This story begins in the 18th century revealing BC's journey from a territory called New Caledonia to the British Crown Colony of British Columbia, to the 6th province of Canada upon joining Confederation in 1871. This period was dominated by the confederation event where the provinces of Canada (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) foresaw the need for a transcontinental railway as a necessity for security of the new dominion. Prior to acquiring British Columbia as a province, Canada had no western seaboard. Significantly, the BC coast held the trump card that was the key to a Canadian Sea-to-Sea Dominion, therefore without BC within their confederation, there would be no dominion from coast to coast and hence no transcontinental railway. These facts, in turn, not only initiated, but inspired the CPR surveyor explorer’s prodigious search across the province to eventually establish a world class seaport on the coast.
