"Confederation is a compact, made originally by four provinces but adhered to by all the nine provinces who have entered it, and I submit to the judgment of this house and to the best consideration of its members, that this compact should not be lightly altered"
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Confederation, in Laurier's hands, becomes less a patriotic hymn than a piece of contractual language with teeth. Calling it a "compact" is a deliberate move: he frames Canada not as a mystical nation sprung fully formed from destiny, but as an agreement among governments, entered into by choice and therefore bound by obligations. That word choice narrows the rhetorical battlefield. If Confederation is a compact, then altering it is not a romantic act of reinvention; it is renegotiation, with winners, losers, and terms that can be breached.
The line "made originally by four provinces but adhered to by all the nine" signals the political math of the moment. Laurier is reminding the House that the federation has grown, and with growth comes a thicker web of consent. You can hear the warning: constitutional change is not just an internal housekeeping matter for the founders; it's a promise extended to newcomers who bought into a specific bargain. The subtext is federal legitimacy. Change the rules too casually and you risk making later entrants feel duped, or making regional minorities fear that the center can rewrite the deal whenever it has the votes.
His appeal to "the judgment of this house" is classic parliamentary discipline: temper passion, slow the tempo, make haste look reckless. Laurier isn't rejecting reform outright; he's raising the political cost of tinkering by recasting it as a test of seriousness, continuity, and trust between provinces. In a country built from competing regional identities, that caution isn't timid. It's a strategy for survival.
The line "made originally by four provinces but adhered to by all the nine" signals the political math of the moment. Laurier is reminding the House that the federation has grown, and with growth comes a thicker web of consent. You can hear the warning: constitutional change is not just an internal housekeeping matter for the founders; it's a promise extended to newcomers who bought into a specific bargain. The subtext is federal legitimacy. Change the rules too casually and you risk making later entrants feel duped, or making regional minorities fear that the center can rewrite the deal whenever it has the votes.
His appeal to "the judgment of this house" is classic parliamentary discipline: temper passion, slow the tempo, make haste look reckless. Laurier isn't rejecting reform outright; he's raising the political cost of tinkering by recasting it as a test of seriousness, continuity, and trust between provinces. In a country built from competing regional identities, that caution isn't timid. It's a strategy for survival.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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