The National Policy Essay

The National PolicyExplain who the individuals were who provided the money for the construction of the C.P.R. in the 1880’s.A group of investors were the individuals who provided the money for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.In a short paragraph explain who the chief engineer of the C.P.R. was, and explain his accomplishments.William Cornelius Van Horne was the chief engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway where he oversaw and led many construction projects.

To begin Van Horne’s many accomplishments, he became one of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s vice presidents in 1884. Then in a span of four years later, he upgraded positions to become the president of Canadian Pacific railway. He held this position/employment up until his retirement in 1899. The same year of 1899, Van Horne was then appointed as Chairman on the Board of Directors. He then resigned from that position in 1910. Not only was Van Horne an accomplished businessman, he had many non-business related interests such as gardening, sketching and art collecting.

After Van Horne had officially retired from any employment positions, he led a life of travel where he collected many art works and sketched tons of pieces. Go to the Image Gallery of pictures in one of the sites that you can find. Create a picture time line showing different aspects of the C.P.R. from 1880 to 1920. William Cornelius Van Hooke, 1882. Van Horne is put in charge of overseeing and leading the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1882. Chinese Workers in British Columbia, 1884. Chinese men who immigrated to Canada are put to work on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1884. Telegram sent to John. A Macdonald, 1885. This document is a telegram that was sent to Sir. John A. Macdonald to signify the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the 8th November of 1885. Coast to Coast Railway, 1898.The National Transcontinental Railway, 1915. On June 3rd, 1898, the first Canadian Pacific Railway train has arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick from its starting point in Montreal. This marks a success of the CPR being able to withstand a coast to coast route destination. Now, larger routes are being put into as goals for the CPR.On June 1st, 1915, The national transcontinental railway completed its routes from Moncton to Quebec, Winnipeg to Edmonton and then back to British Columbia. Provide 8 important pieces of information about the contribution of Chinese laborers to the construction of the CPR.The Chinese railway workers lived in poor conditions, often in camps, sleeping in tents or boxcars.Although Chinese played a key role in building the western stretch of the railway, they earned between $1 and $2.50 per day.Unlike their fellow white railroad workers, the Chinese had to pay for their own food, clothing, and transportation to the job site, mail, and medical care, leaving barely enough money to send home.Chinese workers were delegated the most dangerous construction jobs, such as working with explosives.Between 1881 and 1885, more than 17,000 Chinese immigrants came to British Columbia to work on the railway.Families of those killed workers not receive any compensation; they were not even notified of the deaths.Due to poor living conditions and malnutrition, many Chinese workers became ill and suffered from scurvy and other diseases. There was no medical care and so they depended on herbal treatments. Thousands of Chinese workers were hired by Andrew Onderdonk to work on the construction of the railway through the mountains and canyons of British Columbia.On June 22nd of 2006, Canada acknowledged the contribution of Chinese workers on the Canadian Pacific Railway which is a huge milestone in Canadian history as the contribution of the Chinese railway workers went unrecognized for many years.5. The Banff Springs Hotel and the Chateau Lake Louise are two famous CPR hotels built in the 1880’s. The railroad was almost bankrupt in 1885. Van Horne felt if they built hotels in the Rockies rich Europeans would come and spend millions of dollars. In a paragraph for each hotel explain four important historical pieces of information about the hotel from its construction up to 1940.Banff Springs Hotel:In 1888, William Cornelius Van Horne had a vision to bring the beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains to the rest of the world. He commissioned blueprints for an impressive hotel to be built at the convergence of the Bow and Spray River, in what is now known as Canada’s first National Park. Construction began in 1887 and the hotel publically opened on June 1, 1888.By the start of the twentieth century, the Banff Springs luxury Hotel had developed into one of the top three mountain getaways in North America. To help adapt to the rise of international guests, the hotel underwent two upgrade periods. Between the years of 1900 to 1910, all adjustments to the original structure of the hotel were completed. From 1910 to 1928, all changes were aimed at the completion of a ‘new’ hotel.Disaster struck in 1926 when the original wooden hotel burnt down. It was rebuilt larger and in its present appearance commencing in 1928. Within the 28-year period, the hotel rarely saw a year without some form of addition or improvement.Throughout the 1920s and ’30s, the hotel was able to combine day-to-day hotel life with the concept of luxurious hotel living. The depression played a part in the ‘golden era’, as an unsure future forced people to examine their futures and lead them to the decision to live life to the fullest.By the 1940s, the effect of World War II had reached the hotel. War meant travel restrictions of North American vacationers and European investment was completely lost. By 1942, the hotel had closed its doors and with it the greatest era in the hotel’s rich history. It wasn’t until 1945 that the hotel reopened.Chateau Lake Louise:The inspiration for the Chateau Lake Louise started with the vision of Cornelius Van Horne, general Manager of CPR. A hotel for outdoor adventure and alpinist, was what he envisioned and the first structure was built on the shore of Lake Louise in 1890. It consisted of a one-story log cabin, a central area that served as a dining room, office, and bar, a kitchen and two small bedrooms with large picture windows facing the lake. The original Chalet Lake Louise saw visitors from different stations along the railway line as well as day visitors from the Banff Springs Hotel. In its first year the chalet had a total of 50 registered guests, by 1912, the Chalet had hosted 50,000 overnight guests. Through the years the Chalet saw two fires and four architects. Over time the small summer cabin evolved into today’s Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise which dates as far back as 1911. Lake Louise was an attractive destination for alpinists and pioneers who explored and mapped the mountains. Their outdoor activities achieved notoriety when Philip Stanley Abbott became the first person to die in a rock climbing accident in North America in 1896. This tragic event led Canadian Pacific to hire their first two professional Swiss mountain guides with the mission of bringing guests safely to the summits. From 1899 to 1954 generations of Swiss mountaineers taught thousands of guests and locals to climb and, of course, later, to ski. From fondues to hikes, the Swiss influence can still be felt today. The breathtaking landscape brought many painters to respond to the area, among them included Lawren Harris of the group of Seven and Banff locals, Peter and Catharine Whyte. It was their work that further nurtured awareness of the area. Once road construction was complete, visitors began to congregate to see the scenery for themselves. From the beginning, a vacation in Lake Louise meant outdoor adventures and gazing at the stars ” both natural and human. In 1928, Lake Louise was site to the shooting of Eternal Love starring actor John Barrymore, 1942 Springtime in the Rockies with Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda. Hundreds of stars have come to Lake Louise for filming and holidays, including Mary Pickford, Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe, Christopher Reeve and many of the latest celebrities. Due to gas rationing and patriotism, Chateau Lake Louise was closed to the public during WWII, but scientists from the Universities of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba used the lake and some surrounding facilities to develop the “Pykrete,’ a difficult to break and slow to melt mixture of wood pulp and ice that was part of plans for a potential Allied invasion through Northern Europe. “Project Habbakuk” involved the creation of floating ice platforms for equipment transport. What “Maclean’s” magazine termed “the weirdest secret weapon of the war,” was seriously considered by Churchill and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but abandoned in favor of other, faster techniques.Ski took root in the area in the year of 1909 by the teachings of Swiss and Austrian mountain guides. The Banff Ski Club was founded in 1917. And by the early 1920s adventurous Albertans and their guests were carving the logging trails and flying over jumps at Tunnel Mountain. Full-scale ski areas at Mount Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise were all in operation by the 1930s. Provide a picture of each hotel when it was first constructed and provide a picture showing a present day view.Banff Springs Hotel Before(exterior view) (interior view) Banff Springs Hotel After(exterior view)(interior view)Chateau Lake Louise Before(exterior view)(interior view) Chateau Lake Louise After(exterior view)(interior view)In your view what were two of the greatest contributions of the CPR to Canadian life. In my view, the two greatest contributions of the Canadian Pacific Railway to Canadian Life were its impact on the standard of living of Canadians and economic improvements as the creation of many infrastructures were coming up. The CPR resulted in many improvements in new Canadian towns. The first necessary small hotels sprang up. The CPR also started a postal service and a telephone service. National parks were established, drawing many people toward them, especially in the areas with hot springs. The railway also drew adventurous, thrill-seeking people towards climbing the Rocky Mountains. The Prairies were available for settlement as well, and the completion of the CPR helped to draw Europeans there. Agricultural development soon took off with wheat farming and irrigation. The industrialized east coast began to transfer business along the CPR line, and used the west coast as windows to trading with them are East. The CPR opened up the western half of Canada to many opportunities that it would not have had without a transportation system. For example, CPR workers drilling for water in Alberta discovered the first natural gas of the province in 1882.Not only did the CPR increase the standard of living and the quality of many Canadian towns and services, but it also helped in times of crisis. As previously stated, the Canadian Pacific Railway enabled the government to react quickly to the Northwest Rebellion, a very important thing for the government to do. The CPR also helped to transport war supplies and weapons during the First World War. When the Second World War occurred, the CPR once again helped transport ammunition and supplies. In the 1960’s, the CPR switched entirely from steam to diesel locomotives. The Canadian Pacific Railway then changed its name to Canadian Pacific Limited, a company that aimed to operate more than just the railway. Some of the other business ventures this company eventually got involved in and operated were mines, ships, hotels, minerals & manufacturing, telecommunications, airlines, real estate and trucking. Canadian Pacific Air Lines, or CP Air, was even Canada’s largest airline for a brief period of time, when it was flying from Vancouver to Amsterdam over the North Pole.