Modern Development

As an inducement for British Columbia to join the Dominion, Canada had promised to complete a transcontinental railway to the Pacific within 10 years. Surveys were made but building was delayed, partly because of the obstacles the mountains presented. Discontent over failure to complete the railway led to some cries for secession. However, extension of the Canadian Pacific Railway was started in 1881; it reached Vancouver in 1885.

The railway brought prosperity with it. New mines were opened, and lumbering and salmon fishing were developed. More railways were built, and immigration increased.

A dispute with the United States over the boundary between Alaska and British Columbia was settled by an arbitration commission in 1903. The commission decided in favor of the United States, briefly arousing anger by Canadians against the United States and Britain, whose member on the commission had cast the deciding vote against the Canadian position.

The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 enabled Vancouver to compete with Atlantic seaports in shipping grain, lumber, and fish products. During World War I, manufacturing (especially shipbuilding and metal producing) expanded. Following World War II the Alaska Highway opened up the north. Hydroelectric power projects aided growth of the metals industry and manufacturing. During the 1950's the Pacific Great Eastern Railway was extended to open up new settlements and link resources of the interior with Vancouver. A pipeline was constructed to deliver natural gas from the Peace River region to Vancouver and the United States.

In the 1960's and 1970's, industrial expansion was stimulated by construction of hydroelectric power plants and pulp mills, the opening of new coal mines, and the continued extension of railway facilities into the interior. Economic development was slowed by the worldwide recession of the early 1980's. In 1986 an international exposition, called Expo 86, was held in Vancouver. In 1991 the New Democratic party took power after nearly 40 years of rule by the Social Credit party.

In 2000, the Nisga'a Treaty was ratified by the Canadian government. The treaty provided land, money, and other benefits for Nisga'a Indians. The government also granted the Nisga'a some autonomy.