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The Trans Canada railroad was completed in 1885 to connect British Columbia and the Western territories to central Canada. This was considered a vital project by the Canadian government to assert Canadian sovereignty over what would become the prairie provinces and to fulfil an agreement with British Columbia as a condition for B.C. to join Canada.
There was a great deal of political objection to the government funding of this project due to the huge expense and the legality of some of the business dealings associated with the project. However the backing of the building of the railroad was secured largely based on the premise that it was necessary to forestall American encroachment into the prairies.
Was this true? If the opposition had got their way and the Trans Canada railroad not been built would the Americans have eventually annexed the agrable areas of the prairies? What would this have meant for British Columbia and Canada?