Cartwright
's budget, he was prepared to advocate free trade
if Cartwright had announced that the Liberals had shifted their position and were now supporting protectionism.
Tupper was also deeply critical of Mackenzie's approach to railways, arguing that the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway
, which would link British Columbia
(which entered Confederation in 1871) with the rest of Canada, should be a stronger government priority than it was for Mackenzie. This position also became an integral part of the Conservative platform.
As on previous occasions when he was not in cabinet, Tupper was active in practicing medicine during the 1874–78 stint in Opposition, though he was dedicating less and less of his time to medicine during this period.
Tupper was a councillor of the Oxford Military College
in Cowley and Oxford
Oxfordshire
from 1876–1896.
Tupper again led the Conservative campaign in Nova Scotia. The Conservatives under Macdonald won a resounding majority in the election, in the process capturing 16 of Nova Scotia's 21 seats in the 4th Canadian Parliament
.
With the formation of the 3rd Canadian Ministry in October 1878, Tupper became Minister of Public Works
. His top priority was completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which he saw as "an Imperial Highway across the Continent of America entirely on British soil." This marked a shift in Tupper's position: although he had long argued that completion of the railway should be a major government priority, while Tupper was in Opposition, he argued that the railway should be privately constructed; he now argued that the railway ought to be completed as a public work, partly because he believed that the private sector could not complete the railroad given the recession
which gripped the country throughout the 1870s.
.
Tupper's motto as Minister of Railways and Canals was "Develop our resources." He stated "I have always supposed that the great object, in every country, and especially in a new country, was to draw as [many] capitalists into it as possible."
Tupper traveled to London in summer 1879 to attempt to persuade the British government (then headed by the earl of Beaconsfield in his second term as prime minister) to guarantee a bond
sale to be used to construct the railway. He was not successful, though he did manage to purchase 50,000 tons of steel rails at a bargain price. Tupper's old friend Sandford Fleming oversaw the railway construction, but his inability to keep costs down led to political controversy, and Tupper was forced to remove Fleming as Chief Engineer in May 1880.
1879 also saw Tupper made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, and thus entitled to use the postnominal letters "KCMG".
In 1880, George Stephen
approached Tupper on behalf of a syndicate
and asked to be allowed to take over construction of the railway. Convinced that Stephen's syndicate was up to the task, Tupper convinced the cabinet to back the plan at a meeting in June 1880 and, together with Macdonald, negotiated a contract with the syndicate in October. The syndicate successfully created the Canadian Pacific Railway Company
in February 1881 and assumed construction of the railway shortly thereafter.
In the next years, Tupper would be a vocal supporter of the CPR during its competition with the Grand Trunk Railway
. In December 1883, he worked out a rescue plan for the CPR after it faced financial difficulties and persuaded his party and Parliament to accept the plan.
In addition to his support for completion of the CPR, Tupper also actively managed the existing railways in the colonies. Shortly after becoming minister in 1879, he forced the Intercolonial Railway to lower its freight rates, which had been a major grievance of Maritime business interests. He then forced the Grand Trunk Railway to sell its Rivière-du-Loup
line to the Intercolonial Railway to complete a link between Halifax and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Furthermore, he refused to give the CPR running rights over the Intercolonial Railway, though he did convince the CPR to build the Short Line from Halifax to Saint John.
In terms of canals, Tupper's time as Minister of Railways and Canals is notable for large expenditures on widening the Welland Canal
and deepening the Saint Lawrence Seaway
.
in London. Macdonald initially refused, and Alexander Tilloch Galt
retained the High Commissioner's post.
During the 1882 election
, Tupper campaigned only in Nova Scotia (he normally campaigned throughout the country): he was again successful, with the Conservatives winning 14 of Nova Scotia's 21 seats in the 5th Canadian Parliament
. The 1882 election was personally significant for Tupper because it saw his son, Charles Hibbert Tupper
, elected as MP for Pictou
.
Tupper remained committed to leaving Ottawa, however, and in May 1883, he moved to London to become unpaid High Commissioner, though he did not surrender his ministerial position at the time. Soon, however, he was facing criticism that the two posts were incompatible, and in May 1884, he resigned from cabinet and the House of Commons and became full-time paid High Commissioner.
During his time as High Commissioner, Tupper sought to vigorously defend Canada's rights. Thus, although he was not a full plenipotentiary
, he represented Canada at a Paris
conference in 1883, where he openly disagreed with the British delegation; and in 1884 was allowed to conduct negotiations for a Canadian commercial treaty with Spain
.
Tupper was concerned with promoting immigration to Canada
and made several tours of various countries in Europe
to encourage immigrants to move to Canada. A report in 1883 acknowledges the work of Sir Charles Tupper:
In 1883, Tupper convinced William Ewart Gladstone
's government to exempt Canadian cattle
from the general British ban on importing American cattle by demonstrating that Canadian cattle was free of disease.
His other duties as High Commissioner included: putting Canadian exporters in contact with British importers; negotiating loans for the Canadian government and the CPR; helping to organize the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
of 1886; arranging for a subsidy for the mail ship from Vancouver, British Columbia to the Orient
; and lobbying on behalf of a British-Pacific cable along the lines of the transatlantic telegraph cable
and for a faster transatlantic steam ship.
Tupper was also present at the founding meeting of the Imperial Federation League
in July 1884, where he argued against a resolution which said that the only options open to the British Empire were Imperial Federation
or disintegration. Tupper believed that a form of limited federation was possible and desirable.
as Premier of Nova Scotia after Fielding campaigned on a platform of leading Nova Scotia out of Confederation. As such, throughout 1886, Macdonald begged Tupper to return to Canada to fight the Anti-Confederates. In January 1887, Tupper returned to Canada to rejoin the 3rd Canadian Ministry as Minister of Finance of Canada
, all the while retaining his post as High Commissioner.
During the 1887 federal election
, Tupper again presented the pro-Confederation argument to the people of Nova Scotia, and again the Conservatives won 14 of Nova Scotia's 21 seats in the 6th Canadian Parliament
.
During his year as finance minister, Tupper retained the government's commitment to protectionism, even extending it to the iron and steel industry. By this point, Tupper was convinced that Canada was ready to move on to its second stage of industrial development
. In part, he held out the prospect of the development of a great iron industry as an inducement to keep Nova Scotia from seceding.
Tupper's unique position of being both Minister of Finance and High Commissioner to London served him well in an emerging crisis in American-Canadian relations: in 1885, the U.S. abrogated the fisheries clause of the Treaty of Washington (1871), and the Canadian government retaliated against American fishermen with a narrow reading of the Treaty of 1818
. Acting as High Commissioner, Tupper pressured the British government (then led by Lord Salisbury
) to stand firm in defending Canada's rights. The result was the appointment of a Joint Commission in 1887, with Tupper serving as one of the three British commissioners to negotiate with the Americans. Salisbury selected Joseph Chamberlain
as one of the British commissioners. John Thompson served as the British delegation's legal counsel. During the negotiations, U.S. Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard
complained that "Mr. Chamberlain has yielded the control of the negotiations over to Sir Charles Tupper, who subjects the questions to the demands of Canadian politics." The result of the negotiations was a treaty (the Treaty of Washington of 1888) that made such concessions to Canada that it was ultimately rejected by the American Senate in February 1888. However, although the treaty was rejected, the Commission had managed to temporarily resolve the dispute.
Following the conclusion of these negotiations, Tupper decided to return to London to become High-Commissioner full-time. Macdonald attempted to persuade Tupper to stay in Ottawa: during the political crisis surrounding the 1885 North-West Rebellion
, Macdonald had pledged to nominate Sir Hector-Louis Langevin as his successor; Macdonald now told Tupper that he would break this promise and nominate Tupper as his successor. Tupper was not convinced, however, and resigned as Minister of Finance on May 23, 1888, and moved back to London.
For Tupper's work on the Joint Commission, Joseph Chamberlain arranged for Tupper to become a baronet of the United Kingdom, and the Tupper Baronetcy was created on September 13, 1888.
In 1889, tensions were high between the U.S. and Canada when the U.S. banned Canadians from engaging in the seal hunt in the Bering Sea
as part of the ongoing Bering Sea Dispute between the U.S. and Britain. Tupper traveled to Washington, D.C.
to represent Canadian interests during the negotiations and was something of an embarrassment to the British diplomats.
When, in 1890, the provincial secretary of Newfoundland, Robert Bond
, negotiated a fisheries treaty with the U.S. that Tupper felt was not in Canada's interest, Tupper successfully persuaded the British government (then under Lord Salisbury's second term) to reject the treaty.
As noted above, Tupper remained an active politician during his time as High Commissioner, which was controversial because diplomats are traditionally expected to be nonpartisan. (Tupper's successor as High Commissioner, Donald Smith
would succeed in turning the High Commissioner's office into a nonpartisan office.) As such, Tupper returned to Canada to campaign on behalf of the Conservatives' National Policy during the 1891 election
.
Tupper continued to be active in the Imperial Federation League, though after 1887, the League was split over the issue of regular colonial contribution to imperial defense. As a result, the League was ultimately dissolved in 1893, for which some people blamed Tupper.
With respect to the British Empire, Tupper advocated a system of mutual preferential trading. In a series of articles in Nineteenth Century
in 1891 and 1892, Tupper denounced the position that Canada should unilaterally reduce its tariff on British goods. Rather, he argued that any such tariff reduction should only come as part of a wider trade agreement in which tariffs on Canadian goods would also be reduced at the same time.
Sir John A. Macdonald's death in 1891 opened the possibility of Tupper replacing him as prime minister of Canada
, but Tupper enjoyed life in London and decided against returning to Canada. He recommended that his son support Sir John Thompson's prime ministerial bid.
, Lord Aberdeen
, to invite Tupper to return to Canada to become prime minister. However, Lord Aberdeen disliked Tupper and instead invited Sir Mackenzie Bowell to replace Thompson as prime minister.
The greatest challenge facing Bowell as prime minister was the Manitoba Schools Question
. The Conservative Party was bitterly divided as to how to handle the Manitoba Schools Question, and as a result, on January 4, 1896, seven cabinet ministers resigned, demanding the return of Tupper. As a result, Bowell and Aberdeen were forced to invite Tupper to join the 6th Canadian Ministry
and on January 15 Tupper became Secretary of State for Canada
, with the understanding that he would become prime minister following the dissolution of the 7th Canadian Parliament
.
Returning to Canada, Tupper was elected to the 7th Canadian Parliament as member for Cape Breton
during a by-election
held on February 4, 1896. At this point, Tupper was the de facto prime minister, though legally Bowell was still prime minister.
Tupper's position on the Manitoba Schools Act was that French Catholics in Manitoba had been promised the right to separate state-funded French-language Catholic schools in the Manitoba Act
of 1870. Thus, even though he personally opposed French-language Catholic schools in Manitoba, he believed that the government should stand by its promise and therefore oppose Dalton McCarthy
's Manitoba Schools Act. He maintained this position even after the Manitoba Schools Act was upheld by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
.
In 1895, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council had also ruled that the Canadian federal government could pass remedial legislation to overrule the Manitoba Schools Act (see Disallowance and reservation
). Thus, in February 1896, Tupper introduced this remedial legislation in the House of Commons. The bill was filibustered by a combination of extreme Protestants led by McCarthy and Liberals led by Wilfrid Laurier
. This filibuster resulted in Tupper abandoning the bill and asking for a dissolution.
Parliament was dissolved on April 24, 1896, and the 7th Canadian Ministry
with Tupper as prime minister was sworn in on May 1 making him, with John Turner
and Kim Campbell
, the only Prime Ministers to never sit in Parliament as Prime Minister. Tupper remains the oldest person ever to become Canadian prime minister, at 74.
Throughout the 1896 election
campaign, Tupper argued that the real issue of the election was the future of Canadian industry, and insisted that Conservatives needed to unite to defeat the Patrons of Industry
. However, the Conservatives were so bitterly divided over the Manitoba Schools Question that wherever he spoke, he was faced with a barrage of criticism, most notably at a two-hour address he gave at Massey Hall
in Toronto
, which was constantly interrupted by the crowd.
Wilfrid Laurier, on the other hand, modified the traditional Liberal stance on free trade and embraced aspects of the National Policy.
In the end, the Conservatives won the most votes in the 1896 election (48.2% of the votes, in comparison to 41.4% for the Liberals). However, they captured only about half of the seats in English Canada
, while Laurier's Liberals won a landslide victory in Quebec
, where Tupper's reputation as an ardent imperialist was a major handicap. Tupper's inability to persuade Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
to return to active politics as his Quebec lieutenant
was the nail in the coffin for the Conservatives' campaign in Quebec.
Although Laurier had clearly won the election on June 24, Tupper initially refused to cede power, insisting that Laurier would be unable to form a government. However, when Tupper attempted to make appointments as prime minister, Lord Aberdeen stepped in, dismissing Tupper and inviting Laurier to form a government. Tupper maintained that Lord Aberdeen's actions were unconstitutional.
Tupper's 68 days is the shortest term of all prime ministers. His government never faced a Parliament.
As Leader of the Opposition during the 8th Canadian Parliament
, Tupper attempted to regain the loyalty of those Conservatives who had deserted the party over the Manitoba Schools Question
. He played up loyalty to the British Empire. Tupper strongly supported Canadian participation in the Second Boer War
, which broke out in 1899, and criticized Laurier for not doing enough to support Britain in the war.
The 1900 election
saw the Conservatives pick up 17 Ontario seats in the 9th Canadian Parliament
. This was a small consolation, however, as Laurier and the Liberals won a definitive majority and had a clear mandate for a second term. What was worse for Tupper, for the first time ever, was the fact he had failed to carry his own seat, losing the Cape Breton seat to Liberal Alexander Johnston
. In November 1900, two weeks after the election, Tupper stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition - the caucus chose as his successor fellow Nova Scotian Robert Laird Borden.
in southeast London. He continued to make frequent trips to Canada to visit his sons Charles Hibbert Tupper
and William Johnston Tupper
, both of whom were Canadian politicians.
On November 9, 1907, Tupper became a member of the British Privy Council. He was also promoted to the rank of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, which made him entitled to use the postnominal letters "GCMG".
Tupper remained interested in imperial politics, and particularly with promoting Canada's place within the British Empire. He sat on the executive committee of the British Empire League
and advocated closer economic ties between Canada and Britain, while continuing to oppose Imperial Federation and requests for Canada to make a direct contribution to imperial defense costs (though he supported Borden's decision to voluntarily make an emergency contribution of dreadnoughts to the Royal Navy
in 1912).
In his retirement, Tupper wrote his memoirs, entitled Recollections of Sixty Years in Canada, which were published in 1914. He also gave a series of interviews to journalist W. A. Harkin which formed the basis of a second book published in 1914, entitled Political Reminiscences of the Right Honourable Sir Charles Tupper.
Tupper's wife, Lady Tupper
died in May 1912. His eldest son Orin died in April 1915 .
On October 30, 1915, in Bexleyheath, Tupper died of heart failure. He was the last of the original Fathers of Confederation
to die, and had lived the longest life of any Canadian prime minister, at 94 years, four months.
His body was returned to Canada on board the HMS Blenheim
(the same vessel that had carried the body of Tupper's colleague, Sir John Thompson to Halifax when Thompson died in England in 1894) and he was buried in St. John's Cemetery, Halifax
in Halifax following a state funeral
with a mile-long procession.
from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia
into Confederation
and persuaded Joseph Howe
to join the new federal government, bringing an end to the anti-Confederation movement in Nova Scotia.
In their 1999 study of the Canadian Prime Ministers through Jean Chrétien
, J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer
included the results of a survey of Canadian historians ranking the Prime Ministers. Tupper ranked #16 out of the 20 up to that time, due to his extremely short tenure in which he was unable to accomplish anything of significance. Historians noted that despite Tupper's elderly age, he showed a determination and spirit during his brief time as Prime Minister that almost beat Laurier in the 1896 election
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, PC
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
(July 2, 1821 – October 30, 1915) was a Canadian father of Confederation: as the Premier of Nova Scotia
Premier of Nova Scotia
The Premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister for the Canadian province of Nova Scotia who presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of the political party which has the most seats in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly...
from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
into Confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
. He later went on to serve as the sixth Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
, sworn in to office on May 1, 1896, seven days after parliament had been dissolved. He would go on to lose the June 23 election, resigning on July 8, 1896. His 69-day term as prime minister is currently the shortest in Canadian history. At age 74, in May 1896, he was also the oldest person to serve as Prime Minister of Canada.
Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia
Amherst, Nova Scotia
Amherst is a Canadian town in northwestern Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.Located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, Amherst is strategically situated on the eastern boundary of the Tantramar Marshes 3 kilometres east of the interprovincial border with New...
in 1821, Tupper was trained as a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and practiced medicine periodically throughout his political career (and served as the first president of the Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Medical Association
The Canadian Medical Association , with more than 70,000 members, is the largest association of doctors in Canada and works to represent their interests nationally. It formed in 1867, three months after Confederation...
). He entered Nova Scotian politics in 1855 as a protege of James William Johnston
James William Johnston
James W. Johnston was a Nova Scotia lawyer and politician. He served as Premier of the colony from 1857 to 1860 and again from 1864. He was also Government Leader prior to the granting of responsible government in 1848. He was a Conservative and supporter of Confederation...
. During Johnston's tenure as premier of Nova Scotia in 1857–59 and 1863–64, Tupper served as provincial secretary
Provincial Secretary
The Provincial Secretary was a senior position in the executive councils of British North America's colonial governments, and was retained by the Canadian provincial governments for at least a century after Canadian Confederation was proclaimed in 1867...
. Tupper replaced Johnston as premier in 1864. As premier, Tupper established public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
in Nova Scotia. He also worked to expand Nova Scotia's railway network in order to promote industry.
By 1860, Tupper supported a union of all the colonies of British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
. Believing that immediate union of all the colonies was impossible, in 1864, he proposed a Maritime Union
Maritime Union
Maritime Union is a proposed political union of the three Maritime provinces of Canada to form a single new province which would be the fifth-largest in Canada by population...
. However, representatives of the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
asked to be allowed to attend the meeting in Charlottetown
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...
scheduled to discuss Maritime Union in order to present a proposal for a wider union, and the Charlottetown Conference
Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from the colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation...
thus became the first of the three conferences that secured Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
. Tupper also represented Nova Scotia at the other two conferences, the Quebec Conference
Quebec Conference, 1864
The Quebec Conference was the second meeting held in 1864 to discuss Canadian Confederation.The 16 delegates from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island had agreed at the close of the Charlottetown Conference to meet again at Quebec City October 1864...
(1864) and the London Conference of 1866
London Conference of 1866
The London Conference was held in the United Kingdom and began on 4 December 1866, and it was the final in a series of conferences or debates that led to Canadian confederation in 1867. Sixteen delegates from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick gathered with officials of the...
. In Nova Scotia, Tupper organized a Confederation Party
Confederation Party
Confederation Party was a term for the parties supporting Canadian confederation in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in the 1860s when politics became polarised between supporters and opponents of Confederation. The Confederation parties were accordingly opposed by Anti-Confederation...
to combat the activities of the Anti-Confederation Party
Anti-Confederation Party
Anti-Confederation was the name used in what is now Atlantic Canada by several parties opposed to Canadian confederation.-Nova Scotia:In Nova Scotia, the "Anti-Confederates" were led by Joseph Howe. They attempted to reverse the colony's decision to join Confederation, which was initially highly...
organized by Joseph Howe
Joseph Howe
Joseph Howe, PC was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, and public servant. He is one of Nova Scotia's greatest and best-loved politicians...
and successfully led Nova Scotia into Confederation.
Following the passage of the British North America Act in 1867, Tupper resigned as premier of Nova Scotia and began a career in federal politics. He held multiple cabinet
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada...
positions under Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
, including President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
In the Canadian cabinet, the President of The Queen's Privy Council for Canada is nominally in charge of the Privy Council Office. The President of the Privy Council also has the largely ceremonial duty of presiding over meetings of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, a body which only convenes...
(1870–72), Minister of Inland Revenue
Minister of Inland Revenue (Canada)
The Minister of Inland Revenue was a portfolio in the Canadian Cabinet from 1867 until 1918 when it became the Minister of Customs and Inland Revenue. In 1927, the portfolio became the Minister of National Revenue.-Ministers and Controllers of Customs:...
(1872–73), Minister of Customs
Minister of Customs
The office of Minister of Customs was a position in the Cabinet of the Government of Canada responsible for the administration of customs revenue collection. This position was originally created by Statute 31 Vict., c...
(1873–74), Minister of Public Works
Minister of Public Works (Canada)
The position of Minister of Public Works existed as part of the Cabinet of Canada from Confederation to 1995.As part of substantial governmental reorganization, the position was merged with that of the Minister of Supply and Services to create the position of Minister of Public Works and Government...
(1878–79), and Minister of Railways and Canals
Minister of Railways and Canals (Canada)
The portfolio of Minister of Railways and Canals was created by Statute 42 Victoria, c. 7, assented to May 15, 1879 and proclaimed in force May 20, 1879. The Minister was the member of the Canadian Cabinet responsible for the administration of the Department of Railways and Canals...
(1879–84). Initially groomed as Macdonald's successor, Tupper had a falling out with Macdonald, and by the early 1880s, he asked Macdonald to appoint him as Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Tupper took up his post in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1883, and would remain High Commissioner until 1895, although in 1887–88, he served as Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
without relinquishing the High Commissionership.
In 1895, the government of Sir Mackenzie Bowell
Mackenzie Bowell
Sir Mackenzie Bowell, PC, KCMG was a Canadian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Canada from December 21, 1894 to April 27, 1896.-Early life:Bowell was born in Rickinghall, Suffolk, England to John Bowell and Elizabeth Marshall...
floundered over the Manitoba Schools Question
Manitoba Schools Question
The Manitoba Schools Question was a political crisis in the Canadian Province of Manitoba that occurred late in the 19th century, involving publicly funded separate schools for Roman Catholics and Protestants...
; as a result, several leading members of the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
demanded the return of Tupper to serve as prime minister. Tupper accepted this invitation and returned to Canada, becoming prime minister in May 1896. An election was called
Canadian federal election, 1896
The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...
, just before he was sworn in as prime minister, which his party subsequently lost to Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....
and the Liberals
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
. Tupper served as Leader of the Opposition from July 1896 until 1900, at which point he returned to London, where he lived until his death in 1915.
Early life, 1821–1855
Tupper was born in Amherst, Nova ScotiaAmherst, Nova Scotia
Amherst is a Canadian town in northwestern Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.Located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, Amherst is strategically situated on the eastern boundary of the Tantramar Marshes 3 kilometres east of the interprovincial border with New...
to Charles Tupper, Sr. and Miriam Lowe Lockhart Buckner. His father was the co-pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
of the local Baptist church. Beginning in 1837, at age 16, Tupper attended the Horton Academy in Wolfville, Nova Scotia
Wolfville, Nova Scotia
Wolfville is a small town in the Annapolis Valley, Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada, located about northwest of the provincial capital, Halifax. As of 2006, the population was 3,772....
, where he learned Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
, and some French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. After graduating in 1839, he spent some time in New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
working as a teacher, before moving to Windsor, Nova Scotia
Windsor, Nova Scotia
Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...
to spend 1839–40 studying medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
with Dr. Ebenezer Fitch Harding. Borrowing money, he then moved to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to study at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is an organisation dedicated to the pursuit of excellence and advancement in surgical practice, through its interest in education, training and examinations, its liaison with external medical bodies and representation of the modern surgical workforce...
at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
: he received his MD
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
in 1843. During his time in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Tupper's commitment to his Baptist faith faltered, and he drank Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
for the first time.
Returning to Nova Scotia, in 1846, he broke off an engagement that he had contracted with the daughter of a wealthy Halifax merchant when he was 17 years old and instead married Frances Morse
Frances Tupper
Frances Amélia, Lady Tupper was the wife of Sir Charles Tupper, the sixth Prime Minister of Canada. They had six children together, three boys and three girls. Two of their sons, Charles Hibbert Tupper and William Johnston Tupper, also had careers in politics...
(1826–1912), the granddaughter of Col. Joseph Morse, one of the founders of Amherst, Nova Scotia
Amherst, Nova Scotia
Amherst is a Canadian town in northwestern Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.Located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, Amherst is strategically situated on the eastern boundary of the Tantramar Marshes 3 kilometres east of the interprovincial border with New...
. The Tuppers had three sons (Orin Stewart, Charles Hibbert
Charles Hibbert Tupper
Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, KCMG, PC was a Canadian lawyer and politician.-Family, early career:Tupper was the second son of Sir Charles Tupper, a physician, leading Conservative politician, and Canadian diplomat...
, and William Johnston
William Johnston Tupper
William Johnston Tupper, was a politician and office holder in Manitoba, Canada. He served as the province's 12th Lieutenant Governor from 1934 to 1940....
) and three daughters (Emma, Elizabeth Stewart (Lilly), and Sophy Almon). The Tupper children were raised in Frances' Anglican denomination and John and Frances regularly worshipped in an Anglican church, though on the campaign trail, Tupper often found time to visit Baptist meetinghouses.
Tupper set himself up as a physician in Amherst, Nova Scotia and opened a drugstore
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
.
Early years in Nova Scotia politics, 1855–1864
The leader of the Conservative Party of Nova ScotiaProgressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia
The Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia, registered under the Nova Scotia Elections Act as the "Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia", is a moderate right-of-centre political party in Nova Scotia, Canada....
, James William Johnston
James William Johnston
James W. Johnston was a Nova Scotia lawyer and politician. He served as Premier of the colony from 1857 to 1860 and again from 1864. He was also Government Leader prior to the granting of responsible government in 1848. He was a Conservative and supporter of Confederation...
, a fellow Baptist and family friend of the Tuppers, encouraged Charles Tupper to enter politics. As such, in 1855, Tupper ran against the prominent Liberal politician Joseph Howe
Joseph Howe
Joseph Howe, PC was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, and public servant. He is one of Nova Scotia's greatest and best-loved politicians...
for the Cumberland County
Cumberland County, Nova Scotia
Cumberland County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.-History:The name Cumberland was applied by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Monckton to the captured Fort Beauséjour on June 18, 1755 in honour of the third son of King George II, William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, victor at...
seat in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
Nova Scotia House of Assembly
The Nova Scotia Legislature, consisting of Her Majesty The Queen represented by the Lieutenant Governor and the House of Assembly, is the legislative branch of the provincial government of Nova Scotia, Canada...
. Joseph Howe would be a frequent political opponent of Tupper the years to come.
Although Tupper won his seat, the 1855 election was an overall disaster for the Nova Scotia Conservatives, with the Liberals, led by William Young
William Young (politician)
Sir William Young, KCB was a Nova Scotia politician and jurist.Born in Falkirk, the son of John Young and Agnes Renny, Young was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 1836 as a Reformer and, as a lawyer, defended Reform journalists accused of libel...
, winning a large majority. Young consequently became Premier of Nova Scotia
Premier of Nova Scotia
The Premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister for the Canadian province of Nova Scotia who presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of the political party which has the most seats in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly...
.
At a caucus
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
meeting in January 1856, Tupper recommended a new direction for the Conservative party: they should begin actively courting Nova Scotia's Roman Catholic minority and should eagerly embrace railroad construction. Having just led his party into a disastrous election campaign, Johnston decided to basically cede control of the party to Tupper, though Johnston remained the party's leader. In the course of 1856, Tupper led Conservative attacks on the government, leading to Joseph Howe dubbing Tupper "the wicked wasp of Cumberland." In early 1857, Tupper succeeded in convincing a number of Roman Catholic Liberal members to cross the floor to join the Conservatives, reducing Young's government to the status of a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
. As a result, Young was forced to resign in February 1857, and the Conservatives formed a government with Johnston as premier. Tupper became the provincial secretary
Provincial Secretary
The Provincial Secretary was a senior position in the executive councils of British North America's colonial governments, and was retained by the Canadian provincial governments for at least a century after Canadian Confederation was proclaimed in 1867...
.
In Tupper's first speech to the House of Assembly as provincial secretary, he set forth an ambitious plan of railroad construction. Thus, Tupper had embarked on the major theme of his political life: that Nova Scotians (and later Canadians) should downplay their ethnic and religious differences, and instead focus on developing the land's natural resources
Natural Resources
Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...
. He argued that with Nova Scotia's "inexhaustible mines", it could become "a vast manufacturing mart" for the east coast of North America. He quickly persuaded Johnston to end the General Mining Association's monopoly over Nova Scotia minerals.
In June 1857, Tupper initiated discussions with New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
and the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
about an intercolonial railway
Intercolonial Railway of Canada
The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway , was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways...
. He traveled to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1858 to attempt to secure imperial
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
backing for this project. During these discussions, Tupper found that the Canadians were more interested in discussing federal union, while the British (with the Earl of Derby
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He was known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley...
in his second term as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
) were too absorbed in their own immediate interests. As such, nothing came of the 1858 discussions for an intercolonial railway.
An election was held in May 1859, with sectarian conflict playing a large role, with the Catholics largely supporting the Conservatives and the Protestants now shifting towards the Liberals. Tupper barely managed to retain his seat. The Conservatives were barely re-elected and lost a confidence vote later that year. Johnston asked the Governor of Nova Scotia, Lord Mulgrave
George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
George Augustus Constantine Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby, GCB, GCMG, PC , styled Viscount Normanby between 1831 and 1838 and Earl of Mulgrave between 1838 and 1863, was a British Liberal politician and colonial governor.-Background:Normanby was born in London, the son of Constantine Phipps, 1st...
, for a dissolution
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
, but Mulgrave refused and invited William Young to form a government. Tupper was outraged and petitioned the British government, asking them to recall Mulgrave.
For the next three years, Tupper was ferocious in his denunciations of the Liberal government, first Young, and then Joseph Howe, who took over from Young later in 1860. This came to a head in 1863 when the Liberals introduced legislation to restrict the Nova Scotia franchise
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
, a move which Johnston and Tupper successfully blocked.
Tupper continued practicing medicine throughout this period. He established a successful medical practice in Halifax, rising to become the city medical officer. In 1863, he was elected president of the Medical Society of Nova Scotia.
In the June 1863 election, the Conservatives campaigned on a platform of railroad construction and expanded access to public education. The Conservatives won a huge majority, with 44 of the House of Assembly's 55 seats. Johnston resumed his duties as premier and Tupper again became provincial secretary. As a further sign of the Conservatives' commitment to non-sectarianism, in 1863, after a 20-year hiatus, Dalhousie College was re-opened as a non-denominational institution of higher learning.
In May 1864, Johnston retired from politics, accepting an appointment as a judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, and Tupper was chosen as his successor as premier of Nova Scotia.
Premier of Nova Scotia, 1864–1867
Theodore Harding Rand
Theodore Harding Rand was a Canadian educator and poet.Rand was born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia in 1835. A Baptist, Rand attended Acadia College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, which had been founded by the Baptist community in 1838...
as Nova Scotia's first superintendent of education. This in turn aroused concern among Catholics, led by Archbishop Thomas-Louis Connolly
Thomas-Louis Connolly
Thomas-Louis Connolly was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, Capuchin, vicar general of the diocese of Halifax, Bishop of Saint John, and Archbishop of Halifax from 1859 to 1876....
, who demanded state-funded Catholic schools. Tupper reached a compromise with Archbishop Connolly whereby Catholic-run schools could receive public funding, so long as they provided their religious instruction after hours.
Making good on his promise for expanded railroad construction, in 1864, Tupper appointed Sandford Fleming
Sandford Fleming
Sir Sandford Fleming, was a Scottish-born Canadian engineer and inventor, proposed worldwide standard time zones, designed Canada's first postage stamp, a huge body of surveying and map making, engineering much of the Intercolonial Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was a founding...
as the chief engineer of the Nova Scotia Railway
Nova Scotia Railway
The Nova Scotia Railway is a historic Canadian railway. It was composed of two lines, one connecting Richmond with Windsor, the other connecting Richmond with Pictou via Truro....
in order to expand the line from Truro
Truro, Nova Scotia
-Education:Truro has one high school, Cobequid Educational Centre. Post-secondary options include a campus of the Nova Scotia Community College, as well as the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in the neighboring town of Bible Hill.- Sports :...
to Pictou Landing
Pictou Landing, Nova Scotia
Pictou Landing is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Pictou County .-References:*...
. He would later (Jan. 1866) award Fleming the contract to complete the line after local contractors proved too slow. Though this decision was controversial, it did result in the line from being successfully completed by May 1867. A second proposed line, from Annapolis Royal
Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
Annapolis Royal is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. Known as Port Royal until the Conquest of Acadia in 1710 by Britain, the town is the oldest continuous European settlement in North America, north of St...
to Windsor
Windsor, Nova Scotia
Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...
initially faltered, but was eventually completed by 1869 by the privately owned Windsor & Annapolis Railway
Windsor and Annapolis Railway
The Windsor and Annapolis Railway was a historic Canadian railway that operated in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.The railway ran from Windsor to Annapolis Royal and leased connections to Nova Scotia's capital of Halifax...
.
Tupper's role in securing Canadian Confederation
In the run-up to the 1859 Nova Scotia election, Tupper had been unwilling to commit to the idea of a union with the other British North American colonies. By 1860, however, he had reconsidered his position. Tupper outlined his changed position in a lecture delivered at Saint John, New BrunswickSaint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
entitled "The Political Condition of British North America." The title of the lecture was an homage to Lord Durham
John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham
John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham GCB, PC , also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in history texts simply as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General and high commissioner of British North America...
's 1838 Report on the Affairs of British North America and served as an assessment of the condition of British North America in the two decades following Lord Durham's famous report. Although Tupper was interested in the potential economic consequences of a union with the other colonies, the bulk of his lecture addressed the place of British North America within the wider British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Having been convinced by his 1858 trip to London that British politicians were unwilling to pay attention to a small colony like Nova Scotia, Tupper argued that Nova Scotia and the other Maritime
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
colonies "could never hope to occupy a position of influence or importance except in connection with their larger sister Canada." As such, Tupper proposed to create a "British America", which "stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, would in a few years exhibit to the world a great and powerful organization, with British Institutions, British sympathies, and British feelings, bound indissolubly to the throne of England
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
."
Charlottetown Conference, September 1864
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in 1861, Tupper worried that a victorious North
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
would turn northward and conquer the British North American provinces. This caused him to redouble his commitment to union, which he now saw as essential to protecting the British colonies against American aggression. Since he thought that full union among the British North American colonies would be unachievable for many years, on March 28, 1864, Tupper instead proposed a Maritime Union
Maritime Union
Maritime Union is a proposed political union of the three Maritime provinces of Canada to form a single new province which would be the fifth-largest in Canada by population...
which would unite the Maritime provinces in advance of a projected future union with the Province of Canada. A conference to discuss the proposed union of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
and Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
was scheduled to be held in Charlottetown
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...
in September 1864.
Tupper was pleasantly surprised when the Premier of the Province of Canada, John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
, asked to be allowed to attend the Charlottetown Conference
Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from the colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation...
. The Conference, which was co-chaired by Tupper and New Brunswick Premier Samuel Leonard Tilley
Samuel Leonard Tilley
Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, PC, KCMG was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Tilley was descended from United Empire Loyalists on both sides of his family...
, welcomed the Canadian delegation and asked them to join the conference. The conference proved to be a smashing success, and resulted in an agreement-in-principle to form a union of the four colonies.
Quebec Conference, October 1864
The Quebec ConferenceQuebec Conference, 1864
The Quebec Conference was the second meeting held in 1864 to discuss Canadian Confederation.The 16 delegates from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island had agreed at the close of the Charlottetown Conference to meet again at Quebec City October 1864...
was held on October 10, as a follow-up to the Charlottetown Conference, with Newfoundland only attending to observe. Tupper headed the Nova Scotia delegation to the Quebec Conference. He supported a legislative union of the colonies (which would mean that there would be only one legislature for the united colonies). However, the French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
delegates to the conference, notably George-Étienne Cartier
George-Étienne Cartier
Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, PC was a French-Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation.The English spelling of the name, George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling, is explained by his having been named in honour of King George III....
and Hector-Louis Langevin
Hector-Louis Langevin
Sir Hector-Louis Langevin, PC, KCMG, CB, QC was a Canadian lawyer, politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation....
, strongly opposed the idea of a legislative union. As such, Tupper threw his weight behind Macdonald's proposal for a federal
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
union, which would see each colony retain its own legislature, with a central legislature in charge of common interests. Tupper argued in favour of a strong central government as a second best to a pure legislative union. However, Tupper felt that the local legislatures should retain the ability to levy duties on their natural resources.
Concerned that a united legislature would be dominated by the Province of Canada, Tupper pushed for regional representation in the upper house of the confederated colonies (a goal which would be achieved in the makeup of the Senate of Canada).
On the topic of which level of government would control customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
in the union, Tupper ultimately agreed to accept the formula by which the federal government controlled customs in exchange for an annual subsidy of 80 cents a year for each Nova Scotian. This deal was ultimately not good for Nova Scotia, which had historically received most of its government revenue from customs, and as a result, Nova Scotia entered Confederation with a deficit.
Aftermath of the Quebec Conference
Although Tupper had given up much at the Quebec Conference, he thought that he would be able to convince Nova Scotians that the deal he negotiated was in sum good for Nova Scotia. He was therefore surprised when the deal he had negotiated at Quebec was roundly criticized by Nova Scotians: the Opposition Leader Adams George ArchibaldAdams George Archibald
Sir Adams George Archibald, KCMG, PC was a Canadian lawyer and politician, and a father of Confederation. He was based in Nova Scotia for most of his career, though he also served as 1st Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba from 1870 to 1872.Archibald was born in Truro to a prominent family in Nova...
was the only member of the Liberal caucus to support Confederation. Former premier Joseph Howe now organized an Anti-Confederation Party
Anti-Confederation Party
Anti-Confederation was the name used in what is now Atlantic Canada by several parties opposed to Canadian confederation.-Nova Scotia:In Nova Scotia, the "Anti-Confederates" were led by Joseph Howe. They attempted to reverse the colony's decision to join Confederation, which was initially highly...
and anti-Confederation sentiments were so strong that Tupper decided to postpone a vote of the legislature on the question of Confederation for a full year. Tupper now organized supporters of Confederation into a Confederation Party
Confederation Party
Confederation Party was a term for the parties supporting Canadian confederation in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in the 1860s when politics became polarised between supporters and opponents of Confederation. The Confederation parties were accordingly opposed by Anti-Confederation...
to push for the union.
Finally, in April 1866, Tupper secured a motion of the Nova Scotia legislature in favour of union by promising that he would renegotiate the Seventy-two Resolutions
Seventy-two resolutions
The Quebec Resolutions, also known as the seventy-two resolutions, were a set of proposals drafted at the 1864 Quebec Conference, which laid out the framework for the Canadian Constitution....
at the upcoming conference in London Conference.
London Conference, 1866
Joseph Howe had begun a pamphlet campaign in the UK to attempt to turn British public opinion against the proposed union. As such, when Tupper arrived in the UK, he immediately initiated a campaign of pamphlets and letters to the editor designed to refute Howe's assertions.Although Tupper did attempt to renegotiate the 72 Resolutions as he had promised, he was ineffective in securing any major changes. The only major change agreed to at the London Conference was one that arguably did not benefit Nova Scotia - responsibility for the fisheries, which was going to be a joint federal-provincial responsibility under the Quebec agreement, became solely a federal concern.
The final push for Confederation
Following the passage of the British North America Act in the wake of the London Conference, Tupper returned to Nova Scotia to undertake preparations for the union. The union came into effect on July 1, 1867, and on July 4, Tupper turned over responsibility for the government of Nova Scotia to Hiram BlanchardHiram Blanchard
Hiram Blanchard was a Nova Scotia lawyer, politician, and the first Premier of the province of Nova Scotia. Blanchard won election to the Nova Scotia legislative assembly in Inverness in 1859 as a Liberal....
.
In honour of the role he played in securing Confederation, Tupper was made a Companion in The Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 1867. As such, he was now entitled to use the postnomial letters "CB".
Fighting the Anti-Confederates, 1867–1869
The first electionsCanadian federal election, 1867
The Canadian federal election of 1867, held from August 7 to September 20, was the first election for the new nation of Canada. It was held to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons, representing electoral districts in the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec in the...
for the new Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
were held in August–September 1867. Tupper ran as a member for the new federal riding of Cumberland
Cumberland (electoral district)
Cumberland was a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1968. It was created in the British North America Act of 1867, and was abolished in 1966 when it was merged into Cumberland—Colchester North riding...
and won his seat. However, Tupper was the only pro-Confederation candidate to win a seat from Nova Scotia in the 1st Canadian Parliament
1st Canadian Parliament
The 1st Canadian Parliament was in session from November 6, 1867 until July 8, 1872. The membership was set by the 1867 federal election from August 7 to September 20, 1867, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was prorogued prior to the 1872 election.It was...
, with Joseph Howe and the Anti-Confederates winning every other seat.
Liberal-Conservative Party
The Liberal-Conservative Party was the formal name of the Conservative Party of Canada until 1873, although some Conservative candidates continued to run under the label as late as the 1911 election and others ran as simple Conservatives prior to 1873...
, it was widely believed that Tupper would have a place in the first Cabinet of Canada
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada...
. However, when Macdonald ran into difficulties in organizing this cabinet, Tupper stepped aside in favour of Edward Kenny
Edward Kenny
Sir Edward Kenny, PC was a Canadian politician.He was born in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, the son of Jeremiah Kenny of Ballykealy, Esq., and Johanna Crean, he moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia around 1824 where he worked as Assistant manager in the whole business " James Lyons and Co."In 1827,...
. Instead, Tupper set up a medical practice in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
and was elected as the first president of the new Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Medical Association
The Canadian Medical Association , with more than 70,000 members, is the largest association of doctors in Canada and works to represent their interests nationally. It formed in 1867, three months after Confederation...
, a position he held until 1870.
In November 1867, in provincial elections in Nova Scotia, the pro-Confederation Hiram Blanchard was defeated by the leader of the Anti-Confederation Party, William Annand
William Annand
William Annand was a Nova Scotia publisher and politician.Born in Halifax, Annand was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 1836 and supported demands for responsible government. He lost his seat in 1843 and became proprietor and editor of the Novascotian and Morning Chronicle...
. Given the unpopularity of Confederation within Nova Scotia, Joseph Howe traveled to London in 1868 to attempt to persuade the British government (headed by the earl of Derby, and then after February 1868 by Benjamin Disraeli) to allow Nova Scotia to secede from Confederation. Tupper followed Howe to London where he successfully lobbied British politicians against allowing Nova Scotia to secede.
Following his victory in London, Tupper proposed a reconciliation with Howe: in exchange for Howe's agreeing to stop fighting against the union, Tupper and Howe would be allies in the fight to protect Nova Scotia's interests within Confederation. Howe agreed to Tupper's proposal and in January 1869 entered the Canadian cabinet as President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
In the Canadian cabinet, the President of The Queen's Privy Council for Canada is nominally in charge of the Privy Council Office. The President of the Privy Council also has the largely ceremonial duty of presiding over meetings of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, a body which only convenes...
.
With the outbreak of the Red River Rebellion
Red River Rebellion
The Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance was the sequence of events related to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by the Métis leader Louis Riel and his followers at the Red River Settlement, in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba.The Rebellion was the first crisis...
in 1869, Tupper was distressed to find that his daughter Emma's husband was being held hostage by Louis Riel
Louis Riel
Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....
and the rebels. He rushed to the northwest to rescue his son-in-law.
President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, 1870–1872
When Howe's health declined the next year, Tupper finally entered the 1st Canadian Ministry by becoming Privy Council president in June 1870.The next year was dominated by a dispute with the U.S. regarding American access to the Atlantic fisheries. Tupper thought that the British should restrict American access to these fisheries so that they could negotiate from a position of strength. When Prime Minister Macdonald traveled to represent Canada's interests at the negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Washington (1871)
Treaty of Washington (1871)
The Treaty of Washington was a treaty signed and ratified by Great Britain and the United States in 1871 that settled various disputes between the countries, in particular the Alabama Claims.-Background:...
, Tupper served as Macdonald's liaison with the federal cabinet.
Minister of Inland Revenue, 1872–1873
On July 2, 1872, Tupper's service as Privy Council president ended and he became Minister of Inland RevenueMinister of Inland Revenue (Canada)
The Minister of Inland Revenue was a portfolio in the Canadian Cabinet from 1867 until 1918 when it became the Minister of Customs and Inland Revenue. In 1927, the portfolio became the Minister of National Revenue.-Ministers and Controllers of Customs:...
.
Tupper led the Nova Scotia campaign for the Liberal-Conservative party during the Canadian federal election of 1872
Canadian federal election, 1872
The Canadian federal election of 1872 was held from July 20 to October 12, 1872, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 2nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Sir John A...
. His efforts paid off when Nova Scotia returned not a single Anti-Confederate Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
to the 2nd Canadian Parliament
2nd Canadian Parliament
The 2nd Canadian Parliament was in session from March 5, 1873, until January 2, 1874. The membership was set by the 1872 federal election from July 20 to October 12, 1872, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1874 election.It was...
, and 20 of Nova Scotia's 21 MPs were Liberal-Conservatives. (The Liberal-Conservative Party changed its name to the Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
in 1873.)
Minister of Customs, 1873–1874
Minister of Customs
The office of Minister of Customs was a position in the Cabinet of the Government of Canada responsible for the administration of customs revenue collection. This position was originally created by Statute 31 Vict., c...
, and in this position he was successful in having British weights and measures
Imperial unit
The system of imperial units or the imperial system is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, which was later refined and reduced. The system came into official use across the British Empire...
adopted as the uniform standard for the united colonies.
He would not hold this post for long, however, as Macdonald's government was rocked by the Pacific Scandal
Pacific Scandal
The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving allegations of bribes being accepted by the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract...
throughout 1873. In November 1873, the 1st Canadian Ministry was forced to resign and was replaced by the 2nd Canadian Ministry headed by Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
Alexander Mackenzie
Alexander Mackenzie
Alexander Mackenzie, PC , a building contractor and newspaper editor, was the second Prime Minister of Canada from November 7, 1873 to October 8, 1878.-Biography:...
.
Years in Opposition, 1874–1878
Tupper had not been involved in the Pacific Scandal, but he nevertheless continued to support Macdonald and his Conservative colleagues both before and after the 1874 electionCanadian federal election, 1874
The Canadian federal election of 1874 was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 3rd Parliament of Canada. Sir John A...
. The 1874 election was disastrous for the Conservatives, and in Nova Scotia, Tupper was one of only two Conservative MPs returned to the 3rd Canadian Parliament
3rd Canadian Parliament
The 3rd Canadian Parliament was in session from March 26, 1874 until August 17, 1878. The membership was set by the 1874 federal election on January 22, 1874, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1878 election.It was controlled by a...
.
Though Macdonald stayed on as Conservative leader, Tupper now assumed a more prominent role in the Conservative Party and was widely seen as Macdonald's heir apparent. He led Conservative attacks on the Mackenzie government throughout the 3rd Parliament. The Mackenzie government attempted to negotiate a new free trade agreement with the United States to replace the Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty
Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty
The Canadian American Reciprocity Treaty, also known as the Elgin-Marcy Treaty, was a trade treaty between the colonies of British North America and the United States. It covered raw materials and was in effect from 1854 to 1865...
which the U.S. had abrogated in 1864. When Mackenzie proved unable to achieve reciprocity, Tupper began shifting towards protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
and became a proponent of the National Policy
National Policy
The National Policy was a Canadian economic program introduced by John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party in 1876 and put into action in 1879. It called for high tariffs on imported manufactured items to protect the manufacturing industry...
which became a part of the Conservative platform
Party platform
A party platform, or platform sometimes also referred to as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which a political party, individual candidate, or other organization supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said peoples' candidates voted into political office or...
in 1876. The sincerity of Tupper's conversion to the protectionist cause was doubted at the time, however: according to one apocryphal story, when Tupper came to the 1876 debate on Finance Minister
Minister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
Richard John Cartwright
Richard John Cartwright
Sir Richard John Cartwright, PC, GCMG, PC was a Canadian businessman and politician. He was born and raised in Kingston, Ontario in a United Empire Loyalist family, the son of Harriet Dobbs Cartwright and the grandson of Richard Cartwright...
's budget, he was prepared to advocate free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
if Cartwright had announced that the Liberals had shifted their position and were now supporting protectionism.
Tupper was also deeply critical of Mackenzie's approach to railways, arguing that the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, which would link British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
(which entered Confederation in 1871) with the rest of Canada, should be a stronger government priority than it was for Mackenzie. This position also became an integral part of the Conservative platform.
As on previous occasions when he was not in cabinet, Tupper was active in practicing medicine during the 1874–78 stint in Opposition, though he was dedicating less and less of his time to medicine during this period.
Tupper was a councillor of the Oxford Military College
Oxford Military College
Oxford Military College was an all-male private boarding school and military academy in Cowley, Oxford, England, from 1876–1896. The military college opened on 7 September 1876. Prince George, Duke of Cambridge was the patron of the Oxford Military College....
in Cowley and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
from 1876–1896.
Minister of Public Works, 1878–1879
During the 1878 electionCanadian federal election, 1878
The Canadian federal election of 1878 was held on September 17 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 4th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the end of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government after only one term in office. Canada suffered an economic depression...
Tupper again led the Conservative campaign in Nova Scotia. The Conservatives under Macdonald won a resounding majority in the election, in the process capturing 16 of Nova Scotia's 21 seats in the 4th Canadian Parliament
4th Canadian Parliament
The 4th Canadian Parliament was in session from February 13, 1879 until May 18, 1882. The membership was set by the 1878 federal election on September 17, 1878, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1882 election.It was controlled by...
.
With the formation of the 3rd Canadian Ministry in October 1878, Tupper became Minister of Public Works
Minister of Public Works (Canada)
The position of Minister of Public Works existed as part of the Cabinet of Canada from Confederation to 1995.As part of substantial governmental reorganization, the position was merged with that of the Minister of Supply and Services to create the position of Minister of Public Works and Government...
. His top priority was completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which he saw as "an Imperial Highway across the Continent of America entirely on British soil." This marked a shift in Tupper's position: although he had long argued that completion of the railway should be a major government priority, while Tupper was in Opposition, he argued that the railway should be privately constructed; he now argued that the railway ought to be completed as a public work, partly because he believed that the private sector could not complete the railroad given the recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
which gripped the country throughout the 1870s.
Minister of Railways and Canals, 1879–1884
In May 1879, Macdonald decided that completion of the railway was such a priority that he created a new ministry to focus just on railways and canals, and Tupper became Canada's first Minister of Railways and CanalsMinister of Railways and Canals (Canada)
The portfolio of Minister of Railways and Canals was created by Statute 42 Victoria, c. 7, assented to May 15, 1879 and proclaimed in force May 20, 1879. The Minister was the member of the Canadian Cabinet responsible for the administration of the Department of Railways and Canals...
.
Tupper's motto as Minister of Railways and Canals was "Develop our resources." He stated "I have always supposed that the great object, in every country, and especially in a new country, was to draw as [many] capitalists into it as possible."
Tupper traveled to London in summer 1879 to attempt to persuade the British government (then headed by the earl of Beaconsfield in his second term as prime minister) to guarantee a bond
Government bond
A government bond is a bond issued by a national government denominated in the country's own currency. Bonds are debt investments whereby an investor loans a certain amount of money, for a certain amount of time, with a certain interest rate, to a company or country...
sale to be used to construct the railway. He was not successful, though he did manage to purchase 50,000 tons of steel rails at a bargain price. Tupper's old friend Sandford Fleming oversaw the railway construction, but his inability to keep costs down led to political controversy, and Tupper was forced to remove Fleming as Chief Engineer in May 1880.
1879 also saw Tupper made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, and thus entitled to use the postnominal letters "KCMG".
George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen
George Stephen, 1st Baron of Mount Stephen , known as Sir Stephen, between 1778 and 1891.-Canadian Pacific Railway syndicate:...
approached Tupper on behalf of a syndicate
Syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies or entities formed to transact some specific business, or to promote a common interest or in the case of criminals, to engage in organized crime...
and asked to be allowed to take over construction of the railway. Convinced that Stephen's syndicate was up to the task, Tupper convinced the cabinet to back the plan at a meeting in June 1880 and, together with Macdonald, negotiated a contract with the syndicate in October. The syndicate successfully created the Canadian Pacific Railway Company
Canadian Pacific Limited
Canadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, a transportation and mining giant in Canada...
in February 1881 and assumed construction of the railway shortly thereafter.
In the next years, Tupper would be a vocal supporter of the CPR during its competition with the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
. In December 1883, he worked out a rescue plan for the CPR after it faced financial difficulties and persuaded his party and Parliament to accept the plan.
In addition to his support for completion of the CPR, Tupper also actively managed the existing railways in the colonies. Shortly after becoming minister in 1879, he forced the Intercolonial Railway to lower its freight rates, which had been a major grievance of Maritime business interests. He then forced the Grand Trunk Railway to sell its Rivière-du-Loup
Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec
Rivière-du-Loup is a small city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the judicial district of Kamouraska.-History:...
line to the Intercolonial Railway to complete a link between Halifax and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Furthermore, he refused to give the CPR running rights over the Intercolonial Railway, though he did convince the CPR to build the Short Line from Halifax to Saint John.
In terms of canals, Tupper's time as Minister of Railways and Canals is notable for large expenditures on widening the Welland Canal
Welland Canal
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Canada that extends from Port Weller, Ontario, on Lake Ontario, to Port Colborne, Ontario, on Lake Erie. As a part of the St...
and deepening the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
.
Deterioration of relationship with Macdonald and appointment as High Commissioner
A rift developed between Tupper and Macdonald in 1879 over Sandford Fleming, whom Tupper supported but whom Macdonald wanted removed as Chief Engineer of the CPR. This rift was partially healed and Tupper and Macdonald managed to work together during the negotiations with George Stephen's syndicate in 1880, but the men were no longer close, and Tupper no longer seemed to be Macdonald's heir apparent. By early 1881, Tupper had determined that he should leave the cabinet. In March 1881, he asked Macdonald to appoint him as Canada's High CommissionerHigh Commissioner (Commonwealth)
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a High Commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another.-History:...
in London. Macdonald initially refused, and Alexander Tilloch Galt
Alexander Tilloch Galt
Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, GCMG, PC was a politician and a father of Canadian Confederation.He was born in Chelsea, England, the son of Scottish novelist and colonizer, John Galt, and Elizabeth Tilloch Galt. He was a cousin of Sir Hugh Allan.Alexander Galt is interred in the Mount Royal Cemetery...
retained the High Commissioner's post.
During the 1882 election
Canadian federal election, 1882
The Canadian federal election of 1882 was held on June 20, 1882 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Canada.Prime Minister Sir John A...
, Tupper campaigned only in Nova Scotia (he normally campaigned throughout the country): he was again successful, with the Conservatives winning 14 of Nova Scotia's 21 seats in the 5th Canadian Parliament
5th Canadian Parliament
The 5th Canadian Parliament was in session from February 8, 1883 until January 15, 1887. The membership was set by the 1882 federal election on June 20, 1882, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1887 election. It was controlled by a...
. The 1882 election was personally significant for Tupper because it saw his son, Charles Hibbert Tupper
Charles Hibbert Tupper
Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, KCMG, PC was a Canadian lawyer and politician.-Family, early career:Tupper was the second son of Sir Charles Tupper, a physician, leading Conservative politician, and Canadian diplomat...
, elected as MP for Pictou
Pictou (electoral district)
Pictou was a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1968. It was created in the British North America Act of 1867. It consisted of the County of Pictou. It was abolished in 1966 when it was merged into the riding of...
.
Early years as High Commissioner, 1883–1887
During his time as High Commissioner, Tupper sought to vigorously defend Canada's rights. Thus, although he was not a full plenipotentiary
Plenipotentiary
The word plenipotentiary has two meanings. As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers." In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat fully authorized to represent his government as a prerogative...
, he represented Canada at a Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
conference in 1883, where he openly disagreed with the British delegation; and in 1884 was allowed to conduct negotiations for a Canadian commercial treaty with Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Tupper was concerned with promoting immigration to Canada
Immigration to Canada
Immigration to Canada is the process by which people migrate to Canada to reside permanently in the country. The majority of these individuals become Canadian citizens. After 1947, domestic immigration law and policy went through major changes, most notably with the Immigration Act, 1976, and the...
and made several tours of various countries in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to encourage immigrants to move to Canada. A report in 1883 acknowledges the work of Sir Charles Tupper:
As directing emigration from the United Kingdom and also the Continent, his work has been greatly valuable; and especially in reference to the arrangements made by him on the Continent and in Ireland. The High Commissioner for Canada, Sir Charles Tupper, has been aided during the past year by the same Emigration Agents of the Department in the United Kingdom as in 1882, namely, Mr. John Dyke, Liverpool; Mr. Thomas Grahame, Glasgow; Mr. Charles Foy, Belfast; Mr. Thomas Connolly, Dublin, and Mr. J.W. Down, Bristol. On the European Continent, Dr. Otto Hahn, of Reutlingen, has continued to act as Agent in Germany.
In 1883, Tupper convinced William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
's government to exempt Canadian cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
from the general British ban on importing American cattle by demonstrating that Canadian cattle was free of disease.
His other duties as High Commissioner included: putting Canadian exporters in contact with British importers; negotiating loans for the Canadian government and the CPR; helping to organize the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
Colonial and Indian Exhibition
The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was a very substantial exhibition held in South Kensington in London, and intended "to stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majesty's Empire"...
of 1886; arranging for a subsidy for the mail ship from Vancouver, British Columbia to the Orient
Orient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
; and lobbying on behalf of a British-Pacific cable along the lines of the transatlantic telegraph cable
Transatlantic telegraph cable
The transatlantic telegraph cable was the first cable used for telegraph communications laid across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. It crossed from , Foilhommerum Bay, Valentia Island, in western Ireland to Heart's Content in eastern Newfoundland. The transatlantic cable connected North America...
and for a faster transatlantic steam ship.
Tupper was also present at the founding meeting of the Imperial Federation League
Imperial Federation League
The Imperial Federation League was a 19th century organisation which aimed to promote Imperial Federation.-Formation:It was founded in London in 1884. Branches were established in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados and British Guiana. It aimed to promote Imperial Federation. Canada...
in July 1884, where he argued against a resolution which said that the only options open to the British Empire were Imperial Federation
Imperial Federation
Imperial Federation was a late-19th early-20th century proposal to create a federated union in place of the existing British Empire.-Motivators:...
or disintegration. Tupper believed that a form of limited federation was possible and desirable.
Interlude as Minister of Finance, 1887–1888
1884 saw the election of Liberal William Stevens FieldingWilliam Stevens Fielding
William Stevens Fielding, PC was a Canadian Liberal politician, the seventh Premier of Nova Scotia , and the federal finance minister 1896–1911 and 1921–25.-Early life:...
as Premier of Nova Scotia after Fielding campaigned on a platform of leading Nova Scotia out of Confederation. As such, throughout 1886, Macdonald begged Tupper to return to Canada to fight the Anti-Confederates. In January 1887, Tupper returned to Canada to rejoin the 3rd Canadian Ministry as Minister of Finance of Canada
Minister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
, all the while retaining his post as High Commissioner.
During the 1887 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1887
The Canadian federal election of 1887 was held on February 22, 1887 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Canada.The Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A...
, Tupper again presented the pro-Confederation argument to the people of Nova Scotia, and again the Conservatives won 14 of Nova Scotia's 21 seats in the 6th Canadian Parliament
6th Canadian Parliament
The 6th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 13, 1887 until February 3, 1891. The membership was set by the 1887 federal election on February 22, 1887, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1891 election.It was controlled by a...
.
During his year as finance minister, Tupper retained the government's commitment to protectionism, even extending it to the iron and steel industry. By this point, Tupper was convinced that Canada was ready to move on to its second stage of industrial development
Industrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
. In part, he held out the prospect of the development of a great iron industry as an inducement to keep Nova Scotia from seceding.
Tupper's unique position of being both Minister of Finance and High Commissioner to London served him well in an emerging crisis in American-Canadian relations: in 1885, the U.S. abrogated the fisheries clause of the Treaty of Washington (1871), and the Canadian government retaliated against American fishermen with a narrow reading of the Treaty of 1818
Treaty of 1818
The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, was a...
. Acting as High Commissioner, Tupper pressured the British government (then led by Lord Salisbury
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
) to stand firm in defending Canada's rights. The result was the appointment of a Joint Commission in 1887, with Tupper serving as one of the three British commissioners to negotiate with the Americans. Salisbury selected Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
as one of the British commissioners. John Thompson served as the British delegation's legal counsel. During the negotiations, U.S. Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard
Thomas F. Bayard
Thomas Francis Bayard was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served three terms as U.S. Senator from Delaware, and as U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.-Early life and family:Bayard was born in...
complained that "Mr. Chamberlain has yielded the control of the negotiations over to Sir Charles Tupper, who subjects the questions to the demands of Canadian politics." The result of the negotiations was a treaty (the Treaty of Washington of 1888) that made such concessions to Canada that it was ultimately rejected by the American Senate in February 1888. However, although the treaty was rejected, the Commission had managed to temporarily resolve the dispute.
Following the conclusion of these negotiations, Tupper decided to return to London to become High-Commissioner full-time. Macdonald attempted to persuade Tupper to stay in Ottawa: during the political crisis surrounding the 1885 North-West Rebellion
North-West Rebellion
The North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada...
, Macdonald had pledged to nominate Sir Hector-Louis Langevin as his successor; Macdonald now told Tupper that he would break this promise and nominate Tupper as his successor. Tupper was not convinced, however, and resigned as Minister of Finance on May 23, 1888, and moved back to London.
Later years as High Commissioner, 1888–1895
In 1889, tensions were high between the U.S. and Canada when the U.S. banned Canadians from engaging in the seal hunt in the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
as part of the ongoing Bering Sea Dispute between the U.S. and Britain. Tupper traveled to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to represent Canadian interests during the negotiations and was something of an embarrassment to the British diplomats.
When, in 1890, the provincial secretary of Newfoundland, Robert Bond
Robert Bond
Sir Robert Bond was the Prime Minister of Newfoundland from 1900 to 1909. He was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, as the son of merchant John Bond. Bond grew up in St. John's until 1872 when his father died and left the family a good deal of money...
, negotiated a fisheries treaty with the U.S. that Tupper felt was not in Canada's interest, Tupper successfully persuaded the British government (then under Lord Salisbury's second term) to reject the treaty.
As noted above, Tupper remained an active politician during his time as High Commissioner, which was controversial because diplomats are traditionally expected to be nonpartisan. (Tupper's successor as High Commissioner, Donald Smith
Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal
Sir Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, GCMG, GCVO, PC, DL was a Scottish-born Canadian fur trader, financier, railroad baron and politician.-Early life:...
would succeed in turning the High Commissioner's office into a nonpartisan office.) As such, Tupper returned to Canada to campaign on behalf of the Conservatives' National Policy during the 1891 election
Canadian federal election, 1891
The Canadian federal election of 1891 was held on March 5 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Canada. It was won by the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald....
.
With respect to the British Empire, Tupper advocated a system of mutual preferential trading. In a series of articles in Nineteenth Century
Nineteenth Century (periodical)
The Nineteenth Century was a British monthly literary magazine founded in 1877 by Sir James Knowles. Many of the early contributors to The Nineteenth Century were members of the Metaphysical Society. The journal was intended to publish debate by leading intellectuals.In 1900, the title was changed...
in 1891 and 1892, Tupper denounced the position that Canada should unilaterally reduce its tariff on British goods. Rather, he argued that any such tariff reduction should only come as part of a wider trade agreement in which tariffs on Canadian goods would also be reduced at the same time.
Sir John A. Macdonald's death in 1891 opened the possibility of Tupper replacing him as prime minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
, but Tupper enjoyed life in London and decided against returning to Canada. He recommended that his son support Sir John Thompson's prime ministerial bid.
Tupper becomes prime minister, 1895–1896
Sir John Thompson died suddenly in office in December 1894. Many observers expected the Governor General of CanadaGovernor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
, Lord Aberdeen
John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC , known as The Earl of Aberdeen from 1870 to 1916, was a Scottish politician...
, to invite Tupper to return to Canada to become prime minister. However, Lord Aberdeen disliked Tupper and instead invited Sir Mackenzie Bowell to replace Thompson as prime minister.
Manitoba Schools Question
The Manitoba Schools Question was a political crisis in the Canadian Province of Manitoba that occurred late in the 19th century, involving publicly funded separate schools for Roman Catholics and Protestants...
. The Conservative Party was bitterly divided as to how to handle the Manitoba Schools Question, and as a result, on January 4, 1896, seven cabinet ministers resigned, demanding the return of Tupper. As a result, Bowell and Aberdeen were forced to invite Tupper to join the 6th Canadian Ministry
6th Canadian Ministry
The Sixth Canadian Ministry was the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Sir Mackenzie Bowell. It governed Canada from 21 December 1894 to 27 April 1896, including only the last year of the 7th Canadian Parliament...
and on January 15 Tupper became Secretary of State for Canada
Secretary of State for Canada
The position of Secretary of State for Canada was a Canadian Cabinet position with a corresponding department. It was established in 1867 as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London...
, with the understanding that he would become prime minister following the dissolution of the 7th Canadian Parliament
7th Canadian Parliament
The 7th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 29, 1891 until April 24, 1896. The membership was set by the 1891 federal election on March 5, 1891, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1896 election.It was controlled by a...
.
Returning to Canada, Tupper was elected to the 7th Canadian Parliament as member for Cape Breton
Cape Breton (electoral district)
Cape Breton was a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1904. It was created as part of the British North America Act in 1867....
during a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held on February 4, 1896. At this point, Tupper was the de facto prime minister, though legally Bowell was still prime minister.
Tupper's position on the Manitoba Schools Act was that French Catholics in Manitoba had been promised the right to separate state-funded French-language Catholic schools in the Manitoba Act
Manitoba Act
The Manitoba Act, originally titled An Act to amend and continue the Act 32 and 33 Victoria, chapter 3; and to establish and provide for the Government of the Province of Manitoba, is an act of the Parliament of Canada that is defined by the Constitution Act, 1982 as forming a part of the...
of 1870. Thus, even though he personally opposed French-language Catholic schools in Manitoba, he believed that the government should stand by its promise and therefore oppose Dalton McCarthy
Dalton McCarthy
Dalton McCarthy , or D'Alton McCarthy, was a Canadian lawyer and parliamentarian. It was his firm, Boulton & McCarthy in Barrie, that was the first incarnation of what is now Canada's largest law firm, McCarthy Tétrault.McCarthy was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1878...
's Manitoba Schools Act. He maintained this position even after the Manitoba Schools Act was upheld by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
.
In 1895, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council had also ruled that the Canadian federal government could pass remedial legislation to overrule the Manitoba Schools Act (see Disallowance and reservation
Disallowance and reservation
Disallowance and reservation are constitutional powers that theoretically exist in certain Commonwealth realms to delay or overrule legislation. Originally created to retain the Crown's authority over colonial authorities across the British Empire, these powers are now generally obsolete, or have...
). Thus, in February 1896, Tupper introduced this remedial legislation in the House of Commons. The bill was filibustered by a combination of extreme Protestants led by McCarthy and Liberals led by Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....
. This filibuster resulted in Tupper abandoning the bill and asking for a dissolution.
Prime Minister of Canada, May–July 1896
7th Canadian Ministry
The Seventh Canadian Ministry was the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper. It governed Canada from 1 May to 8 July 1896. It was formed after the 7th Canadian Parliament was dissolved, and lost the 8th Canadian federal election, so it never faced a parliament...
with Tupper as prime minister was sworn in on May 1 making him, with John Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
and Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
, the only Prime Ministers to never sit in Parliament as Prime Minister. Tupper remains the oldest person ever to become Canadian prime minister, at 74.
Throughout the 1896 election
Canadian federal election, 1896
The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...
campaign, Tupper argued that the real issue of the election was the future of Canadian industry, and insisted that Conservatives needed to unite to defeat the Patrons of Industry
Patrons of Industry
The Grand Association of the Patrons of Industry in Ontario was a Canadian farmers' organization formed in 1890 that cooperated with the urban labour movement to address the political frustrations of both groups with big business....
. However, the Conservatives were so bitterly divided over the Manitoba Schools Question that wherever he spoke, he was faced with a barrage of criticism, most notably at a two-hour address he gave at Massey Hall
Massey Hall
Massey Hall is a venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The theatre originally was designed to seat 3,500 patrons but, after extensive renovations in the 1940s, now seats up to 2,765....
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, which was constantly interrupted by the crowd.
Wilfrid Laurier, on the other hand, modified the traditional Liberal stance on free trade and embraced aspects of the National Policy.
In the end, the Conservatives won the most votes in the 1896 election (48.2% of the votes, in comparison to 41.4% for the Liberals). However, they captured only about half of the seats in English Canada
English Canada
English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following:# English-speaking Canadians, as opposed to French-speaking Canadians. It is employed when comparing English- and French-language literature, media, or art...
, while Laurier's Liberals won a landslide victory in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, where Tupper's reputation as an ardent imperialist was a major handicap. Tupper's inability to persuade Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, PC, KCMG , born in Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, was a French-Canadian lawyer and politician....
to return to active politics as his Quebec lieutenant
Quebec lieutenant
In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant is a politician, from Quebec, usually a francophone and most often a Member of Parliament or at least a current or former candidate for Parliament, who is selected by a senior politician such as the Prime Minister or the leader of a national federal party,...
was the nail in the coffin for the Conservatives' campaign in Quebec.
Although Laurier had clearly won the election on June 24, Tupper initially refused to cede power, insisting that Laurier would be unable to form a government. However, when Tupper attempted to make appointments as prime minister, Lord Aberdeen stepped in, dismissing Tupper and inviting Laurier to form a government. Tupper maintained that Lord Aberdeen's actions were unconstitutional.
Tupper's 68 days is the shortest term of all prime ministers. His government never faced a Parliament.
Leader of the Opposition, 1896–1900
8th Canadian Parliament
The 8th Canadian Parliament was in session from August 19, 1896 until October 9, 1900. The membership was set by the 1896 federal election on June 23, 1896, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1900 election.It was controlled by a...
, Tupper attempted to regain the loyalty of those Conservatives who had deserted the party over the Manitoba Schools Question
Manitoba Schools Question
The Manitoba Schools Question was a political crisis in the Canadian Province of Manitoba that occurred late in the 19th century, involving publicly funded separate schools for Roman Catholics and Protestants...
. He played up loyalty to the British Empire. Tupper strongly supported Canadian participation in the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, which broke out in 1899, and criticized Laurier for not doing enough to support Britain in the war.
The 1900 election
Canadian federal election, 1900
The Canadian federal election of 1900 was held on November 7 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Canada. As a result of the election, the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, was re-elected to a second majority government, defeating the...
saw the Conservatives pick up 17 Ontario seats in the 9th Canadian Parliament
9th Canadian Parliament
The 9th Canadian Parliament was in session from February 6, 1901 until September 29, 1904. The membership was set by the 1900 federal election on November 7, 1900, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1904 election.It was controlled...
. This was a small consolation, however, as Laurier and the Liberals won a definitive majority and had a clear mandate for a second term. What was worse for Tupper, for the first time ever, was the fact he had failed to carry his own seat, losing the Cape Breton seat to Liberal Alexander Johnston
Alexander Johnston (Canadian politician)
Alexander Johnston was a Canadian journalist, civil servant and politician.Born in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Johnston was educated at the Common Schools and St. Francis Xavier College, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He was the editor and proprietor of the Sydney Daily Record...
. In November 1900, two weeks after the election, Tupper stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition - the caucus chose as his successor fellow Nova Scotian Robert Laird Borden.
Later years, 1901–1915
Following his defeat in the 1900 election, Tupper and his wife settled with their daughter Emma in BexleyheathBexleyheath
Bexleyheath is a main suburban district of Southeast London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley with a small percentage of the district itself being in the London Borough of Greenwich. Bexleyheath is located on the border of Inner London and Outer London. It is east south-east of Charing Cross...
in southeast London. He continued to make frequent trips to Canada to visit his sons Charles Hibbert Tupper
Charles Hibbert Tupper
Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, KCMG, PC was a Canadian lawyer and politician.-Family, early career:Tupper was the second son of Sir Charles Tupper, a physician, leading Conservative politician, and Canadian diplomat...
and William Johnston Tupper
William Johnston Tupper
William Johnston Tupper, was a politician and office holder in Manitoba, Canada. He served as the province's 12th Lieutenant Governor from 1934 to 1940....
, both of whom were Canadian politicians.
Tupper remained interested in imperial politics, and particularly with promoting Canada's place within the British Empire. He sat on the executive committee of the British Empire League
British Empire League
The British Empire League was formed in London in 1894 in order to support the ideology of British imperialism and to promote loyalty to and the unity of the British Empire...
and advocated closer economic ties between Canada and Britain, while continuing to oppose Imperial Federation and requests for Canada to make a direct contribution to imperial defense costs (though he supported Borden's decision to voluntarily make an emergency contribution of dreadnoughts to the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in 1912).
In his retirement, Tupper wrote his memoirs, entitled Recollections of Sixty Years in Canada, which were published in 1914. He also gave a series of interviews to journalist W. A. Harkin which formed the basis of a second book published in 1914, entitled Political Reminiscences of the Right Honourable Sir Charles Tupper.
Tupper's wife, Lady Tupper
Frances Tupper
Frances Amélia, Lady Tupper was the wife of Sir Charles Tupper, the sixth Prime Minister of Canada. They had six children together, three boys and three girls. Two of their sons, Charles Hibbert Tupper and William Johnston Tupper, also had careers in politics...
died in May 1912. His eldest son Orin died in April 1915 .
On October 30, 1915, in Bexleyheath, Tupper died of heart failure. He was the last of the original Fathers of Confederation
Fathers of Confederation
The Fathers of Confederation are the people who attended the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences in 1864 and the London Conference of 1866 in England, preceding Canadian Confederation. The following lists the participants in the Charlottetown, Quebec, and London Conferences and their attendance at...
to die, and had lived the longest life of any Canadian prime minister, at 94 years, four months.
His body was returned to Canada on board the HMS Blenheim
HMS Blenheim (1890)
HMS Blenheim was a Blake class first class protected cruiser that served in the Royal Navy from 1890–1926.Launched 5 July 1890, she displaced 9,150 tons and her steel hull measured 375 feet and 65 feet with turning 2 propellers giving a top speed of...
(the same vessel that had carried the body of Tupper's colleague, Sir John Thompson to Halifax when Thompson died in England in 1894) and he was buried in St. John's Cemetery, Halifax
St. John's Cemetery, Halifax
St. John's Cemetery is a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia and forms a series of cemeteries in the Fairview area of Halifax St. John's Cemetery is a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia and forms a series of cemeteries in the Fairview area of Halifax St. John's Cemetery is a cemetery in Halifax, Nova...
in Halifax following a state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
with a mile-long procession.
Legacy
Tupper will be most remembered as a Father of Confederation, and his long career as a federal cabinet minister, rather than his brief time as Prime Minister. As the Premier of Nova ScotiaPremier of Nova Scotia
The Premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister for the Canadian province of Nova Scotia who presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of the political party which has the most seats in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly...
from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
into Confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
and persuaded Joseph Howe
Joseph Howe
Joseph Howe, PC was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, and public servant. He is one of Nova Scotia's greatest and best-loved politicians...
to join the new federal government, bringing an end to the anti-Confederation movement in Nova Scotia.
In their 1999 study of the Canadian Prime Ministers through Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
, J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer
Norman Hillmer
George Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....
included the results of a survey of Canadian historians ranking the Prime Ministers. Tupper ranked #16 out of the 20 up to that time, due to his extremely short tenure in which he was unable to accomplish anything of significance. Historians noted that despite Tupper's elderly age, he showed a determination and spirit during his brief time as Prime Minister that almost beat Laurier in the 1896 election
External links
- Biography from First Among Equals
- Biography from Library and Archives Canada website
- "The Life of Sir Charles Tupper" from the June 1939 edition of the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association
- The Right Hon. Sir Charles Tupper, P.C., G.C.M.G., C.B., LL.D., M.D., 1821–1915 from the 12 June 1965 edition of the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association
- Sir John and Sir Charles, or The Secrets of the Syndicate - an 1881 Shakespearean satire on Macdonald and Tupper's roles in awarding George Stephen's syndicate control of the Canadian Pacific Railway
- Tupper's grave site
- Sir Charles Tupper- The Big Man, a short National Film Board film about Tupper.