ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the Confederation agreement and what might be considered unique in structuring Catholic–Protestant relations in Canada compared with Australia and the United States. It shows how federal politics led to a patchwork of compromises across the provinces in the policies of schools and language, setting the stage for the privileging of provincial autonomy. The chapter considers how this trend toward greater decentralization made more difficult the formation of a cross-national labor coalition and conditioned how the political opportunity of the Great Depression affected Catholic–Protestant relations. The political opportunity of the Great Depression did not translate into Catholic gains in descriptive representation because Canadian Catholics, particularly in Quebec, favored provincial autonomy. The end result of maneuvering on language policy was that French-language schooling was allowed in Quebec and in French districts in the Maritimes. The uneven provision of Catholic and French schooling reinforced Quebec Catholics' belief that provincial autonomy was the surest way to protect Catholic freedom.