Canada, at one time, was called the Dominion of Canada, upper and lower dominions of Canada, and the western provinces were the 'territories'. The oldest western province is Manitoba, with the remaining territories split into Alberta and Saskatchewan sometime later. After that, confederation came. Free Dominion means to be free from confederation, which is freedom from elitist liberals who think Western Canada, the province's, are simply subjects to be ruled by Liberals who think they are royalty.