Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR)

The Canadian Northern Railway was founded in 1899 by William Mackenzie and Donald Mann. It was organized as a result of two small Manitoba branch lines and built up over the next twenty years. Mann and Mackenzie depended greatly on land grants and on sale of government guaranteed bonds of their company. They built a strong Prairie system but faced strong competition from their transcontinental rivals (the CPR, the Grand Trunk Railway, and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway). To meet the rivals standards a transcontinental expansion program was undertaken. However, the expansion was damaging and difficult financial needs caused Mann and Mackenzie to seek help from the government. In return for the help the …show more content…
Over 600 Chinese workers died while building the Canadian Pacific Railway. They worked in harsh conditions and were paid very little. They laid more than 6 miles of track per day and two men died every mile. The Chinese workers were paid $1.00 a day, and had to pay for their food, camping and cooking supplies. Not only this, but Chinese workers were given the most dangerous work: they made the path of the railway by blasting dynamite. There were many accidents such as fires and landslides, that killed many Chinese workers. They were also not provided the proper medical care and treatment, so many relied on herbal products to cure their injuries. The workers also had to walk for 40 kilometers carrying their stuff on their backs, when changing the location of the camp. The Chinese workers lived in crowded camps, slept in tents or on box cars, and had no source of heat in the winter besides the outdoor fire where they cooked their food over. They ate rice, dried salmon and drank tea as their meals. Many suffered from a disease called “Scurvy”, which is a disease caused by the lack of vitamin C. After the railway was built in 1885, some of the Chinese workers returned back to China while others stayed in B.C, mostly in Victoria and Vancouver, settling in small towns along the railway line. Some became gardeners, grocers, cooks and servants in wealthy white …show more content…
With the issue of the head tax the Chinese had to pay $50.00 to the Canadian government to come to Canada. However, in 1900 the Canadian government increased the head tax to $100 because of the amount of Chinese people immigrating to Canada and $500 in 1903. Then in 1923 Canada passed the chinese immigration act also known as the exclusion act, not allowing Chinese to come to Canada for the next 24 years. This stopped families (mothers and children) to come and live with their family member or members who were already in Canada. Canada was not the only one doing this to the Chinese, in the 1850’s the Australian colonies also limited the number of Chinese immigrants and in 1882 the United States of America also passed the exclusion act to exclude the