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THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT [PART II
§ 4. INSTABILITY OF DOMINION MINISTRIES
For the greater part Colonial Ministries are not of pro-
longed duration, and indeed in some cases the instability
has been almost ludicrous; Ministry after Ministry comes
into office and disappears in the course of a few weeks or
months. In Canada things have been very different in
this regard from the state of affairs in the Commonwealth of
Australia. In the Dominion, the Ministry formed by Sir
John Macdonald ! in 1867 lasted until 1873, when the scandal
in connexion with the Pacific Railway alienated the country
and brought Mr. Mackenzie’s Ministry into office.. That
Ministry again lost the support of the country in 1878 on
the - question of tariff policy, and from 1878 to 1896 Con-
servative Governments remained in office, first under the
leadership of Sir John Macdonald, then on his death in 1891
under that of Mr. (later Sir J.) Abbott, then under Sir John
Thompson; and on his death in 1894 under Sir Mackenzie
Bowell, and finally, for a very brief period at the end, after
the unceremonious ousting of Sir M. Bowell, under Sir
Charles Tupper. In 1896 the differences between the Federal
Government and Manitoba added to a change in the views
of Quebec? secured the return of the Liberals, who have
since held office, and even in 1908 their strength was not
much weakened despite the difficulties in British Columbia
on account of Asiatic exclusion, and the scandals raised by
discoveries which showed that the standard of public morality
in regard to contracts and patronage in Canada was not as
high as it should have been.?
' It was a continuation of an administration formed in 1858 in the
United Provinces which lasted, with a break in 1862-4, until federation. See
Pope, Sir John Macdonald, and Willison, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, for the
political history of Canadian parties down to 1902.
* The views of Quebec since seem again to have changed slightly in view
of the naval policy of the Government, which is unpopular, as shown by
the defeat of the Government candidate in the Drummond and Arthabaska
division election in 1910. Cf. Parl. Lap, Cd. 5582, p. 38.
* Cf. Canadian Annual Review, 1908, pp. 396 seq. ; Macphail, Essays in
Politics, pp. 164d seq. An election is now to be held on the reciprocity issue.
