It is usually assumed that the decline of the Liberal party on the Canadian prairies began in 1957, following the electoral triumph of the 'beloved prairie son, ' John Diefenbaker, and the Progressive Conservatives. According to Robert Wardhaugh, however, the disintegration of Liberal fortunes in the prairie west began much earlier, during the tumultuous era of William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Guiding us through a maze of western issues, from tariffs to freight rates, Wardhaugh analyzes the political management of the prairie west by Canada's longest-serving prime minister. He argues that Mackenzie King courted the prairies as long as western settlement was central to national economic development, but changed his attitude during the Depression years when the region became a financial burden. King's sympathy for western concerns abated even further, says Wardhaugh, during the years of war and post-war reconstruction, when the emphasis was on industry and, more precisely, the manufacturing concerns of central Canada. The decline of Liberal Party's influence in the west thus paralleled the growing divide between the region and central Canada.

This study provides a meeting ground for a number of interlocking themes. In analyzing Mackenzie King's treatment of the prairies, Wardhaugh creates a comprehensive view of the process of western alienation, at the same time clarifying the differing political interests of the three prairie provinces.

Plusieurs croient que le 1er juillet 1867 represente la date de la Confederation canadienne, le jour de la creation du nouveau pays. Mais le processus ne faisait que s'amorcer en 1867. Du petit dominion aux frontiAres restreintes, le pays est devenu une federation beaucoup plus grande, avec dix provinces, trois territoires, et des centaines de communautes autochtones. Les politiciens ont longtemps debattu le concept de pays; ils ont bien pese les avantages et les inconvenients d'une adhesion A la Confederation canadienne. La Confederation, 1864-1999 regroupe plusieurs historiens influents du Canada qui etudient comment les provinces, les territoires, ainsi que les regions sujettes aux Traites ont pris leurs formes actuelles. En partenariat avec Les Debats de la Confederation, un projet de production participative non-partisan et sans but lucratif visant A numeriser les documents fondateurs du Canada, ce livre innove; il integre les traites entre les peuples autochtones et la Couronne pour mettre en lumiere la creation et l'expansion de la Confederation canadienne. Ce faisant, le livre revele l'histoire tumultueuse, complexe et evolutive de chaque province et territoire.