ORDER: 1. Flag and artifact (intro)
Joseph: Flag description: A lion at the top, with 4 trees below on an island. There are three small oak trees
are on the left, while one grown and large oak tree stands alone on the right. The flag was adopted on March
24, 1964.
Meaning behind the flag/the things on it:
The Lion appeared on the coat of arms of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, as well as on the coat of arms of King
Edward VII. The province is named after Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.
The three small oak trees represent the three counties of PEI; Prince, Queens, and Kings. The three small
trees are under the protection of the large tree.
The large oak tree represents Great Britain. Both Great Britain/England and PEI are islands. The large tree is
protecting the three small trees as Great Britain protected the three counties of PEI.
Tyler: Now I’m going to talk about our artifact. For our artifact we chose to do P.E.I.’s Red Sand Shores. Red
Sand Shores is famous to P.E.I. because there is an abundance of beaches with red sand, the entire London
Bay is lined with the rich red sands. Prince Edward Island is made out of Sedementary Rock which produces
red soil. This is part of why the sand is red. Another contributing factor to the red sand is that there is a lot of
rust mixed in with it, giving the sands that redness. Here is a diorama I made to give you an idea of what the
sands look like (show and describe the diorama).
2. The pros and cons for each region (state the facts)
Pros:
Nick: Too much going wrong internally right now:
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There is internal conflict like the removal of the Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty, a free trade
policy whereby products were allowed into United States without taxes or tariffs starting in 1854. It
was considered to be good for Canada, but was removed by the United States in 1865. Partly as
revenge against Great Britain for unofficial support of the South in the American Civil War
Political parties are waiting for each other to make major moves, but neither are successful in the
process which is resulting from the current political structure
There is pressure from population expansion
We already have economic principles with the promise of development economically
Gaven: Too much going wrong externally as well:
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The beliefs of the US and the expansion of the US throughout the American continents is both
justified and inevitable. It is a possible threat of invasion from the U.S.
 The American Civil War including Britain’s actions, and American reactions to Canada
 The Fenian raids are a conflict. They are raids by a brotherhood from the US to bring pressure on
Britain to withdraw from Ireland
 Also, the Little Englander philosophy, which is that Britain didn’t want to maintain troops in its
colonies anymore
Nick: Advantages of Confederation:
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Economic stability - The economic union could even bring back flourishing good fortune and even
successful social status
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More efficient government - The government of the provinces of Canada East and Canada West
seems markedly inefficient. The Act of Union gave them an ineffective system with lots of elections
and wasted, idle time.
Gaven: Basically, the population of the United States army is larger than the entire population of Canada, so
uniting together would help to protect the area of PEI as a whole.
Joseph: There are a multitude of reasons as to why Prince Edward Island should NOT join Confederation.
Tyler: First of all, the economic benefits of Confederation are just a tad dubious.
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PEI already has several independent trade deals, and any goods traded to Canada would be for little
or nothing in return.
Also, the Intercontinental Railway holds little promises for PEI, seeing as it would be hard to build a
bridge from the mainland to PEI, and goods can be moved by boat or carriage
Confederation could also be financially damaging to PEI, because Canada cannot provide the
necessary imports that PEI depends on from other countries, and have their trades subject to more
tax.
Joseph: Second of all, many people are not eager to be controlled by some distant province/colony.
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A federal/central government would probably control many aspects of people's lives, including tax,
military, currency, and so on.
Because of the distance between PEI and the central government, and experience with the Imperial
Government, many people find it an unwise idea to trust potentially unsympathetic administrators
with regional problems.
Tyler: Finally, the citizens of PEI are satisfied with the government they have already and do not want to see
it diluted in a federal government.
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If PEI would join Confederation, it would be its smallest province, and not have a big voice or say in a
centralized government. Because of this loss of power, any problems that develop in PEI can be
ignored.
So for the reasons said, joining Confederation would be political and economic suicide.
3. Mini-debates within each region to try and gain a consensus (debate on these facts)
Pro Main Points:
Too much going wrong internally and externally right now: Joseph Q- Why not join the US? That gets rid of the tax, and any invasion threats. The US could just as well as
invade Canada as an independent nation anyways.
Gaven A- You do realize that you are still enemies with the US, who could invade Canada regardless of it
becoming independent from Britain? And Britain probably won't want another fight with the US anyways,
and that is assuming that Britain decides to attack a tiny island off the coast of Canada. We, as a nation, are
connected to Britain. Joining the US would put us in a lot of danger since the British and the Americans have
contrasting ideas. Britain has enough power to overcome PEI. If we join with the rest of Canada instead, it
wouldn’t seem like a threat to Britain. We are already under their power.
Advantages of Confederation: Tyler Q- Economic stability could be achieved with the US. They have economic advantages.
Gaven A- Like we said, we believe that we aren’t looking to cause any conflicts. It is a possibility that with the
supply of US soldiers, we could relinquish Britain of its power over us. This is just a mere possibility and a lot
of people would leave Canada because of their British roots. This leaves the country with less power. The
economic view of the situation you proposed is very risky and we would rather not take our chances.
Joseph Q- You say how uniting Canada will ‘protect PEI’... This seems very plausible considering that the
population of the US is hugely greater than Canada. A united Canada will completely stop a huge US force
from conquering Canada! (Sarcastic note)
Gaven A- We all know uniting Canada isn’t going to defend us from a full-on attack from the US but it will
offer some sort of protection. The reality of the situation is, we need union to protect us from internal
attacks as well.
Joseph Q- There was some points about ‘efficient government’ which involved guess who? East/West
Canada. PEI likes its government already and Confederation just dilutes it.
Nick A- We are using them as an example. The whole idea around Confederation’s effect on government is
that having a bigger shared government will address the weaknesses that show in Canada East and West’s
courts. That way, it seems more ‘efficient’.
Tyler Q- Furthermore, this seems to benefit some other distant colonies more than PEI. Why do you keep
thinking that everything will be done with force? If you are so concerned that Britain will attack PEI because
they are joining the enemy, PEI can just become its own independent colony, though allied with the US
Nick A- History tells us with the revolutions we have seen, that force is always an option. PEI becoming an
independent colony would cause vulnerabilities in economy. It would cause a bump in social status and we
would have more problems importing the items we need.
Part 2
First of all, the economic benefits of Confederation are just a tad dubious.
Nick Q: One point you said was that PEI already has several independent trade deals, and any goods traded
to Canada would be for little or nothing in return. Why do you think this would happen?
Tyler A: Canada is basically agricultural land, so any agricultural goods traded to a district with that kind of
good results in the exporter getting little import. Those independent trade deals give PEI the needed imports,
as they do not always have what PEI has to offer.
Gaven Q: You stated that a negative part of confederation is having PEI’s trades subject to more tax. Why
would there be an increase in tax?
Tyler A: The federal government for one need to get money somehow. Tariffs, tolls, and other kinds of taxes
are just a few ways of cutting into the colonies profits. Also, you can think of it as a family, the more
members you have the more money you need to keep it going, much like Canada. The more provinces and
colonies it has the more money the government needs to keep everything in order. Money is power, and I
have no doubt the government will take as much as they can get.
Second of all, many people are not eager to be controlled by some distant province/colony.
Nick Q: A federal/central government would probably control many aspects of people's lives, including tax,
military, currency, and so on. What is bad about this?
Joseph A: This connects to our other main point, diluting their own government functions and local
institutions. Also, PEI does not want to be controlled by some distant province when its own local institutions
can do the same. A government that knows nothing of what life is like on Prince Edward Island would be
nothing but trouble.
Finally, the citizens of PEI are satisfied with the government they have already and do not want to see it
diluted in a federal government.
Nick Q: You said If PEI would join Confederation, it would be its smallest province. Because of this loss of
power, any problems that develop in PEI can be ignored. If the rest of Canada ignores your problems, they
will be affected too. Why do you think that will happen?
Joseph A: PEI’s political power would be insignificant in a centralized government. This makes it not as likely
for the government to bend backwards solving it. If a big part of Canada starts to have problems, and a tiny
part of Canada has problems, what will they try to get solved first? It is about priority.
4. Conclusion which will have each region declares their region’s final position in light of the prior debates
and reasons why (state main reasons)
Gaven: OK, I feel like they have quite a few solid points. I just want what is best for the citizens of Prince
Edward Island. There is a bit of an unbalance on views in economic value in Confederation. They said it would
be risky to join because Canada cannot provide the necessary imports for PEI, to which I can see their stance.
Another thing I looked over was that the citizens of PEI are satisfied with the government they have already
and do not want to see it less focused in a federal government. This is completely understandable because
our issues might be overlooked.
Nick: A lot of these same citizens are also are not eager to be controlled by some distant province or colony,
for the same reason I would be. Our experiences with the Imperial Government show it isn’t a great decision
to trust administrators that won’t sympathize with regional problems. The points you gentlemen brought up
changed my view a bit.
Joseph: Were the facts we brought up able to change your mind?
Gaven: I think we all agree to a final position to not join the Confederation.
Nick: Agreed.
Tyler: Agreed.