was forced to defy his political friends at Ottawa and take definite action for the construction of a railway from Winnipeg to the International boundary line. The Red River Valley Railway was undertaken as a government work. The political trouble that followed forced Mr. Norquay to resign. He was followed by Mr. D. H. Harrison. The new government, however, was doomed. In a short time Dr. Harrison also resigned. Early in 1888 Mr. Thomas Greenway, the leader of the Liberal oppOsition, became premier. Both political parties in the province were now united in the fight against Canadian Pacific monopoly. In the face of a dangerous public opinion, the Dominion government was forced to yield. The province was given the right to charter local railways. To satisfy the claim of the Can- adian Pacific Railway, the Dominion government guaran- teed the interest on bonds of that company to the amount of $15,OOO,OOO. As a large part of this sum was spent on the building of new railways, Manitoba profited both by the abolition of the monopoly clause and by the guaranteeing of bonds. However, the Greenway government did not undertake the building of local railways as a government work. The building of the Red River Railway and of a line to Portage La Prairie was turned over to the Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway Company. The Canadian Pacific now tried in every way to hinder the building of the new railways. In an attempt to prevent the crossing of the Canadian Pacific tracks, an armed conflict between employees of the company and armed forces of the government was narrowly averted at "Fort Whyte," near Winnipeg. At the height of the struggle, the Supreme Court of Canada decided the right of crossing in favour of the province. This decision put an end to all interference. And now came the beginning of the bitter conflict which was to pass into Dominion politics as the "Manitoba school question." Up to 1890 there had been in the province two boards of education, the one in charge of the Protestant schools, the other in charge of the Roman Catholic schools. By an Act introduced into the Legislature, in 1890, by Mr. Joseph Martin, the attorney-general, these two boards were abolished. The control of education in the province was placed under a department of the government, assisted by an advisory board with definite powers. Protestants and Roman Catholics alike were to be taxed for the support of a single system of public school education. At the same session an Act was passed making English alone the official language in the courts and in the legislature. The Roman Catholic minority claimed that both these Acts violated the "treaty rights"' contained in the Manitoba Act, under which the province had entered confederation. The minority asserted that their right to "separate schools" was definitely established by the Manitoba Act and could not be interfered with. An immediate appeal was made to the courts. Finally, the Imperial Privy Council gave its decision that the province was entirely within its rights in passing the school legislation. An appeal for relief was then made to the Dominion government on behalf of the minority. The Privy Council decided that it was within the powers of the Dominion Government to grant such relief as it might think best. A bill for this purpose was, in 1896, brought into Parliament by the government of Sir Charles Tupper. But the opposition in the House of Commons was so strong that the bill was withdrawn. In the election that followed the "Manitoba school question" was perhaps the leading cause of the defeat of the government. Sir Wilfrid Laurier at once took up the question with the Manitoba government and, as we have seen, arrived at a settlement. |
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