The ''British Columbia Terms of Union'' is an

Order in Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

of the

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. It forms part of the

Constitution of Canada The Constitution of Canada () is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents are an amalgamation of various ...

.Constitution Act, 1982, s 52(2)(b) and Schedule, Item 4.

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

then joined the four-year-old Confederation and became the sixth province of

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on July 20, 1871. The confederation agreement was based on terms of union negotiated in the Canadian capital of

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between the

Colony of British Columbia The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada: * Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) * Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) See also * History of ...

(on the west coast of

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, bordering the

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) and the new Dominion of Canada, extending its territory and reach continent-wide, coast to coast. The ''Terms of Union'' agreement document consists of 14 articles.

Negotiations and terms

For British Columbia, financial concerns were at the top of the list in negotiating union with Canada. The Dominion assumed BC's debts and liabilities, provided BC with a generous subsidy and an annual per capita grant, based on an inflated population figure. Canada also agreed to pay salaries of supreme court and county court judges, and pensions of previous colonial civil servants whose positions might be affected by the union with the Dominion of Canada. Other articles dealt with parliamentary representation, postal services, customs tariffs, interprovincial trade, lighthouses and facilities such as a quarantine medical station and a criminal penitentiary. The terms promised a trans-continental railway and a first-class graving dock for ship repair of a port on the Pacific Ocean coast at

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt () is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Jua ...

.Point Ellice House Museum & Gardens. (2021). . The ''Terms of Union'' also addressed Indian land policy in a manner that would effectively perpetuate BC's pre-Confederation practices, through "a policy as liberal as that hitherto pursued by the British Columbia Government shall be continued by the Dominion Government after the Union". Post union, Canada would learn that the policies of British Columbia with regard to lands and Indigenous peoples were not at all "liberal". This foundational ambiguity related to the Indian Land Question, settlement and occupation of unceded lands, is a defining characteristic of BC in Confederation and has ongoing implications for society and economy.

References

External links

British Columbia Terms of Union, 1871
Constitution of Canada Law of Canada 1871 in Canadian law 1871 in British Columbia Orders in Council {{Canada-law-stub