Talk:Canadian Confederation
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Is that London, England or London, Ontario? -- Zoe
- England, like the wikilink points to. --Menchi 00:29 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)
The living or the dead?
I just added the reason for the terms "Pre- and Post-Confederation" in Canadian Confederation. But the idea that Confederation is both:
- an act (grammatically, an instant, although, factually, it lasted over several years) and referred to the 1st act of Confederation (by the Fathers)
- a lasting living thing (grammatically, continous) that just proved its vitality by the recent addition of Nunavut. [the definition in in the 1st sentence of the intro]
They seem contrary to each other. Is it supposed to be? Or is one of the definitions wrong? (I'm guess if so, it'd be the second, living definition). If so, then the intro needs some modifications.
--Menchi 05:14 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)
- I would say it can refer to both. "Confederation" means the actual political process in the 1860s, but it can also mean the period after 1867, which we are currently living in. "Pre-Confederation" can mean all Canadian history up to 1867, and "Post-Confederation" is 1867 to now (and the future). I wouldn't use "the Confederation" to refer to Canada though. Just "Confederation" means either the political process, or the whole period afterwards, depending on context. But just "Confederation" usually would mean the political process, I think. I hope that makes sense... Adam Bishop 05:30 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)
- So the Confederation of Canada is unlike other confederations in that the term cannot be applied to an area, but rather, it's a process that took place and may still take place(?). So it's temporal, not spatial? Is that your point? --Menchi 05:42 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)
- Yeah, it's not like Switzerland, in that people wouldn't say "the Canadian Confederation" as another name for Canada itself. It refers to an abstract process rather than a physical area. On the other hand, I have heard the phrase "in Confederation," like "Ontario is the largest province in Confederation." I would still say it is being used abstractly there though, because you wouldn't say "largest province in the Confederation." Adam Bishop 05:49 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)
- By the way, the way the page reads now, it seems that "Confederation of Canada" is being used the same way we would normally use "Dominion of Canada" (even though that's an archaic term). And when I came across this page previously, I immediately associated "Canadian Confederation" with the process of uniting the provinces in the 1860s. (Whereas if I read a page on "Swiss Confederation," I would think of the country of Switzerland itself.) Does that make more sense? Adam Bishop 06:03 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)
- I modified it a bit. Go ahead and improve it if there's more to be clarified. --Menchi 13:28 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)
- I pretty much just turned this conversation into a few sentences and worked it into the article. It seems less confusing to me, even though it's more complex now. Adam Bishop 18:10 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)