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Over the next decade (1870-1880) the old Northwest was to experience
staggering changes as the Macdonald government's "National
Policy" began to take shape – a series of treaties were
concluded with the first peoples of the region, construction of the
national Canadian Pacific Railway was begun, and a series of
protectionist tariffs were enacted, all in an effort not only to
attract people to the Dominion, and the Northwest specifically, but
also to
keep them there. Although many people were arriving, it seemed that
just as many were leaving for the United States. By 1890 the western
regions were still greatly under-populated, with only 2% of the total
population. In 1895 however, Clifford Sifton, Minister of the
Interior, began a relentless campaign abroad for settlement in western
Canada. By 1900, the Department of the Interior was producing over a
million pamphlets a year in over a dozen languages that promoted
settlement in the west with over-glorified depictions of conditions
and catchy slogans such as: Prosperity Follows Settlement, The Wondrous West, The Last Best West
and Canada: Land of Opportunity. As a result, between 1896 and
1914 more than one million people from all over Europe, Asia and
North America came to settle in western Canada, all with different
reasons for leaving their homelands and for choosing Canada. For some,
such as the British, the transition to a new land was relatively easy,
but for many it was much more difficult – especially for those who
lacked farming experience or who did not speak English.
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