Amor De Cosmos and Confederation

One of the key elements that De Cosmos fought for during the Confederation debates was the building of a transcontinental railroad from the east to west coasts of Canada. He believed that Canada needed a railroad, as did most of the other colonies joining the Confederation. As an entrepreneur, De Cosmos would look towards progress for future financial growth. He argued that Canada would benefit greatly from a railroad, which would increase trade, travel, and immigration in the country, and then in turn would increase the economy of the country. The completion of the transcontinental railway, connecting British Columbia to the rest of Canada, was one of the key bargaining chips that secured BC’s union to the Confederation in 1871. However, in 1879, it was evident that there was little progress in the completion of the railway. At this time, De Cosmos was Premier of BC, and dedicated his time and energy to fight even harder to have the Canadian Pacific Railway built soon. He was so frustrated that he even proposed to the House of Commons that British Columbia secede from the Confederation if the railway was not completed soon. As a result of this, the government of Canada put a renewed vigorous effort in to completing the connection of British Columbia to the transcontinental railway.