Hudson’s Bay Company and The Rupert’s Land Act, 1868

The Rupert’s Land Act, 1868, set out the terms for the purchase of nearly 8 million acres from the Hudson Bay Company, but not all were pleased.

The fur trade was slowing by the 1860s, the profit line dwindling for the Hudson’s Bay Company. The time was drawing nigh to rethink the firm’s businesses. Selling their holdings in the sprawling Rupert’s Land was a consideration.

The Hudson’s Bay Company crest features symbols related to its proud Canadian heritage. Image from Calgary, Alberta location. Wikimedia Commons

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) controlled the vast region in the centre of what would become Canada. Given a Charter by King Charles II in 1670 to dominate trade, the HBC was a powerful monopoly in British North America. Encompassing the Hudson’s Bay drainage basin, Manitoba, a large portion of Saskatchewan, southern Alberta, northern regions of Ontario and Quebec, and part of Nunavut, the Charter also included northernmost parts of Montana, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. The land was valuable, with more than one interested purchaser.

USA Interested in Northerly Expansion

“The Americans, who had just paid Russia $7.2 million for Alaska in 1867, were looking for other properties to expand the Republic and eyed the territory,” said CBC Learning’s “Canada: a People’s History” in Canada Buys Rupert’s Land. The British had other ideas. Under the British North America Act, 1867, Canada was a newly formed country and ready for growth. Confederation united Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with Sir John A. Macdonald as first Prime Minister. The Dominion of Canada wanted the right to purchase the enormous parcel of land, nearly 8 million acres.

The map of Rupert’s Land before the 1868, where the HBC had complete commercial rights to the territory. M. Trump/Wikimedia Commons.

All Rights to Government of Canada

Insisting that the English trading firm sell their rights to Canada, “the Hudson’s Bay Company reluctantly… sold Rupert’s Land to the Government of Canada for $1.5 million,” stated CBC Learning. The value at that time was in British currency, £300,000. The “Rupert’s Land Act, 1868” was written down, formalizing the legal details of the sale. Section 5 of the Act, as noted W.F. Maton on Solon Law Archive, stated: “It shall be competent to Her Majesty by any such Order or Orders in Council as aforesaid, on Address from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, to declare that Rupert’s Land shall, from at Date to be therein mentioned, be admitted into and become Part of the Dominion of Canada.”

Indigenous Peoples Treated Unfairly

But more than the wealthy business owners were unhappy about the deal – the First Nations and Métis were upset. Not consulted, the Indians and Métis were viewed as impediments to European expansion. While treaties were negotiated and signed in good faith by the indigenous peoples and land promised for native children, the government reneged on the deals. Métis attempts to gain recognition as a distinct ethnic group were squashed. “The Resistance of 1885 silenced the political voice of the Métis people for the next several decades,” stated the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan in “Rupert’s Land Purchase.”

In 1686, an agreement brought the vast Rupert’s Land of HBC under the Canadian umbrella, along with Manitoba. British Columbia joined in 1871. Wikimedia Creative Commons.

Rupert’s Land is Canada

The HBC retained permission to carry on business, the company retaining 4 percent of premium farmland. Along with the purchase of the neighbouring North-Western Territory, the purchase of Rupert’s Land was completed in 1870. Across the country, provinces gradually joined Confederation to form a strong, united Canada from coast to coast to coast.

Sources:

• Canada Buys Rupert’s Land, “Canada: a People’s History,” CBC Learning (Accessed May 3, 2012)
• Maton, W.F., “Rupert’s Land Act, 1868,” Solon Law Archive (Accessed May 4, 2012)
• “Rupert’s Land Purchase,” Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan (Accessed May 3, 2012)

This article first appeared on Suite101.com on May 4, 2012. (C) Susanna McLeod