1874 to arbitrate the dispute between

livid, not simply at what he considered a British attempt to interfere in Canadian internal matters, but because of the implication that British Columbia might have a legitimate grievance to arbitrate. He railed at the perfidiousness of British Columbians. According to Margaret Ormsby, Mackenzie’s “relations with provincial politicians were soon to leave him with the impression that British Columbians were a race apart, skilled in dissembling and adept at refusing to make plain statements of fact and candid declarations of policy. ” His views were founded on his belief that British Columbians had total “disregard for the interests of the taxpayers of Ontario and the rest of Canada.” Edward Blake, the leading Liberal of his day, had resigned from the Liberal Party over the early attempt by Mackenzie to appease British Columbia. Blake and a large following of his supporters in the Liberal Party remained opposed to the latest attempt to reach a compromise. Blake, a lawyer (he founded the national law firm known today as Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP) had been Premier of Ontario until he was elected to Ottawa in the 1872 election. He apparently regretted his decision to refuse the position of leader of the Liberals and the opportunity to be Prime Minister, for he actively undermined Mackenzie’s leadership. In his famous speech at Aurora, north of Toronto, he lambasted and ridiculed British Columbia and dared the province to separate. To British Columbians, he represented the “East ” that did not care about the world west of the Rockies—the “East ” that hogged everything for itself, including the patronage plums that were awarded not to British Columbians but to men from “Canada.” His views were founded on his belief that British Columbians had total “disregard for the interests of the taxpayers of Ontario and the rest of Canada.