Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Sir Wilfrid Laurier was the first French-Canadian to become Prime Minister of Canada. He held the office from 1896 to 1911. Laurier served in Parliament for 45 years and was leader of the Liberal Party for 32 years.

Throughout his long public service, Laurier worked to unite French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians for the good of Canada. He also laid the foundation for Canadian independence by opposing strong ties with the British Empire. During Laurier's term as Prime Minister, Canada enjoyed great prosperity. The settlement of western Canada led to the establishment in 1905 of two new western prairie provinces; Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Laurier was often referred to as the "Old Chief". He wore a black frock coat with a vest. His coat lapels were lined with a white frill. His collar rose high and straight, and his tie was so wide that it hid his shirt.

He spoke both English and French very well. He used few gestures as he spoke, but the rich tones of his voice often held audiences spellbound. He was one of the outstanding orators in Canadian history.

Wilfrid Laurier was born on November 20, 1841, in the village of St. Lin in Quebec. His ancestors had come to Canada from Normandy, France.

Laurier's mother, Marie Marcelle Martineau Laurier, died when he was only 6 years old. His father, Carolus Laurier, later married Adelaine Ethier. Wilfrid had three half brothers and a half sister.

Carolus Laurier was a farmer and surveyor. He had strong liberal beliefs, and he didn't want Wilfrid to grow up knowing only the french culture. When Wilfrid was 11, his father sent him to live for two years with a Scots-Canadian family in a neighbouring village. There he learned English and learned the English ways of life.

Laurier went to L'Assomption College, and French-Canadian school in L'Assomption, Quebec. He liked public speaking and helped form a debating society there.

In 1861, Laurier began to study law at McGill University in Montreal. His father had little money at the time, so Wilfrid took a part-time job with the Montreal law firm of Laflamme and Laflamme. Rodolphe Laflamme, the head of the firm, was an active Liberal. Laurier received his law degree in 1864.

Laurier practised law in Montreal for two years after his graduation. In 1866, he developed a serious lung ailment. At the suggestion of a friend, Laurier moved to Arthabaskaville, a new settlement in Arthabaska County, Quebec. He hoped the country air would restore his health. There, he became a popular and successful lawyer. He also edited the newspaper Le Defricheur for about six months. He wrote editorials that Roman Catholic leaders considered too radical. The newspaper went out of business. Mainly because of lack of funds.

Laurier married Zoe Lafontaine of Montreal, on May 13, 1868. The couple lived in Arthabaskaville until he became Prime Minister. They often returned there for rest during the busy years that followed. They had no children.

In 1871, at the age of 29, Laurier was elected to the Quebec legislature as a Liberal. Three years later, in 1874, he was elected to parliament from Drummond-Arthabaska, Quebec.

In 1877, Laurier accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie to join his cabinet as minister of inland revenue. He held the office for less than a year because the Liberals were defeated in the 1877 election. For the next 18 years, until he became Prime Minister, Laurier sat on the opposition side of the house of commons.

During the late 1800's, the Liberals in Quebec met strong opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1877, Laurier made a speech on liberalism in politics and liberalism in religion. Laurier declared that French-Canadian Catholics had the right to form their own political opinions without interference from the church. But he warned against the possible creation of a French-Canadian Catholic political party. Such a party, Laurier said, would inevitable be met by an English-Canadian Protestant party that would oppose the French-Canadians. And, he pointed out, most Canadians were English-Canadians.

In 1880, Edward Blake succeeded Alexander Mackenzie as leader of the Liberal party. Laurier became Blake's aide and leader of the party's Quebec wing.

The Execution of Louis Riel in 1885 brought Laurier back into the spotlight. Riel had led French-Canadian métis in the rebellion in Saskatchewan against the government. They revolted in fear of being thrown off their lands. Riel was captured and sentenced to death. French-Canadians considered Riel a hero, and demanded that he be pardoned. English-Canadians demanded hie death for treason. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald let the sentence stand, and Riel was hanged.

French-Canadians in Montreal staged a demonstration in protest against Riel's execution. Laurier joined in the demonstration. He declared that if he lived along the Saskatchewan River, where the revolt started, he would have shouldered his musket along with the métis. Blake joined Laurie in protesting Riel's execution. But most Liberals outside Quebec refused to follow them. The Conservatives won the 1887 election.

The Liberals had now lost three successive elections (1878, 1882, and 1887). In despair, Blake resigned as Liberal party leader. He advised the party to elect Laurier. In June 7, 1887, Laurier became leader of the Liberal party. He was the first French-Canadian to head on of Canada's major political parties. Most English-Canadian Liberals, as well as Laurier himself, felt that because he was a French-Canadian he could never win the support of English-speaking Canadians.

Laurier wanted to distract attention from the bitter English-French quarrel over Riel. Partly in an effort to do so, he proposed an unrestricted reciprocal trade agreement with the United States. Prime Minister Macdonald opposed such a pact. He declared that completely free trade would lead to eventual political union with the United States. In the election of early 1891, Macdonald and the Conservatives defeated Laurier and the Liberals on the issue of trade with the United States.

Macdonald died in June, 1891. During the next five years, the Conservative party slowly lost popularity under the leadership of four Conservative Prime Ministers (Sir John J. C. Abbott, Sir John S. D. Thompson, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, and Sir Charles Tupper).

The Manitoba Schools Issue brought Laurier and the Liberals to power. In 1890, the Manitoba legislature had abolished tax support for Roman Catholic, French-language schools in the province. It felt that one school system for all children would be more efficient than separate public and Roman Catholic schools. Catholics in Manitoba charged that they were being deprived of their constitutional rights. In 1895, the Canadian government ordered Manitoba to restore tax funds to the Catholic schools. Manitoba refused. In 1896, the Conservative government introduced a bill providing for separate schools in Manitoba. The issue was hotly debated in the election of that year. Laurier declared that a compromise could be reached by "sunny ways" rather than by force. Although Roman Catholic leaders opposed Laurier, French-Canadians supported him. The Liberals won the election.

At the age of 54, Wilfrid Laurier took office as Prime Minister of Canada on July 11, 1896. He succeeded Conservative Sir Charles Tupper. Laurier soon worked out a compromise solution in the Manitoba school problem. The province agreed to permit religious teaching and the use of French during certain periods of the school day. The amount of such instruction was based on the number of pupils who desired it.

When Laurier came to power, a long period of falling prices was ending. Europe had grown prosperous and had become a booming market for Canadian wheat and other food products. Laurier acted to take advantage of the favourable economic situation. During his administration, the government helped about 2 000 000 immigrants enter Canada. Most of the newcomers settled on the western prairies. The government also helped build the Canadian Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacific railways to carry out wheat that the settlers grew. The country enjoyed its greatest prosperity since 1867. The Liberals won re-election in 1900, 1904, and 1908. Queen Victoria knighted Laurier in 1897.

Prosperity helped soften the conflict between French- and English-Canadians. But in 1905, the government established two new provinces (Saskatchewan and Alberta), in the area between Manitoba and British Columbia. Laurier allowed each of these provinces to have a separate Roman Catholic school system. Another storm over religion and education arose, but it died down fairly quickly.

Relations with Great Britain caused further hostility between English- and French-Canadians. The chief question was what action would take if Great Britain should go to war.

In 1897, the British colonial secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, suggested closer economic ties between members of the British Empire. Laurier's government agreed that year to decrease tariffs on British goods. But Laurier opposed any system that would bind Great Britain and the British colonies in one economic unit. Laurier maintained his opposition to the empire as a close-knit unit at the four Imperial Conferences that he attended in 1897, 1902, 1907, and 1911.

In 1899, Great Britain went to war against the Boers in South Africa. English-Canadians demanded that Canada send troops to support Britain. French-Canadians, who made up less than half the population, opposed any aid, Laurier decided that the majority should rule. He sent troops to Africa. French-Canadians protested strongly. Even Henri Bourassa, Laurier's most promising young lieutenant in Quebec, rebelled against the policy. From then on, French Canadians and English-Canadians became more divided on Canada's role in the British Empire.

By 1910, Great Britain faced the threat of war with Germany. Laurier decided to build a Canadian navy to support Britain if war began. Parliament approved his Naval Service Bill, but many Canadians opposed it. Some French-Canadians thought Laurier had become "too British" because he had supported Britain. Some English-Canadians considered him "too French" because of his background and opposition to closer ties with Britain.

In 1911, the United States offered Canada a limited reciprocal trade treaty, Laurier accepted, and the two governments drew up an agreement that seemed to give equal benefits to each. But a number of Canadians still feared domination by the United States. Many resented the settlement in 1903 of the Alaska border dispute between the two countries.

The Liberals lost the election of September, 1911, chiefly because of the public's opposition to the naval bill and the trade agreement with the United States. In Quebec, Bourassa helped defeat Laurier by forming an alliance with the Conservatives. Robert L. Borden, a Conservative, became Prime Minister.

For the rest of his life, Sir Wilfrid Laurier continued to serve as leader of the Liberal party. When World War I began in 1914, Laurier supported the Conservative government in joining the war to aid Great Britain.

As the war dragged on, it became clear that far fewer French-Canadians than English-Canadians were enlisting for military service. By 1917, the Canadian forces fighting in Europe needed replacements. Until then, all Canadian servicemen had enlisted voluntarily. Prime Minister Borden decided that conscription had become necessary.

Borden wanted both parties to approve conscription so that unity could be kept among all Canadians. To carry out the policy, Borden asked Laurier to join a Union government made up of both Liberals and Conservatives. Laurier refused. He felt he would lose control of the Liberals in Quebec if he joined the proposed government. Bourassa and his followers firmed opposed conscription. They felt they had no direct responsibility in the war.

Most of Laurier's English-Canadian followers broke away from him and helped Borden form the Union government. They felt that Laurier was too concerned with keeping his hold on Quebec and that he did not consider the national interests of Canada as a whole. But Laurier felt it would be dangerous if Bourassa's radical nationalism replaced his moderate leadership.

In the election of December, 1917, English-Canadians voted overwhelmingly for the Union government. Borden stayed in power. But most French-Canadians voted against the Union government and conscription.

The split between English- and French-Canadians saddened Laurier. Ever since entering parliament more than 40 years before, he had worked to unite the two groups. But later events proved that his efforts had not been in vain. After Laurier died in 1919, William Lyon Mackenzie King succeeded in reuniting French- and English-Canadian Liberals.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier died on February 17, 1919, at the age of 77. He was buried in Ottawa. Lady Laurier died in 1921. In her will, she left Laurier House, their home in Ottawa, to Mackenzie King. After King died in 1951, the Canadian government made Laurier House a museum. Laurier's birthplace at St. Lin is a national historic site.

References

History of a Great Man (1997) http://www.parcscanada.gc.ca/parks.quebec/laurier/en/histoire/fra

Laurier, Sir Wilfrid (1965) http://encyclopedia.com/07265.html

Underhill, F. (1976) Sir Wilfrid Laurier Grolier Encyclopedia, 12, 112a - 112d