I am sure that I am not alone among Canadians in periodically wondering why Canada's 23 largest island, with a population of less than 140,000, gets to be a province. It is in this building, Prince Edward Island's Province House, that 24 men representing the colonies of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Upper Canada met in September 1864 to discuss a confederation. The results of this meeting, known as the Charlottetown Conference, led to the signing of the Articles of Confederation in 1867 and Canada was born.