Editing New Brunswick (section)

===Canadian province (1867–present)===
On 1 July 1867, New Brunswick joined with Nova Scotia and the [[Province of Canada]] (now Ontario and Quebec) to create the Dominion of Canada.

[[File:Alexander Henderson, Intercolonial Railway bridge at Sackville, NB, 1875.jpg|thumb|An [[Intercolonial Railway]] bridge, 1875. The railway was established as a result of [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]].]]
Though Confederation brought into existence the [[Intercolonial Railway]] in 1872, new barriers undermined traditional trade relations. In 1879, [[John A. Macdonald]]'s [[Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)|Conservatives]] enacted the [[National Policy]], which called for high tariffs and opposed [[free trade]], disrupting the trading relationship between the Maritimes and [[New England]]. The economic situation was worsened by the [[Great Fire of Saint John]] of 1877, the decline of the shipbuilding industry, and the US [[Panic of 1893]]. Many experienced workers lost their jobs and had to move west or to the United States.

In 1871, the government introduced free education, banning [[catechism]], the [[cassock]] and French in public schools in the process. Though contested by the Acadians and the Irish, the law was deemed constitutional. Following a riot in [[Caraquet]] in 1875, and political pressure, the bans were lifted in 1877.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dupuis |first=Serge |title=Deux poids deux langues |publisher=Septentrion |year=2019 |location=Québec |pages=43–44 |language=French}}</ref>

The [[Irving Group of Companies]], founded by the [[Irving Family (New Brunswick)|Irving family]], officially began in 1881 in [[Grand-Bouctouche|Bouctouche]] when James Irving bought a sawmill.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Irving Group of Companies |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/irving-group |access-date=26 November 2023 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709085646/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/irving-group |url-status=live }}</ref> Afterwards, the family continued to acquire businesses and substantial wealth, eventually becoming the richest family in the province. Today, Irving is considered by many to exert a monopoly over New Brunswick.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Deneault |first=Alain |date=1 April 2019 |title=La famille Irving, un féodalisme canadien |url=https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2019/04/DENEAULT/59710 |access-date=26 November 2023 |website=Le Monde diplomatique |language=fr |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927071950/https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2019/04/DENEAULT/59710 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Livesey |first=Bruce |date=6 July 2016 |title=The Irvings' media monopoly and its consequences |url=https://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/07/06/news/irvings-media-monopoly-and-its-consequences |access-date=26 November 2023 |website=Canada's National Observer |language=en |archive-date=30 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630164915/https://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/07/06/news/irvings-media-monopoly-and-its-consequences |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ICI.Radio-Canada.ca |first=Zone Économie- |date=27 November 2019 |title=Au Nouveau-Brunswick, on ne mord pas la main qui nous nourrit {{!}} Radio-Canada.ca |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1406905/medias-nouveau-brunswick-mains-irving |access-date=26 November 2023 |website=Radio-Canada |language=fr-ca |archive-date=27 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127221615/https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1406905/medias-nouveau-brunswick-mains-irving |url-status=live }}</ref>

Towards the early 20th century, the economy began to improve somewhat. The railways and tariffs fostered the growth of new industries in the province such as textile manufacturing, iron mills, [[Pulp and paper industry|pulp and paper mills]], and sugar refineries.<ref name="hc" /> However, many of these eventually failed to compete with their competition in Central Canada. Unemployement was high for a long time and increased during the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s.

By the end of the Great Depression, the New Brunswick standard of living was much lower than the Canadian average. In 1937, New Brunswick had the highest infant mortality and illiteracy rates in Canada.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/canada/Alberta-to-Nova-Scotia/New-Brunswick.html |title=New Brunswick |access-date=29 June 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602203857/http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/canada/Alberta-to-Nova-Scotia/New-Brunswick.html |archive-date=2 June 2016}}</ref> In 1940, the [[Rowell–Sirois Commission]] reported grave flaws in the Canadian constitution. While the federal government had most of the revenue gathering powers, the provinces had many expenditure responsibilities such as healthcare, education, and welfare, which were becoming increasingly expensive. The Commission recommended the creation of [[Equalization payments in Canada|equalization payments]], which were eventually implemented in 1957.

After Canada joined [[World War II]], 14 NB army units were organized, in addition to [[The Royal New Brunswick Regiment]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=New Brunswick at War |publisher=Provincial Archives of New Brunswick |year=1995 |pages=1–13}}</ref> and first deployed in the [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]] in 1943. After the [[Normandy landings]] they redeployed to northwestern Europe, along with [[The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment|The North Shore Regiment]].<ref name=":0" /> The [[British Commonwealth Air Training Plan]], a training program for ally pilots, established bases in Moncton, [[Chatham, New Brunswick|Chatham]], and [[Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick|Pennfield Ridge]], as well as a military typing school in Saint John. While relatively unindustrialized before the war, New Brunswick became home to 34 plants on military contracts from which the province received over $78&nbsp;million.<ref name=":0" /> [[William Lyon Mackenzie King|Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King]], who had promised no conscription, asked the provinces if they would release the government of said promise. New Brunswick voted 69.1% yes. The policy was not implemented until 1944, too late for many of the conscripts to be deployed.<ref name=":0" /> There were 1808 NB fatalities among the armed forces.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Dictionary Of Canadian Military History |last1=Bercuson |first1=David J. |last2=Granatstein |first2=J.L. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0195408478 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcana00berc}}</ref>

[[File:Bienvenue au Nouveau-Brunswick.jpg|thumb|A provincial welcome sign in English and French, the two official languages of the province]]
The Acadians in northern New Brunswick had long been geographically and linguistically isolated from the more numerous English speakers to the south. The population of French origin grew dramatically after Confederation, from about 16 per cent in 1871 to 34 per cent in 1931.<ref name=cenb/> Government services were often not available in French, and the infrastructure in Francophone areas was less developed than elsewhere. In 1960 Premier [[Louis Robichaud]] embarked on the [[New Brunswick Equal Opportunity program]], in which education, rural road maintenance, and healthcare fell under the sole jurisdiction of a provincial government that insisted on equal coverage throughout the province, rather than the former county-based system. In 1969 the Robichaud government adopted the Official Languages Act making the province officially bilingual and establishing the right of New Brunswickers to obtain provincial government services in the official language of their choice. In 1982 at the request of the government of [[Richard Hatfield]], this right became part of the ''[[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]]'' and therefore part of the [[Constitution of Canada]].<ref name=HistOfficLang/>

The [[flag of New Brunswick]], based on the coat of arms, was adopted in 1965. The conventional heraldic representations of a lion and a ship represent colonial ties with Europe, and the importance of shipping at the time the coat of arms was assigned.<ref>{{cite web |title=Symbols |url=http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/government_services/symbols.html |website=Service New Brunswick |access-date=15 November 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411181742/http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/government_services/symbols.html |archive-date=11 April 2017}}</ref>

In 2005, the Court of Queen's Bench [[Same-sex marriage in New Brunswick|approved a ruling]] allowing for the legalization of [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>{{cite news |title=All systems go for same-sex marriage in New Brunswick |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/all-systems-go-for-same-sex-marriage-in-new-brunswick-1.560003 |access-date=August 4, 2024 |work=[[CBC News]] |date=July 4, 2005}}</ref> At the beginning of 2023, the provincial government implemented a [[2023 New Brunswick local governance reform|local governance reform]], reducing the number of entities from 340 to 89.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Corporate/Promo/localgovreform/docs/WhitePaper-EN-Web.pdf |title=Working together for vibrant and sustainable communities: White Paper |publisher=Province of New Brunswick |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-4605-2957-7 |location=Fredericton, New Brunswick |pages=4}}</ref>