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Tax, Order, and Good GovernmentA New Political History of Canada, 1867-1917 |
eBook Available
The history of Confederation rewritten through the redistribution of wealth.
Was Canada’s Dominion experiment of 1867 an experiment in political domination? Looking to taxes provides the answer: they are a privileged measure of both political agency and political domination. To pay one’s taxes was the sine qua non of entry into political life, but taxes are also the point of politics, which is always about the control of wealth. Modern states have everywhere been born of tax revolts, and Canada was no exception.
Heaman shows that the competing claims of the propertied versus the people are hardwired constituents of Canadian political history. Tax debates in early Canada were philosophically charged, politically consequential dialogues about the relationship between wealth and poverty. Extensive archival research, from private papers, commissions, the press, and all levels of government, serves to identify a rising popular challenge to the patrician politics that were entrenched in the Constitutional Act of 1867 under the credo “Peace, Order, and good Government.” Canadians wrote themselves a new constitution in 1867 because they needed a new tax deal, one that reflected the changing balance of regional, racial, and religious political accommodations. In the fifty years that followed, politics became social politics and a liberal state became a modern administrative one. But emerging conceptions of fiscal fairness met with intense resistance from conservative statesmen, culminating in 1917 in a progressive income tax and the bitterest election in Canadian history. Tax, Order, and Good Government tells the story of Confederation without exceptionalism or misplaced sentimentality and, in so doing, reads Canadian history as a lesson in how the state works.
Tax, Order, and Good Government follows the money and returns taxation to where it belongs: at the heart of Canada’s political, economic, and social history.
Heaman shows that the competing claims of the propertied versus the people are hardwired constituents of Canadian political history. Tax debates in early Canada were philosophically charged, politically consequential dialogues about the relationship between wealth and poverty. Extensive archival research, from private papers, commissions, the press, and all levels of government, serves to identify a rising popular challenge to the patrician politics that were entrenched in the Constitutional Act of 1867 under the credo “Peace, Order, and good Government.” Canadians wrote themselves a new constitution in 1867 because they needed a new tax deal, one that reflected the changing balance of regional, racial, and religious political accommodations. In the fifty years that followed, politics became social politics and a liberal state became a modern administrative one. But emerging conceptions of fiscal fairness met with intense resistance from conservative statesmen, culminating in 1917 in a progressive income tax and the bitterest election in Canadian history. Tax, Order, and Good Government tells the story of Confederation without exceptionalism or misplaced sentimentality and, in so doing, reads Canadian history as a lesson in how the state works.
Tax, Order, and Good Government follows the money and returns taxation to where it belongs: at the heart of Canada’s political, economic, and social history.
Details
Part of the Carleton Library Series (number 240 in series)
600 Pages, 6 x 9
31 figures, 3 tables
ISBN 9780773549623
June 2017
Formats: Cloth, eBook
"Elsbeth Heaman's outstanding book places taxation where it belongs, at the heart of Canadian history. She explores with great discernment and lucidity issues ranging from the nature of Confederation, and the changing ideologies of parties and their coalitions of interests, to the meanings of race, poverty, wealth and fairness, and the treatment of land, business, and finance. This is no narrow and technical account of taxation, but a brilliant use of fiscal politics to illuminate the major questions in Canadian history. Historians of other countries will gain from her insights, for she is alert to the connections between debates in Canada and in the United States and Britain and many of the same issues arose in Australia and New Zealand. The book is a contribution not only to Canadian history but also to that of the wider world." Martin Daunton, Faculty of History, Cambridge University
"This book shows that the history of taxation is not only important - it can also be provocative, infuriating, and exciting. Tax, Order, and Good Government is an essential read for all historians of Canada." Eric Sager, University of Victoria
"E.A Heaman has produced a decided masterpiece on a topic too often thought to be dry as a bone. This terrific book helps us better understand the contested nature of fiscal citizenship and our inevitable rendezvous with the quintessentially political issues of revenue, wealth, and poverty." BC Studies
"Heaman's work drives home the centrality of tax debate and even tax revolt in the founding of Canada. Some themes of Canada's early tax history have been covered by other scholars and are by now familiar (for example, the tension between the federal and provincial governments in respect of the allocation of indirect and direct taxes, and the consequences of their shared jurisdiction over direct taxation), but this book is ground-breaking in its attention to detail, its nuanced approach to the intergovernmental navigation of the taxation waters in Canada's early years, and its counter-narrative about the role of class (and poverty) in the trajectory of early Canadian tax reform. Provocative and intensively researched." Canadian Tax Journal
“Tax, Order, and Good Government will not appeal to those who want a quick fix. It is dense and detailed. It is also artfully written and a good deal wittier than a 460-page book on taxation has any right to be.” Quebec Writer’s Federation Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction jury
“Elsbeth Heaman provides a path-breaking history of Canadian taxation from Confederation up until the introduction of the progressive income tax. All Canadians interested in the history and growth of the nation will want to read this meticulously researched and captivating analysis.” Canada Prize Jury
“Tax, Order, and Good Government will become a cornerstone of new Canadian political history... an incredibly well-researched, thoughtful, nuanced, and densely argued study.” R. Blake Brown, Canadian Historical Review
“Heaman has written one of those rare books that changes our way of thinking about the Canadian past. You may have your reservations about the weight Heaman places on the income tax as the barometer of progressive social reform, but you will not be able to think about the Canadian poor in the same way again. So, if are you comfortable in your understanding of Canadian political history in the years 1867 to 1917, do not read this book. But if you want to grow as an historian, find a great topic for a PhD thesis, and or just be shaken out of your complacency, Tax, Order, and Good Government needs to find a home on your bedside table.” Peter Campbell, Labour/Le Travail
“[Heaman] offers such significant shifts of interpretation, and her analysis inflects so many heretofore implacable positions that a whole generation of graduate students will feast on its fruits. I predict that this book will take up a place alongside Ramsay Cook’s Governor General Award-winning book The Regenerators in its capacity to alter historians’ sense of the dramatic ideological transformations in relationships between state and society, wealth and poverty, and the haves and the have-nots during the last decades of the long nineteenth century. It will most assuredly leave you unable to think about Canadian history quite the same again.” Carman Nielson, CHA Reads
“[Tax, Order, and Good Government]’s opening of new perspectives on the manner in which public policy functioned is superbly informative. Its shedding of fresh, revisionist light on both national development and the shaping of citizen action is notably revealing and provocative. It is a bravura performance and will mark the field.” American Historical Review
“Tax, Order, and Good Government represents a powerful addition to the developing field of “new political history.” It challenges readers to consider how the tax system mediated relations between citizens and the Canadian state [and it] reminds us that there is much more to be said about the relationship between wealth, poverty, and political power in Canadian history. Heaman has written an outstanding book.” Ontario History
« Ce que nous présente Heaman n’est pas simplement une histoire des types de taxations et des réactions politiques des citoyens canadiens à celles-ci, mais bien une histoire politique des conflits distributifs à une époque où se construisait l’État canadien. C’est une histoire de pauvreté et de richesse. C’est une histoire de solidarité, par la nature redistributive de la fiscalité, mais aussi conflictuelle et adversative entre les divers groupes touchés par les taxes et les impôts….La contribution qu’Heaman fait est donc non seulement impressionnante sur le plan historique et philosophique, mais aussi pertinente pour la compréhension approfondie des tensions qui traversent les questions fiscales aujourd’hui…. Pour les philosophes, le travail de Heaman offre une présentation érudite, critique et instructive des débats entourant la fiscalité dans un pays en transformation, au moment où le libéralisme ne faisait que commencer à s’installer et était en constante transformation. » HistoireEngagée
« L’ouvrage d’Heaman ne se contente pas d’analyser le volet politique des conflits sur la fiscalité canadienne, mais propose d’en faire un prisme au moyen duquel il devient possible de percevoir la répartition de la richesse entre les groupes sociaux, le problème de la pauvreté dans la société canadienne et les relations entre les dimensions politiques, économiques, sociales et culturelles de la fiscalité pendant les 50 ans qui suivent la Confédération de 1867. Le lecteur ne pourra manquer d’apprécier le caractère très actuel des discours politiques de l’époque, sur un sujet qui conserve toute sa pertinence. » Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française
“Tax, Order, and Good Government has won at least three major awards, including the final Macdonald Prize from the Canadian Historical Association. Clearly, juries have been impressed by the importance of its subject and by its originality, scope, energy, engagement with an international literature, provocative rewriting of major episodes, and critical (at times cynical) perspective on political and business leaders. What may be its most significant accomplishment, however, is that it encourages a rereading of the “old” political history in light of its interpretations and invites systematic thinking about the place of public finance (borrowing and spending as well as taxes) in the story.” Histoire sociale / Social History
"This book shows that the history of taxation is not only important - it can also be provocative, infuriating, and exciting. Tax, Order, and Good Government is an essential read for all historians of Canada." Eric Sager, University of Victoria
"E.A Heaman has produced a decided masterpiece on a topic too often thought to be dry as a bone. This terrific book helps us better understand the contested nature of fiscal citizenship and our inevitable rendezvous with the quintessentially political issues of revenue, wealth, and poverty." BC Studies
"Heaman's work drives home the centrality of tax debate and even tax revolt in the founding of Canada. Some themes of Canada's early tax history have been covered by other scholars and are by now familiar (for example, the tension between the federal and provincial governments in respect of the allocation of indirect and direct taxes, and the consequences of their shared jurisdiction over direct taxation), but this book is ground-breaking in its attention to detail, its nuanced approach to the intergovernmental navigation of the taxation waters in Canada's early years, and its counter-narrative about the role of class (and poverty) in the trajectory of early Canadian tax reform. Provocative and intensively researched." Canadian Tax Journal
“Tax, Order, and Good Government will not appeal to those who want a quick fix. It is dense and detailed. It is also artfully written and a good deal wittier than a 460-page book on taxation has any right to be.” Quebec Writer’s Federation Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction jury
“Elsbeth Heaman provides a path-breaking history of Canadian taxation from Confederation up until the introduction of the progressive income tax. All Canadians interested in the history and growth of the nation will want to read this meticulously researched and captivating analysis.” Canada Prize Jury
“Tax, Order, and Good Government will become a cornerstone of new Canadian political history... an incredibly well-researched, thoughtful, nuanced, and densely argued study.” R. Blake Brown, Canadian Historical Review
“Heaman has written one of those rare books that changes our way of thinking about the Canadian past. You may have your reservations about the weight Heaman places on the income tax as the barometer of progressive social reform, but you will not be able to think about the Canadian poor in the same way again. So, if are you comfortable in your understanding of Canadian political history in the years 1867 to 1917, do not read this book. But if you want to grow as an historian, find a great topic for a PhD thesis, and or just be shaken out of your complacency, Tax, Order, and Good Government needs to find a home on your bedside table.” Peter Campbell, Labour/Le Travail
“[Heaman] offers such significant shifts of interpretation, and her analysis inflects so many heretofore implacable positions that a whole generation of graduate students will feast on its fruits. I predict that this book will take up a place alongside Ramsay Cook’s Governor General Award-winning book The Regenerators in its capacity to alter historians’ sense of the dramatic ideological transformations in relationships between state and society, wealth and poverty, and the haves and the have-nots during the last decades of the long nineteenth century. It will most assuredly leave you unable to think about Canadian history quite the same again.” Carman Nielson, CHA Reads
“[Tax, Order, and Good Government]’s opening of new perspectives on the manner in which public policy functioned is superbly informative. Its shedding of fresh, revisionist light on both national development and the shaping of citizen action is notably revealing and provocative. It is a bravura performance and will mark the field.” American Historical Review
“Tax, Order, and Good Government represents a powerful addition to the developing field of “new political history.” It challenges readers to consider how the tax system mediated relations between citizens and the Canadian state [and it] reminds us that there is much more to be said about the relationship between wealth, poverty, and political power in Canadian history. Heaman has written an outstanding book.” Ontario History
« Ce que nous présente Heaman n’est pas simplement une histoire des types de taxations et des réactions politiques des citoyens canadiens à celles-ci, mais bien une histoire politique des conflits distributifs à une époque où se construisait l’État canadien. C’est une histoire de pauvreté et de richesse. C’est une histoire de solidarité, par la nature redistributive de la fiscalité, mais aussi conflictuelle et adversative entre les divers groupes touchés par les taxes et les impôts….La contribution qu’Heaman fait est donc non seulement impressionnante sur le plan historique et philosophique, mais aussi pertinente pour la compréhension approfondie des tensions qui traversent les questions fiscales aujourd’hui…. Pour les philosophes, le travail de Heaman offre une présentation érudite, critique et instructive des débats entourant la fiscalité dans un pays en transformation, au moment où le libéralisme ne faisait que commencer à s’installer et était en constante transformation. » HistoireEngagée
« L’ouvrage d’Heaman ne se contente pas d’analyser le volet politique des conflits sur la fiscalité canadienne, mais propose d’en faire un prisme au moyen duquel il devient possible de percevoir la répartition de la richesse entre les groupes sociaux, le problème de la pauvreté dans la société canadienne et les relations entre les dimensions politiques, économiques, sociales et culturelles de la fiscalité pendant les 50 ans qui suivent la Confédération de 1867. Le lecteur ne pourra manquer d’apprécier le caractère très actuel des discours politiques de l’époque, sur un sujet qui conserve toute sa pertinence. » Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française
“Tax, Order, and Good Government has won at least three major awards, including the final Macdonald Prize from the Canadian Historical Association. Clearly, juries have been impressed by the importance of its subject and by its originality, scope, energy, engagement with an international literature, provocative rewriting of major episodes, and critical (at times cynical) perspective on political and business leaders. What may be its most significant accomplishment, however, is that it encourages a rereading of the “old” political history in light of its interpretations and invites systematic thinking about the place of public finance (borrowing and spending as well as taxes) in the story.” Histoire sociale / Social History
E.A. Heaman is associate professor in the Department of History and Classical Studies at McGill University.
Contents
Figures and Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Wealth, Poverty, and Taxes 3
PART ONE CONSTRUCTING FISCAL FEDERALISM
1 Confederation, or How Not to Run a Tax Revolt 21
2 Tax Revolt in Nova Scotia in the 1860s: Fairness and Region 56
3 Tax Revolt in British Columbia in the 1870s: Fairness and Race 88
4 Macdonald to Laurier: Revolt against Liberalism 119
PART TWO RECONSTRUCTING FISCAL FEDERALISM
5 Tax Revolt in Montreal in the 1880s: Fairness and Poverty 185
6 Corporate Tax Revolt in Toronto in the 1890s: Fairness
and Wealth 233
7 Single-Tax Revolt in the 1900s: Fairness over the Land 281
8 Laurier to Borden: Failed Revolt against the Tariff 332
9 Income Tax: Progressivism Triumphant 377
Conclusion: The Politics of Fairness 459
Glossary 465
Notes 471
Index 553
Figures and Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Wealth, Poverty, and Taxes 3
PART ONE CONSTRUCTING FISCAL FEDERALISM
1 Confederation, or How Not to Run a Tax Revolt 21
2 Tax Revolt in Nova Scotia in the 1860s: Fairness and Region 56
3 Tax Revolt in British Columbia in the 1870s: Fairness and Race 88
4 Macdonald to Laurier: Revolt against Liberalism 119
PART TWO RECONSTRUCTING FISCAL FEDERALISM
5 Tax Revolt in Montreal in the 1880s: Fairness and Poverty 185
6 Corporate Tax Revolt in Toronto in the 1890s: Fairness
and Wealth 233
7 Single-Tax Revolt in the 1900s: Fairness over the Land 281
8 Laurier to Borden: Failed Revolt against the Tariff 332
9 Income Tax: Progressivism Triumphant 377
Conclusion: The Politics of Fairness 459
Glossary 465
Notes 471
Index 553
9780773545977
$40.95 CAD
Paperback
Review by Christopher Moore
Author Interview with Archivehistory.ca
Elsbeth Heaman in conversation with Shirley Tillotson, Literary Review of Canada
BC Studies review by Michael J. Prince
Canada's History review by Victor Rabinovitch
Four reflections, Journal of the Canadian Historical Association
Interview, The Champlain Society Witness to Yesterday podcast
Author Interview with Archivehistory.ca
Elsbeth Heaman in conversation with Shirley Tillotson, Literary Review of Canada
BC Studies review by Michael J. Prince
Canada's History review by Victor Rabinovitch
Four reflections, Journal of the Canadian Historical Association
Interview, The Champlain Society Witness to Yesterday podcast
Finalist
Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction
Quebec Writers’ Federation’s Literary Awards
2017
Winner
Canada Prize in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
2018
Winner
Sir John A. Macdonald prize / The Governor General’s History Award for Scholarly Research
Canadian Historical Association / Canada’s History Society
2018 / 2019
Winner
Political History Prize Best Book
The Political History Group (PHG affiliated committee of the Canadian Historical Association)
2018
Finalist
François-Xavier Garneau Medal
Canadian Historical Association
2020
Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction
Quebec Writers’ Federation’s Literary Awards
2017
Winner
Canada Prize in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
2018
Winner
Sir John A. Macdonald prize / The Governor General’s History Award for Scholarly Research
Canadian Historical Association / Canada’s History Society
2018 / 2019
Winner
Political History Prize Best Book
The Political History Group (PHG affiliated committee of the Canadian Historical Association)
2018
Finalist
François-Xavier Garneau Medal
Canadian Historical Association
2020
