Wilfrid Laurier: Biography from Answers.com

Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) was a Canadian political leader. Head of the Liberal party and prime minister, he spurred Canada's economy but foundered on questions of conscription and protective tariffs.

Wilfrid Laurier was born at Saint-Lin, Canada East (now Quebec), on Nov. 20, 1841. He attended Collège L'Assomption and McGill University, where he studied law. Already fluently bilingual, Laurier was rapidly developing into a superb orator in both of Canada's languages, but his health was delicate and he moved into rural Quebec in an effort to strengthen himself. At Arthabaskaville he practiced law and for a time was editor of a newspaper, Le Défricheur.

Laurier entered politics in 1871, winning a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, and in 1874 he entered the House of Commons at Ottawa. For a period of a year he was minister of inland revenue in the Alexander Mackenzie government but seemed languid and somewhat uninterested to his parliamentary colleagues.

Spokesman of Liberalism

In 1877 Laurier delivered a speech on political liberalism that clearly defined the difference between Catholic liberalism, anathema to Quebec clerics, and the liberalism of his party. This speech was instrumental in gaining respectability for the Liberals in Quebec. In 1885 he delivered a brilliant and passionate speech attacking the government for the execution of the rebel Louis Riel, and in 1887 Laurier seemed as good a choice as any other Liberal to succeed Edward Blake as party leader.

In 1891 Laurier campaigned on the issue of unrestricted reciprocity with the United States, but his party again was defeated by Sir John A. Macdonald. However, after Macdonald's death the Conservatives began to fall apart and split on the Manitoba schools question, when they were forced to take a position because they were in power. Relieved of responsibility, Laurier could talk of using "sunny ways" to resolve the crisis and sit firmly on the fence. The result was victory in the election of 1896.

Head of a Liberal Government

An economic boom began in 1896 that lasted throughout Laurier's term. Immigrants began flooding into Canada from all over Europe, lured by free land and a wise immigration policy. Within a decade or two, the great prairies to the west were settled. New railways were built, unfortunately with a too generous government aid, and sometimes supported by shamefully watered stock. Industry boomed, and Canada reached and passed the take-off point.

Still there were difficulties aplenty. In 1899 the South African War began, and Laurier found himself pressed by English-Canadian opinion into aiding Britain. French Canadians, however, objected, seeing in the Boers a people rather similar to themselves. The result was a political compromise that satisfied no one. In 1905 another question divided French and English, that of the Autonomy Bills that created Alberta and Saskatchewan as provinces. What kind of schools would the provinces have? Laurier proposed one course, tried to ram it through, and lost his minister of the interior, Clifford Sifton, as a result. Again in 1910 and 1911, Laurier's plans for a Canadian navy troubled Quebeckers, and the Prime Minister found himself under attack in his home province by the nationalists under Henri Bourassa's leadership.

Defeat and Decline

The troubles were mounting, but Laurier was confident. After all, he had won the elections of 1900, 1904, and 1908, and after his success in securing a long-awaited reciprocity treaty with the Americans, he was certain he had found the key to a continued hold on power. But Canada had changed, and reciprocity frightened the manufacturers who benefited from protective tariffs. The result was a stunning defeat for Laurier and the Liberals in 1911, a defeat that had been engineered by Conservative chief Robert Borden, Sifton, and Bourassa.

Laurier took his defeat with characteristic good grace. The man seemed somehow more noble than most politicians, above the muck of the arena. His political supporters loved him in defeat and in victory, and his political foes always admired him.

But World War I brought pressures on the country of a different kind, and although Laurier did his utmost to encourage French Canadians to enlist, there were soon cries that Quebec was disloyal. The crisis came in 1917. Quebec had already been frustrated by a school crisis in Ontario and the Conservative government's unwillingness to pay attention to the province's military ardor in a suitable fashion. But with conscription in 1917 the debate became nasty in tone.

Borden tried to induce Laurier into a coalition that would enforce conscription, but Laurier could not agree. Someone, he believed, had to stay to fight Bourassa and the nationalistes. As a result, Borden formed a coalition that was lacking any French Canadians of stature, and in the election of 1917 every stop was pulled. The campaign was a disgrace. "If Laurier wins," a professor said in the press, "he will win leading the cockroaches of the kitchen of Canada to victory." The result was inevitable in the hypertense circumstances of the war, and conscription carried the day. The Liberals were reduced to having strength only in Quebec, and Laurier, once the most-loved man in the Dominion, was often portrayed as something close to antichrist.

On Feb. 17, 1919, Laurier passed away in Ottawa. His career had shown the difficulties faced by French-Canadian national politicians. But it had also demonstrated that politics could be noble, that one could lead a nation without losing one's civility.

The Right Honourable Sir Wilfrid Laurier GCMG, PC, KC

7th Prime Minister of Canada
In office July 11, 1896 – October 5, 1911
Monarch	Victoria Edward VII George V
Preceded by	Sir Charles Tupper
Succeeded by	Robert Borden

Born	November 20, 1841(1841-11-20) Saint-Lin, Lower Canada
Died	February 17, 1919 (aged 77) Ottawa, Ontario
Political party	Liberal Party of Canada
Spouse(s)	Zoé Lafontaine
Children	none
Alma mater	McGill University
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature

Early life

Sir Wilfrid Laurier Museum

The second child of Carolus Laurier and Marcelle Martineau,Wilfrid Laurier was born in Saint-Lin, Canada East (today called Saint-Lin-Laurentides, Quebec) on November 20, 1841. Laurier was the 7th generation of his family in Canada. His ancestor François Cottineau, dit Champlaurier came to Canada from Saint-Claud, France. He grew up in a family where politics was a staple of talk and debate. His father, an educated man having liberal ideas, enjoyed a certain degree of prestige about town. In addition to being a farmer and surveyor, he also occupied such sought-after positions as mayor, justice of the peace, militia lieutenant and school board member. At the age of 11, Wilfrid left home to study in New Glasgow,Quebec, a neighbouring village largely inhabited by immigrants from Scotland. Over the next two years, he had the opportunity of familiarizing himself with the mentality, language and culture of British people. Laurier was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1874 election, serving briefly in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie as Minister of Inland Revenue.

The Laurier Museum,^[3] the home of former Prime Minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier is on the Canadian Register of Historic People and Places. The house was built in 1876 in Victoriaville, Quebec. ^[4]

Leadership

Chosen as leader of the Liberal Party in 1887, he gradually built up his party's strength with his personal following in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. He led the Liberal Party to victory in the 1896 election, and remained prime minister until the party's defeat in the 1911 election.

Quebec stronghold

Laurier was able to build the Liberal Party a base in Quebec, which had been a Conservative stronghold for decades due to the province's social conservatism and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, which distrusted the Liberal's anti-clericalism. He was aided by the growing alienation of French-Canadians from the Conservatives due to the national Tory party's links with anti-French^{[citation needed]}, anti-Catholic Orangemen in English Canada. These factors combined with the collapse of the Conservative Party of Quebec gave Laurier an opportunity to build a stronghold in French Canada and among Catholics across Canada.

Because Laurier believed in a separation of church and state, Roman Catholic bishops in Quebec repeatedly warned their parishioners never to vote for the man. Journalist and author Laurier LaPierre wrote in his 1996 biography of Laurier: "children were made to kneel and beg God that their parents not be damned should they have the temerity to vote for the Liberal candidate. When electors asked directly whom they should vote for, the cagey priests contented themselves with informing them that le ciel est bleu, l'enfer est rouge – heaven is blue, hell is red."

However, Laurier had rather good relations with Pope Pius X himself, and had complimented him during a diplomatic meeting. In part, the tension of the time can be attributed to Pius's encyclical Vehementer Nos, which condemned strict Church-State separation in Émile Combes' secularist France.

Prime Minister

Wilfrid Laurier with wife Zoé Laurier in 1907

Laurier led Canada during a period of rapid growth, industrialization, and immigration. His long career straddles a period of major political and economic change. As Prime Minister he was instrumental in ushering Canada into the 20th century and in gaining greater autonomy from Britain for his country.

One of Laurier's first acts as Prime Minister was to implement a solution to the Manitoba Schools Question, which had helped to bring down the Conservative government of Charles Tupper earlier in 1896. The Manitoba legislature had passed a law eliminating public funding for Catholic schooling (thereby going against the federal constitutional Manitoba Act, 1870, which guaranteed Catholic and Protestant religious education rights). The Catholic minority asked the federal Government for support, and eventually the Conservatives proposed remedial legislation to override Manitoba's legislation. Laurier opposed the remedial legislation on the basis of provincial rights, and succeeded in blocking its passage by Parliament. Once elected, Laurier proposed a compromise stating that Catholics in Manitoba could have a Catholic education if there were enough students to warrant it, on a school-by-school basis. This was seen by many as the best possible solution in the circumstances, making both the French and English equally satisfied.

In 1899, the United Kingdom expected military support from Canada, as part of the British Empire, in the Second Boer War. Laurier was caught between demands for support for military action from English Canada, and a strong opposition from French Canada which saw the Boer War as an "English" war and to some degree appreciated the similar places that Boers and French Canadians held in the British Empire. Henri Bourassa was an especially vocal opponent. Laurier eventually decided to send a volunteer force, rather than the militia expected by Britain, but Bourassa continued to oppose any form of military involvement.

In 1905, Laurier oversaw Saskatchewan and Alberta's entry into Confederation, the last two provinces to be created out of the Northwest Territories.

On July 29, 1910, while in Saskatoon to attend the opening of the University of Saskatchewan, he bought a newspaper from a young John Diefenbaker, a future Conservative Prime Minister. The young Diefenbaker, recognizing the Prime Minister, shared his ideas for the country and amused him. He inquired about the young man's business and expressed the hope that he would be a great man someday. The boy ended the conversation by saying,"Well, Mr. Prime Minister, I can't waste any more time on you. I must get back to work."^[5].

Naval Bill

The naval competition between the United Kingdom and the German Empire escalated in the early years of the 20th century. The British asked Canada for more money and resources for ship construction, precipitating a heated political division in Canada. The British supporters wished to send as much as possible, whereas those against wished to send nothing.

Aiming for compromise, Laurier advanced the Naval Service Bill of 1910 which created the Royal Canadian Navy. The navy would initially consist of five cruisers and six destroyers; in times of crisis, it could be made subordinate the Royal Navy proper. The idea was lauded at the Imperial Conference on Defence in London, but it proved unpopular across the political spectrum in Canada, especially in Quebec as ex-Liberal Henri Bourassa organized an anti-Laurier force.

Reciprocity and defeat

Another controversy arose regarding Laurier's support of trade reciprocity with the United States. This had the strong support of agricultural interests, but it alienated many businessmen who formed a significant part of the Liberals' support base. The Conservatives denounced the deal as a sell-out, even playing upon fears that Canada would be assimilated as the next US state.

Despite the Liberal government's mandate not expiring, Laurier called an election to settle the issue of reciprocity. The Conservatives were victorious and Robert Laird Borden succeeded Laurier as Prime Minister.

Opposition and war

Laurier's grave in Ottawa's Notre-Dame Cemetery

Laurier led the opposition during World War I. He led the filibuster to the Conservatives' own Naval Bill which would have sent contributions directly to the Royal Navy; the bill was later blocked by the Liberal-controlled Senate. He was an influential opponent of conscription, which led to the Conscription Crisis of 1917 and the formation of a Union government, which Laurier refused to join for fear of having Quebec fall in the hands of nationalist Henri Bourassa. However, many Liberals, particularly in English Canada, joined Borden as Liberal-Unionists and the "Laurier Liberals" were reduced to a mostly French-Canadian rump as a result of the 1917 election.

However, Laurier's last policies and efforts had not been in vain. As a result of Laurier's opposition of conscription in 1917, Quebec and its French-Canadian voters voted overwhelmingly to support the Liberal party starting in 1917. Despite one notable exception in 1958, the Liberal party continued to dominate federal politics in Quebec until 1984. His protege and successor as party leader William Lyon Mackenzie King led the Liberals to a landslide victory over the Conservatives in the 1921 election.

Death

Laurier died of a stroke on February 17, 1919, and was buried in Notre Dame Cemetery, Ottawa, Ontario. The Sir Wilfrid Laurier National Historic Site of Canada is in Saint-Lin-Laurentides, a town 60 km north of Montreal. His wife Zoe Laurier died in 1921. Another site is Laurier House, his residence in Ottawa at the corner of what is now Laurier Street and Chapel Street. In their will, the Lauriers left the house to Mackenzie King, who in turn donated it to Canada upon his death.

Recognition

Statue of Wilfrid Laurier behind the East Block on Parliament Hill, Ottawa.

Laurier had titular honours including:

the prenomial "The Honourable" and the postnomial "PC" for life by virtue of being made a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on October 8, 1877.^[6]
His prenomial was upgraded to "The Right Honourable" when he was made a member of the Imperial Privy Council of the United Kingdom.
the prenomial "Sir" and postnomial "GCMG" as a knight grand cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.

Many sites and landmarks were named to honor Wilfrid Laurier. They include:

Avenue Laurier, located in Shawinigan, Quebec;
Avenue Laurier, located in Montreal, Quebec;
Boulevard Laurier, located in Quebec City, Quebec;
Laurier Street, located in Ottawa, Ontario;
The Laurier Heights neighbourhood, including Laurier Drive, in Edmonton, Alberta;
Laurier Drive, located in Saskatoon's Confederation Park neighborhood, where the majority of the streets are named after former Canadian prime ministers.;
The provincial electoral district of Laurier-Dorion (an honor shared with Canadian politician Antoine-Aimé Dorion).
The federal electoral district of Laurier—Sainte-Marie.
On November 1, 1973, Waterloo Lutheran University, one of Ontario's publicly funded universities, was renamed Wilfrid Laurier University. Many high schools in Canada are named after him.
A Montreal Metro station, Laurier (Montreal Metro)
Laurier is depicted on the Canadian five-dollar bill.
CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board, an English school board located in Quebec; the school board serves the Laval, Laurentides, Lanaudière regions in Quebec.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School in London, Ontario.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, Ontario.
Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

Laurier is also the personal hero of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien who saw in Laurier's abilities at conciliation and at winning majority governments an ideal model to follow.^{[citation needed]}

Laurier was ranked #3 of the Prime Ministers of Canada (out of the 20 through Jean Chrétien) in the survey by Canadian historians included in Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders by J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer.

Supreme Court appointments

Laurier chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada by the Governor General:

Sir Louis Henry Davies (September 25, 1901 – May 1, 1924)
David Mills (February 8, 1902 – May 8, 1903)
Sir Henri Elzear Taschereau (as Chief Justice November 21, 1902 – May 2, 1906; appointed a Puisne Justice under Prime Minister Mackenzie, October 7, 1878)
John Douglas Armour (November 21, 1902 – July 11, 1903)
Wallace Nesbitt (May 16, 1903 – October 4, 1905)
Albert Clements Killam (August 8, 1903 – February 6, 1905)
John Idington (February 10, 1905 – March 31, 1927)
James Maclennan (October 5, 1905 – February 13, 1909)
Sir Charles Fitzpatrick (as Chief Justice, June 4, 1906 – November 21, 1918)
Sir Lyman Poore Duff (September 27, 1906 – January 2, 1944)
Francis Alexander Anglin (February 23, 1909 – February 28, 1933)
Louis-Philippe Brodeur (August 11, 1911 – October 10, 1923)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wilfrid Laurier

References

Bibliography

Elizabeth H. Armstrong, The Crisis of Quebec, 1914-1918 (1937; reprinted 1973)
H. Blair Neatby. Laurier and a Liberal Quebec: A Study in Political Management (1973)
Craig Brown and Ramsay Cook, Canada: 1896-1921 A Nation Transformed (1983), standard history
J. W. Dafoe, Laurier: A Study in Canadian Politics (1922)
J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer, Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders. P.46-60. (1999). ISBN 0-00-200027-X.
Laurier LaPierre Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Romance of Canada – (1996). ISBN 0-7737-2979-8
Joseph Schull, Laurier. The First Canadian (1965)
Oscar Douglas Skelton, Life and Letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier 2v (1921; reprinted 1965)
Peter Busby Waite, Canada, 1874-1896: Arduous Destiny (1971), standard history
Grace Stewart, Heather. "Sir Wilfrid Laurier: the weakling who stood his ground" (2006) ISBN 0-9736406-3-4

published by Jackfruit Press (http://www.jackfruitpress.com)

Party political offices
Preceded by Edward Blake	Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada 1887–1919	Succeeded by Daniel McKenzie Interim
Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Joseph Édouard Cauchon	Minister of Inland Revenue 1877–1878	Succeeded by Louis François Georges Baby
Preceded by Edward Blake	Leader of the Opposition 1887–1896	Succeeded by Sir Charles Tupper
Preceded by Sir Charles Tupper	Prime Minister of Canada 1896–1911	Succeeded by Sir Robert Borden
Preceded by Auguste Réal Angers	President of the Privy Council 1896 – 1911	Succeeded by Robert Laird Borden
Preceded by Clifford Sifton	Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs 1905	Succeeded by Frank Oliver
Preceded by Clifford Sifton	Minister of the Interior 1905	Succeeded by Frank Oliver
Preceded by Joseph Raymond Fournier Préfontaine	Minister of Marine and Fisheries 1906	Succeeded by Louis-Philippe Brodeur
Preceded by Sir Robert Borden	Leader of the Opposition 1911–1919	Succeeded by Daniel McKenzie
Preceded by Pierre-Nérée Dorion	Member of Parliament Drummond—Arthabaska 1874–1877	Succeeded by Désiré-Olivier Bourbeau
Preceded by Isidore Thibaudeau	Member of Parliament for Quebec East 1877–1919	Succeeded by Ernest Lapointe
Preceded by Day Hort MacDowall	Member of Parliament Saskatchewan (Provisional District) 1896	Succeeded by Thomas Osborne Davis
Preceded by Louis Champagne	Member of Parliament Wright 1904	Succeeded by Emmanuel Devlin
Preceded by Jean-Baptiste Thomas Caron	Member of Parliament Ottawa with Harold B. McGiverin 1908-1910	Succeeded by Albert Allard
Preceded by Joseph-Arthur Lortie	Member of Parliament Soulanges 1911-1917	Succeeded by district abolished

v • d • e Prime Ministers of Canada

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Liberal Parties in Canada

Major national, provincial,
and territorial parties

Forming the government	New Brunswick · Prince Edward Island · Ontario · Québec · British Columbia ·

Forming the official opposition	Canada · Newfoundland and Labrador · Alberta · Yukon · Nova Scotia

As a third party represented in legislature	Manitoba

As a party not represented in legislature	Saskatchewan

Leaders

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Deputy Leaders (until 2008)	Copps · Gray · Manley · McLellan · Robillard · Ignatieff

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1919 · 1948 · 1958 · 1968 · 1984 · 1990 · 2003 · 2006 · 2009

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Persondata
NAME	Laurier, Wilfrid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	7th Prime Minister of Canada (1896 - 1911)
DATE OF BIRTH	November 20, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH	Saint-Lin, Quebec
DATE OF DEATH	February 17, 1919
PLACE OF DEATH	Ottawa, Canada

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Wilfrid Laurier

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