Playing Politics

By 1872, Sanford Fleming - engineer who mapped a lot of the CPR routes - had settled on the Yellowhead Pass approach  for the railway. However, he later abandoned that plan and chose the Fraser route. Why will probably never be known. Fleming's personal memoirs don't shed light on the issue and the official CPR statements were designed to conceal, rather than enlighten. So many  factors come into play. Tremendous political pressure, extreme public agitation and complex and difficult economic considerations may have played a part in the railway sometimes announcing a firm decision. CPR, however, was not averse to prolonging the suspense and concealing its decisions when it could profit from the public uncertainty. As we will see in the case of the railway coming to Vancouver.

All the 70s, controversy raged. During the inquiry into the Pacific Scandal of 1873, Moberly  came close to accusing Fleming of attempted murder during a public testimony. According to Moberly, Fleming had abandoned him and his men for the winter in the Yellowhead pass without adequate supplies.

 By 1874, it was obvious to everyone that they must deal with the possibility of choice of the Fraser route but the Victorians didn't consider the likelihood of a mainland terminal to be a serious threat. In December of 1877, Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie officially announced the adoption of the Fraser route. The  matter was once again up in the air though when the conservatives came to power in Ottawa in the summer of 1878. Later that year, Sir John A. Macdonald confirmed his predecessor's choice.

So now the route is planned but where is the terminus going to be? Macdonald had pledged in 1873 it would be in Esquimalt. James D. Edgar, negotiating on behalf of Mackenzie in 1874, made even more definite promises. He pledged aid to the construction of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway as the CPR's westernmost section. Some Island politicians feared he might be double-crossing them for Mackenzie talked in terms of a transcontinental wagon road and telegraph line instead of a railway.

Premier George A. Walkem broke off the talks with Edgar. Mackenzie's Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway bill, which was passed by the Commons in 1875, specifically stated the E. and N. as not to be considered an integral part of the CPR. The bill was rejected in the Senate.

In 1876, Lord Dufferin, the governor-general, visited BC and attempted to smooth things over. He denounced both Macdonald's and Edgar's pledges as "flagrant bribery". Before the election of 1878, Mackenzie rescinded an order-in-council naming Esquimalt as the terminus.

All hope wasn't lost for Victorians though. The election that  year changed everything. Macdonald suffered a personal defeat in Kingston and Victoria seized on the opportunity. He was offered a seat in Victoria and elected. He restored Esquimalt as the terminus. Construction on the B.C. section of the railway began at Yale on May 14, 1880.

However, it was not to last. In 1881, Colonial Secretary Lord Kimberely decided Vancouver Island was only entitled to a light-gauge line and things got even more darker for Victorians in 1882 when the CPR refused to take any responsibility for the E. and N.

The Beaven government of BC cut Victoria's throat by rescinding the Island railway grants to the Federal Government and turning the E. and N. over to Robert Dunsmuir to complete. Macdonald saw this as reliving both the CPR and the Dominion of Canada from any responsibility in the matter. 

Dunsmuir's acceptance of the E. and N. offer and substantial federal compensation for Vancouver did not become official until 1884, the events of 1882 assured that Burrard Inlet would be the western terminus of the CPR.

  

But Gastown was not excited and I will tell you why on Monday.

Thanks to the book Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis by Alan Morley for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Steve Brodie

This photo is from the Province Newspaper. This is Steve Brodie, after the men were evicted from the post office in June of 1938.

Steve Brodie was a Scottish orphan who came to Canada at the age of 14. He worked as a farm labourer and at 18, the young Brodie befriended a Marxist ex-newspaperman. Then the depression hit Canada and Steve, like many men of that time, started 'riding the rods' and criss crossing the country looking for work. He wasn't successful and ended up in the relief camps in B.C. (riding the rods means sneaking aboard the freight trains and getting a free ride somewhere.)

Brodie joined the fight to press the government for "work and wages". He joined 1500 others in the On-to-Ottawa trek in 1935. That journey was stopped in Regina by police bullets and billy clubs. That is where the young man lost a few teeth. 

Steve looked back at that journey and didn't see anything to celebrate."It was one of the battle's we lost... It was a desperate attempt on the part of the unemployed to draw attention to our plight."

This young Scot made history in 1938 with the sit down strike at the post office. He paid it for too. As I stated last week, numerous people were hurt and Brodie was the target of the police wrath.

The man who drove the injured Brodie to the hospital, reported to the Vancouver Sun newspaper: "Brodie had his hands over his head. He was trying to fight off two cops in front of him. There were three behind him, pounding on him with their billies. He fell. They still pounded on him." An RCMP Sergeant stopped the beating when he spotted a newspaper photographer recording the event. Brodie regained consciousness 24 hours later in St. Paul's hospital.

Later, when asked, Brodie would tell of the postcards the men received during the occupation. People would tell them what a great thing they were doing. As appreciative as he probably was for the support, Brodie also noted that 'everyone was waiting for someone else to do something'.

As we know from our history books, the Great Depression ended in 1939 when the world went to war. Steve Brodie joined the merchant marines and after the war, he went to work at the Esquimalt dockyard. But he was still the fireball of before and delighted in needling guests on a call-in radio show. He never ceased to challenge others on issues such as unemployment, poverty and capitalism.

What many may not know is that this natural leader was a devoted and loving grandfather. When he lost his battle with liver cancer on December 6, 1997 at the age of 87, Grampa Steve had five grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren. 

Whether you agree with the stand this man took or his politics, you have to admit that he had a great fighting spirit and earned his place in history.

I would like to thank the Livable4All website for the information on Steve Brodie.

I hope you find the beauty around you.