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Dictionary of Canadian Biography
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      d. 17 May 1815 at Quebec
      PANET, JEAN-ANTOINE
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Pacific Scandal

The 1873 Pacific Scandal erupted following revelations that the Conservative government of Sir John A. Macdonald had granted an American-financed company the charter to build the Canadian transcontinental railway in return for contributions towards the Conservatives’ 1872 general election campaign. The Conservatives resigned in November 1873 and met defeat at the polls. The new Liberal prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie, saw the scandal as a natural by-product of Conservative politics; with ideological leanings towards free trade and individual enterprise, the Liberals naturally pointed out that the scandal involved a rejection of the norms of competition and an assertion of monopoly power.

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Other Resources

Canadian Pacific Scandal. Content archived on 22 Apr. 2025
Pacific Scandal - Oxford Reference
Pacific Scandal - Wikipedia
Pacific Scandal | Canadian history | Britannica.com
Scandal. Content archived on 3 Apr. 2016
Sir John A. Macdonald – Dictionary of Canadian Biography
The Canadian Pacific scandal - Deploying the railway network | A wide area of action - Sir Sandford Fleming

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We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada.

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