4.13 Canadian History Through Poetry and Lyrics - Part One
A Short History Lesson
In 1867, four provinces joined together to form the new country of Canada. We call this event “Confederation” and many Canadians celebrate its anniversary every year on July 1st – Canada Day! Over the next several years, other provinces joined in. In 1871, British Columbia decided to join Canada, but only if the Canadian government promised to build a transcontinental railway. British Columbia set a 10-year deadline for the completion of this link to the rest of the country and the Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, agreed.
The building of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) is captured in a famous song by Gordon Lightfoot. Before you read, there are a few words to know that you may not be able to “figure out” using context clues:
Verdant - green with rich vegetation.
Navvy – short for “navigational engineer” which really means a worker who helps to construct a road, railway, or canal.
Muskeg – Algonquian word meaning "grassy bog"- land that is wet, with peat bogs (similar to swamps with peat that is now harvested and added to make soil better for growing), and moss. (Note: Algonquians are a First Nations people.)
(Image source: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/muskeg/)