A Conjunction of Interests : Business, Politics, and Tariffs, 1825-1879

The advent of the National Policy in 1879 brought dramatic changes in the structure, magnitude, and objectives of Canada's tariff policy. No longer used primarily as a source of revenue for the government, tariffs on imported goods assumed a role as protector of Canadian industry against the encroachment of foreign imports on the Canadian market. In this detailed account of events leading up to the adoption of the National Policy, Ben Forster explores a wide range of political and economic forces and races their influence on successive Liberal and Conservative governments. He examines the pamphlet literature of the protectionists, the private corespondence of political leaders and protectionists, the public press of the day, and legislative journals and other public documents. He weaves the threads of various interests - business, industry, agriculture, and government - into a comprehensive account of the growth of protectionist feeling in Canada. Forster's analysis illuminates a critical chapter in Canadian political history, one with implications for current discussions on import quotas, industrial policy, and free trade Contents 5 Tables 7 Preface 9 Introduction 11 1. Protection in an era of colonial transition, 1825–1854 23 2. Continuity and change: Making tariffs in the late 1850s 43 3. Larger markets, 1860-1866: Reciprocity and Confederation 62 4. From a conciliatory to a national policy, 1867–1872 78 5. The obscurity of private enterprise’: Business and the economy, 1870–1879 96 6. ‘An age of combination and association’, 1870–1879 120 7. The Liberal interregnum, 1874–1876 137 8. The Liberal interregnum, 1876–1878 157 9. The interests, the parties, and the election of 1878 175 10. ‘Reconciling a legion of conflicting interests’ 192 Conclusion 211 Notes 217 Bibliography 269 Index 287 Forster's analysis illuminates a critical chapter in Canadian political history, one with implications for current discussions on import quotas, industrial policy, and free trade ..