AHC: Largest possible Ontario

In the late 1860s, many Ontarians believed Ontario would eventually extend west to the Rockies, and north to the Arctic? Kinda reminds you of Manifest Destiny, doesn't it? And it's ASB, right?

ATL, the racist, belligerent bully Thomas Scott was executed following his role in the Red River Rebellion. Suppose Louis Riel wasn't as lucky, and the government refused to establish Manitoba. How much larger could Ontario be? Could it be any larger?
 
Also thought I'd say, I want it to be so that Canada is (at least for the most part) the same size, and that Ontario gets larger, growing to the west.
 
In the late 1860s, many Ontarians believed Ontario would eventually extend west to the Rockies, and north to the Arctic? Kinda reminds you of Manifest Destiny, doesn't it? And it's ASB, right?

ATL, the racist, belligerent bully Thomas Scott was executed following his role in the Red River Rebellion. Suppose Louis Riel wasn't as lucky, and the government refused to establish Manitoba. How much larger could Ontario be? Could it be any larger?

Also thought I'd say, I want it to be so that Canada is (at least for the most part) the same size, and that Ontario gets larger, growing to the west.
Although Ontario going much farther west than IOTL, without splitting at some point, seems a little implausible to me, but it's possible that it could have had a larger Keewatin district, following OTL's western border, then extending all the way north to the Nelson River. And then the smaller *Manitoba might just be renamed Assiniboia, or something, and development of the rest of the Canadian West could very well have continued mostly as IOTL.
 

It's

Banned
Also thought I'd say, I want it to be so that Canada is (at least for the most part) the same size, and that Ontario gets larger, growing to the west.

Pardon my ignorance of Canadian history, but may I draw a parallel with Australia?

The colonisation of Australia began with the establishment of New South Wales in 1788. This covered 2/3 of Australia (the rest being what is now the state of Western Australia, which was first colonised in 1829).

As other colonial settlements in NSW were established and grew, these and their hinterlands were carved out of it to form new colonies which, like WA, also became the modern day Australian states along with NSW. NSW is now the 4th largest of Australia's 6 states by area (but the most populous).

Wouldn't the same thing happen to Ontario either way?

Australian historians often wrote about "the tyranny of distance" which militates against regions being too big.

Did Canada have a similar attitude?
 
I always thought that the western boundary of Ontario was approaching ASB territory as it is. The 1889 shift to the current western extent claimed land which was clearly (in my opinion) in Manitoba's "natural" sphere of influence. To this day, the area allocated to Ontario in 1889 is culturally part of Manitoba -- for example listening to Manitoba television for regional news (southern Ontario is unaware that it even exists, for all intents and purposes) and going to Winnipeg for major purchases -- and is in the Central time zone, unlike Ontario further east.
 
There was a push in the 1820s to have Ontario go East and nab Montreal (which was quickly becoming an Anglo city). It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to have that happen.
 
It seems likely to me that "Ontario" could theoretically extend to cover all of Canada west of Quebec and east of British Columbia (which was mostly settled from the Pacific)...but they're probably try and subdivide it at some point.
 
I always thought that the western boundary of Ontario was approaching ASB territory as it is. The 1889 shift to the current western extent claimed land which was clearly (in my opinion) in Manitoba's "natural" sphere of influence. To this day, the area allocated to Ontario in 1889 is culturally part of Manitoba -- for example listening to Manitoba television for regional news (southern Ontario is unaware that it even exists, for all intents and purposes) and going to Winnipeg for major purchases -- and is in the Central time zone, unlike Ontario further east.

This. Yes, Ontario could be a tiny bit bigger, maybe. But it is improbably big as is.

Before the CPR went through, communications with the Prairies often went through either the States or Hudson's Bay. The Canadian Shield north of Superior is, was, and always will be, wilderness (aside from a few native towns and a few mines). It would be like Liberia being part of South Carolina, basically - except it's easier to get from Liberia to South Carolina.
 
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