The Transcontinental Railway
In 1872 the Conservative government led by Sir John A. MACDONALD awarded Sir Hugh ALLAN the contract to build the transcontinental railway that was a condition of British Columbia’s entry into confederation [see British Columbia (1871)]. Within a few months a scandal erupted over the contract and it brought the government down the following year [see The Pacific Scandal]. Construction on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) continued despite two changes of administration, and was finally completed in 1885 [see The Canadian Pacific Railway]. The railway would bring the distant west into contact with the provinces established as the Dominion of Canada in 1867. William Cornelius VAN HORNE was the CPR’s general manager during its rapid expansion in the 1880s:
“To build up traffic, Van Horne directed the fabrication of increasingly complex systems that integrated agricultural and timber lands, grain elevators, flour mills, port facilities and terminals, maritime fleets, express and telegraph operations, and passenger and tourist services, including large hotels [see Bruce
Among those who worked on the railway were 15,000 Chinese labourers, including YIP SANG:
“Yip came to Canada in 1881 to work on the Cariboo goldfields. Unsuccessful there, he moved to what would become Vancouver and sold coal door to door until he was employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway Supply Company on a construction gang. He became the company’s bookkeeper, timekeeper, and paymaster, and eventually its superintendent of Chinese labour.”
To learn more about the Canadian Pacific Railway and its role in Canada’s post-confederation development, consult the biographies in the following lists.