The Charlottetown Conference: The Meeting That Helped Create Canada
In September 1864, delegates from the Province of Canada arrived in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where representatives of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island were discussing a possible Maritime union. The Canadian delegation, led by John A. Macdonald, George-Étienne Cartier and George Brown, presented a far more ambitious proposal: a federation of all the British North American colonies.
Formal discussions inside Province House were accompanied by banquets, receptions and informal conversations. These social occasions helped the delegates build personal relationships and explore compromises away from the conference table. Although no final agreement was signed at Charlottetown, the participants accepted the idea of a broader union and agreed to continue negotiations at Quebec City the following month.
The Charlottetown Conference transformed Confederation from a political possibility into a serious national project. The negotiations begun there eventually led to the creation of the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.
This Canada History Society video examines the people, debates and memorable events behind the conference that helped lay the foundations of modern Canada.
