Fearless Leader
Donor
At that point in time, what was the relative political & economic strengths of the Hudson's Bay Company & North West Company? I think they carried a lot of weight, didn't they? HBC had trading posts from Labrador to BC.
Would their economic impact have played a role?
I think the fur trade would be enough to have Britain at least try and keep some semblance of control over what territory they had left in TTL.
Without the Great Lakes, the Northwest Company might be strangled in the cradle, leaving the Hudsons Bay Company with a complete monopoly over the fur trade.
Everything's going to have to be moved north however. New trading posts and settlements will need to be established along the Ottawa River, the Mattawa River, and Lake Nipissing to maintain some semblance of the fur trade. This coupled with the timber industry should be enough to keep some British presence in the region (though much smaller than OTL). I`d wager that a desire to at least try to hold onto western British North America might lead to the construction of canals along the route (similar canals were being built in England in OTL at this time).
A few canals bypassing rapids on the Ottawa River, coupled with a canal connecting Trout Lake to Lake Nipissing would be enough to allow for boats to travel all the way to Sault Ste. Marie. Come the Napoleonic Wars and the timber from that region is going to be in high demand by the RN.
If the UK decides to invest in these canals, then they`re going to fight hard for a better border in the west. Perhaps gaining a bigger chunk out west in order to guarantee passage through Sault Ste. Marie. I wonder if as time progresses they won`t try to build canals to connect Lake Superior with the Lake of the Woods and Lake Winnipeg following the old portage routes?
One wonders how valuable holding on to Ruperts Land would be for the British. I wonder if it would be enough for them to reconcile themselves to the idea of a predominantly Francophone Canada. Maybe, eventually they make a trade with the people of Quebec and adopt a more conciliatory position. All of Western Canada is opened to French immigration and refugees from Revolutionary France are settled en masse in the region. Further deals are struck with local tribes and Metis groups and before long Britain has control over the OTL Canadian west. Sure it's hardly "British" but the people of Quebec recognize the benefits of British rule. There just isn't the Anglo-french antagonism of OTL in TTL's Canada out of pure necessity.
I guess it's just fun to imagine an alternate commerce route that cuts across Northern Ontario from Montreal to Winnipeg.
