Again unable to interest the British government in approving settlement in Western Canada, he then seen to be acting against the interests of the Hudson's Bay Company, Selkirk turned to Upper Canada. In this second initiative he faced a 'provincial' government, from the outset, that was inherently hostile to the introduction of a major absentee landholder, into their colony. Selkirk quickly saw the elite of Upper Canada were unsympathetic to any of his proposals, and consequently, his second Canadian scheme was not to soon be realized, when the Colonial Office refused to sanction the scheme. After furious activity on his part, early in 1803, having recruited his Highlanders in 1802–1803, the Home Office allowed they might look favourably on a settlement on Prince Edward Island, where unsettled lands could be had cheaply, without involving the Colonial Office, or the Colony.