Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island to Havre Boucher, Nova
Scotia
Saturday 17 September 2005 (day 118)
With John MacDonald, first
Premier
Forgetting that today was Saturday I had expected to be woken early
by the workmen on the building site behind us. Without that wake up
call though we slept in late and it was getting close to nine by the
time we woke up. Bad news as we had planned to be up and out early
as we want to head back on the ferry to Nova Scotia today but still
have things we want to see in Charlottetown before we go. We were
delayed a bit longer than planned by a little laundry problem. Stef
went to collect the washing he had put in the dryer. Unfortunately
it was still wet as he had not read the last part of the
instructions that say "push the start button". It took him a while
to work out what had gone wrong!
We headed into town to the Founders Hall - Canada's Birthplace
Pavilion. Its a new attraction and has replayed the story of the
founding of the Canadian Federation, setting it into a modern news
reporting style. Little headsets allow you to listen in to the news
broadcasts as you work your way around. The history is interesting
and is initially a story of the British North American colonies
wanting greater political and economic strength and better
commercial opportunities. What started as off the record
conversations in Charlottetown PEI resulted in the Canadian
confederation which is still changing to the current day.
In 1864, the Maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI)
agreed to meet to open discussions on uniting. The then province of
Canada (today's Ontario and Quebec), hearing of the meeting decided
to come along as they wanted to start discussions on wider
union. They had a successful meeting, during which nothing was
documented, but there were lots of dinners and parties and they
reached agreement in principle. A month later, they met in Quebec
and drew up and documented the framework for the confederation. The
treaty confirming their plans was drawn up in London in 1865 and on
1 July 1867 the new Confederation came into being. Meanwhile,
on the west coast Vancouver Island and British Columbia decided to
unite in 1866.
In 1869, the Métis Indians (mixed race descendents of white men and
Indian women) became concerned that their lands were being opened up
to new settlers. Their concerns were not heeded until they occupied
the Upper Fort Garry, led by Louis Riel. He successfully negotiated
the founding of a separate province for the Métis, Manitoba, but was
considered a bad element, was exiled and then later hanged. He is
now considered one of the fathers of the Confederation.
In 1870 the Hudson Bay company sold to Canada (because they were
forced to by Britain) the Northwest Territories, Alberta and
Saskatchewan. British Columbia joined the confederation in 1871, and
PEI (who had opted out despite being one of the initial parties to
the table) reluctantly joined in 1873. Theirs was an economic
decision. They were badly in debt and needed financial help which
the Confederation agreed to give. Newfoundland finally joined in
1949, again for economic reasons.
The Northwest Territories has reduced in size over the years with
the creation of two new provinces. In 1898 the Yukon was formed to
ensure that law and order could be maintained during the Klondike
Gold Rush years. Nunavut was formed recently in 1999, fulfilling a
long wish of the Inuit people that they could have a self governed
territory. In the middle of all of this, Canada was granted
Independence in 1931.
Founders Hall provides a detailed description of the people involved
in developing and shaping the Confederation and the trials and
tribulations they had to go through. It was by no means plain
sailing, especially in PEI where the local people felt the
Confederation was not for them. At the end of the museum tour they
had a great film based montage of people across Canada. Most had no
more than a few seconds on film as all they had to do was say where
they came from. It was a great way to create an impression of the
Canadian landscape and the friendliness of its people.
After the Founders Hall we went up to Province House, the building
where the initial 1864 discussions took place. It has been restored
back to the decor in place at that time. The Confederation Chamber
is relatively modest in size considering the importance of the
discussions that were held there. It must have been pretty cramped
in there with over twenty delegates. The clerks office and library
were also trips down memory land and I could picture important
gentlemen of the day huddled around the tables concocting their
plans and reaching consensus.
The building is still home to the Legislative Assembly for PEI. The
assembly room had a much more practical and functional feel to it. I
suspect a lot more fun was had in the Confederation Chamber! The
building itself is a neo-classical three storey sandstone building,
whose design was opened up to competition which was won (from
memory) by a Scot. Outside the main door, the step has a big dip
where it has been worn away over the years. The local story says
that as the farmers came in to pay their taxes, they stomped their
hob nailed boots here to get rid of the mud. They must have come out
on the same side of the door though as only one side is worn away.
With a ferry to catch we then made tracks leaving Charlottetown with
a good feeling and with enough still to do to come back again one
day. We headed straight back to Wood Islands and made the ferry port
with loads of time to spare. We wanted to cross back today as
Confederation Bridge (13km long), the other access point for the
island, is closed tomorrow for the annual Terry Fox run. He was a
young man suffering from cancer who set out to run from Newfoundland
to Vancouver to raise money. Sadly, he only made it half way before
the cancer got the better of him. He has inspired thousands here and
worldwide and there is now an active cancer movement in his name.
Our other reason for heading back earlier than we otherwise would
have is that the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia, now a tropical
storm, is heading for Nova Scotia and PEI and I for one did not want
to be on a ferry when it hit! On our way over the ferry was full
with lots of big trucks and we were squidged in at the back. This
time round it was barely a third full. We camped out in the cafe
having a bowl of seafood chowder each to warm up. The crossing was
fine, a slight roll to the ferry and the odd grating noise as waves
hit the propellers or rudder at an odd angle, and before long we
were back at Caribou on Nova Scotia.
Driving back through Pictou we stopped off at the Sobeys
supermarket. This is a chain throughout the Maritimes and the first
branch was opened here in Pictou. I suspect it was very different
from todays! I failed to persuade Stef to stay locally in Pictou to
avoid having to drive in what was worsening weather. He wanted to
get further up the coast so we were near to Cape Breton for an early
start tomorrow.
The next two hours for me were a bit hairy. It was dark, very wet
and very windy, the type of weather I do not enjoy driving home from
work in and I know that route and my car very well. Here we were on
unknown roads and in a still not wholly familiar vehicle. I told
Stef he was barking mad for driving but this probably just served to
make him even more determined to get to Havre Boucher, our chosen
stop for the night.
We turned off the main road onto the little side road for the
campsite, breaking suddenly to avoid hitting a skunk crossing the
road. The campsite was set mainly in woodlands and I flatly refused
to take a site amongst trees when a storm was expected. They did
have open sites and we were one of four RV's there that night (no
signs of life were evident in one of them so they must have opted
for a hotel). By the time we were there and rigged up it was past
nine. I was not a happy bunny as I knew it would be quicker and
easier if I did the required chores (making the bed and cooking
dinner) and I was really too tired to want to do either.
Dinner was a curry, very nice at the time but as I write this a
couple of days later we are still paying the price as Mortimer now
has a distinctly Indian odour that so far is being quite resistant
to our air freshener!
