Canada First

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Canada First was a nationalist movement in Canada . It was founded in Toronto in 1868 to promote Canadian nationalism in the state founded a year earlier and to underpin it intellectually.

The movement initially called for Canada's independence from the United States and Great Britain . However, after these two countries had negotiated the Washington Agreement in 1871 and were able to settle some disputes, Canada First now relied on political and economic autonomy within the British Empire without completely giving up ties to the motherland.

Canada First had the greatest influence on domestic politics in 1869/70 during the Red River Rebellion . Their agitation was mainly responsible for turning public opinion in Ontario against the Métis and their leader Louis Riel after the execution of Thomas Scott .

Canada First had racist tendencies. So she advocated exclusively British immigration. An Anglo-Saxon Protestant "northern race" was supposed to rule Canada and use the country's great economic potential. French Canadians , Catholics, and Native Americans were seen as obstacles to achieving this goal.

The movement was never able to gain a foothold outside of Protestant-dominated Ontario. It tried to transform itself into a political party. But when their most influential supporter Edward Blake , the Prime Minister of Ontario, was appointed Justice Minister to the liberal federal government by Alexander Mackenzie in 1875 , Canada First quickly collapsed and dissolved.

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