The former Northwest Territories premier's faith in Canada far outweighed his disappointment with Ottawa.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Bill Waiser is a Saskatoon-based historian.
If there ever was a person who had good reason to be a western separatist, it was Northwest Territories premier Frederick Haultain. His war with Ottawa over western autonomy was a bruising affair that left him politically wounded. He was ignored, then betrayed, and finally ostracized.
Yet Haultain never wavered in his support for Canada, and never spoke of western independence. He was widely considered more statesman than politician.
The Northwest Territories government was financially hobbled in the late 1890s. Because any revenue from Northwest lands and resources went to the Canadian treasury, the territorial government largely depended on an annual federal subsidy. But the territorial grant wasn’t enough to meet the growing service and infrastructure needs of the great western settlement boom. “We are confronted with impossible conditions,” as Haultain complained to the federal minister of the interior at the time.
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There appeared to be only one solution. In May, 1900, at Haultain’s urging, the territorial assembly called on Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberal government to grant provincehood to the region. Ottawa turned down the request as premature not once, but three times.
A stumbling block to finding common ground was Haultain’s call for one large western province, to be named “Buffalo,” between Manitoba and British Columbia. Equating size with influence, Haultain argued that one large province would be able to “hold its own in confederation” and do great things.
The Laurier government worried that one big western province would upset the balance of Confederation. It also feared that one province would give Haultain a tremendous power base, especially given the growing rate of western immigration. Somehow his influence had to be minimized. What better way than to cut his fiefdom in two?
Supporters carry boxes of signatures to submit for a separation referendum to Elections Alberta in Edmonton, in May.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
In January, 1905, at the request of the Liberal government, Haultain travelled to Ottawa to outline his vision of one western province with full constitutional powers. But when Laurier personally introduced the autonomy legislation in the House of Commons in February, he created not one, but two north-south, roughly equal provinces, named Saskatchewan and Alberta.
It was also provincial status with a difference. The federal government retained control over Saskatchewan’s and Alberta’s public lands and resources. Ironically, it went against the very reason that Haultain had sought provincehood for the region.
The Liberal Party next turned to securing power in the new provinces and displacing Haultain. His spirited campaign for full constitutional rights for Saskatchewan and Alberta made him dangerous. One western newspaper had gamely supported his position, calling the new Confederation deal, “Autonomy that insults the West.”
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At the September, 1905, inauguration ceremonies for Saskatchewan in Regina, Haultain was never invited to speak at any of the events. Nor did anyone publicly recognize his distinguished territorial career, especially his defining role in the struggle for autonomy.
Haultain was also deliberately passed over as premier or lieutenant-governor in either of the new provinces. Instead, the Laurier government ensured that good Liberals filled these positions in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Western Canada’s father of Confederation didn’t go away quietly. Haultain formed a “Provincial Rights” party dedicated to securing full rights for Saskatchewan. He promised, if he formed government, to challenge the constitutionality of the Saskatchewan Act.
Haultain never got the chance. He left politics in 1912 for an illustrious career as Saskatchewan’s chief justice and as a university chancellor. It wasn’t until 1930 that Saskatchewan and Alberta secured control over their public lands and resources.
Looking back, some westerners might consider Haultain a fool for never calling to create a separate western state. The current Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan has even co-opted Haultain’s “one big province” idea to advocate for independence.
Haultain’s faith in Canada, though, far outweighed his disillusionment and disappointment with Ottawa. He wanted to ensure that the new provinces didn’t take a back seat to building a greater and better country. That’s why he fought so tirelessly for the interests of the region within Confederation.
Haultain would have considered a referendum on Alberta independence a retreat, an admission of defeat. The future of Saskatchewan and Alberta mattered more to him than his own political fate. He wanted to make Canada work.
Where is that western leadership today?