If Your Province Had to Choose Another Capital

[CanSpice]

The capital of British Columbia would become New Westminster as it rightly should be. Here's what happened back when the Colonies of British Columbia (whose capital was New Westminster) and Vancouver Island (whose capital was Victoria) were united:

In 1866, the colony of British Columbia and the colony of Vancouver Island were united as "British Columbia". However, the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island, Victoria, located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, was made the capital of the newly amalgamated Colony of British Columbia, following a vote in the House of Assembly. On the day of the vote one member of the assembly, William Cox (one of the colony's Gold Commissioners and a Victoria supporter), shuffled the pages of the speech that William Franklyn from Nanaimo (a New Westminster supporter) intended to give, so that Franklyn lost his place and read the first paragraph three times. Cox then popped the lenses of Franklyn's glasses from their frames so that the Nanaimo representative could see nothing at all of his speech. After a recess to settle the resulting uproar and allow the member from Nanaimo a chance to sort out his speaking notes and his spectacles, on the members' return to the House of Assembly, the Speaker John Sebastian Helmcken (from Victoria) refused to allow Franklyn a "second" chance to speak. The subsequent vote was 13 to 8 against New Westminster.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Originally Posted by esquire

Congratulations Hammer! Provincial capital by default!

https://www.dreamteamfc.com/c/s3/dre...n-default1.jpg

[SignalHillHiker]

Harbour Grace, founded in 1517 by Francis I of France, very nearly was the capital of Newfoundland but lost out due to being farther from Europe and more difficult to defend. For long stretches of our history, however, it was nearly as important.



Placentia was the French capital.

Placentia, Newfoundland by Niels Sampath, on Flickr

These days it's tough to make an argument for it to be anywhere but St. John's. However, if it did move, I think the only possible place would be Corner Brook.

People would start out wanting it somewhere central, such as Grand Falls-Windsor, then the conversation would turn to "Well that's the centre of the ISLAND, what about Labrador?". No one in their right mind would put the capital up there, even more isolated, so Corner Brook on the west coast would come up as the least offensive compromise. Only it's 25,000 residents would be happy with the decision, along with everyone involved with the airport in Deer Lake.

[craner]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

For AB - Crossfield, exactly half way between Edmonton and Lethbridge

Just kidding. Honestly Edmonton is where it should be.

I agree, it's centealized. And frankly, I'm glad Calgary is not the capital, seems to give it a more business friendly vibe.

[MolsonExport]

Wawa

[RyLucky]

The capital of Alberta is the "A", but if we had to choose another capital, I'd choose the other one:

"albertA"

[MonctonRad]

1) - Prior to the establishment of Halifax in 1749, the original colonial capital of Nova Scotia had been Annapolis Royal.

2) - Saint John had briefly been the capital of NB before British authorities decided to move the capital to Saint Anne's Point (Fredericton) in 1785 about 150 km upstream as it was considered safer than Saint John in case of Yankee aggression. Saint John remained pissed off about this for at least 100 years, and the city is still well known for having a huge chip on it's shoulder WRT both Fredericton and Moncton.

BTW, an "inland location" is also one of the reasons why Ottawa was chosen as the national capital too, Kingston being too exposed to the Yankees on the Saint Lawrence River.

[dmuzika]

I'll go off the board for BC - Kamloops. It's relatively central for the interior and not too far from the coastal areas. Prince George, which is closer to the geographic centre, is too isolated.

[esquire]

For Manitoba, the logical and reflexive choice would be Brandon, but in the current climate I could totally see a more northerly site being selected like Thompson or The Pas, even though it really wouldn't be practical. That said, it could work if only the legislature, ministerial offices, appeal court and a small number of other top-level functions moved there while the bulk of the machinery of government remained in Winnipeg.

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by esquire

Congratulations Hammer! Provincial capital by default!

We'll swap Dofasco and Stelco for Queen's Park.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by craner

I agree, it's centealized. And frankly, I'm glad Calgary is not the capital, seems to give it a more business friendly vibe.

What does capital status have to do with being business friendly? The business friendliest city in the entire country is a provincial capital, doesn't seem to hurt them any.

[Xelebes]

For Alberta, Strathcona. That way, Edmonton gets University of Alberta and the Edmonton-Strathcona CMA can forever be a morass of little fiefdoms. Or at least more than it already is.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

We'll swap Dofasco and Stelco for Queen's Park.

Shit, you guys meant Hamilton!

I had initially read "Hanmer", which is a small town near Sudbury!

[Echoes]

There's an interesting history to how Regina became the capital of Saskatchewan upon the province's creation.

From the Wikipedia page of our first Premier, Walter Scott:

Saskatchewan's first legislative session was convened at the end of March 1906. The major issue dominating this first session was the selection of a capital city. (Regina had only been named temporary capital.) Scott had assumed that Regina would remain the capital, but in May – at a secret meeting of the Liberal caucus – Scott was shocked to learn that two-thirds of his caucus supported moving the capital to Saskatoon. Scott insisted on Regina, though, and his caucus eventually fell in line – when the Liberal MLA from Saskatoon, W.C. Sutherland, introduced a resolution to move the capital to Saskatoon on May 23, 1906, the motion was defeated by a vote of 21 – 2 in the legislature.

Source

The consolation prize to Saskatoon, as the story goes, was being named the location of the University of Saskatchewan.

[ErickMontreal]

New-Brunswick : Dieppe (Moncton)

Québec : Trois-Rivières

[Marty_Mcfly]

Ah Sig beat me to it. Logistically and rationally speaking, Corner Brook would be the best choice. There are already a large number of provincial government facilities there, a few federal departments wouldn't go wrong.

And yeah, if we wanted to pay homage to France's new-world empire, then Placentia. But that one would be a big stretch.

[Acajack]

Acadia: Caraquet

Signage already in place!

[ciudad_del_norte]

Originally Posted by Echoes

There's an interesting history to how Regina became the capital of Saskatchewan upon the province's creation.

From the Wikipedia page of our first Premier, Walter Scott:

Source

The consolation prize to Saskatoon, as the story goes, was being named the location of the University of Saskatchewan.

A similar deal to what many people argue was supposed to happen in AB too, where one city gets the capital and the other the University. But...alas politicians can be tricksy!

For what its worth, despite being the seat of government and certain benefits that do come with that, Edmonton arguably has been underrepresented in AB politics because it's usually kind of the odd one out in elections. The social and political circles that produced most of ABs premiers and ruling party big shots have been much more centred in Calgary. The current AB government being an obvious exception, of course...


If I had to pick somewhere a bit removed from all that, Rocky Mountain House would make sense to me.

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Acadia: Caraquet

Signage already in place!

Je suis en accord, je suis persuadé que les francophobes de Saint John seront sur la même longue d'onde.

[mistercorporate]

In Ontario's case...

Financial Capital: Ball's Falls, ON

Legislative Capital: Crotch Lake, ON

Judicial Capital: Mono, ON