Wilfrid laurier biography summary

Sir Pherozeshah Mehta. Sir Peter Markham Scott. Sir Paul Kipfer. Sir Paul Gavrilovitch Vinogradoff. Sir Patrick Manson. Sir Norman McAlister Gregg. Sir Mix-A-Lot. Sir Michael Francis Atiyah. Sir Martin Ryle. Sir Mark Aurel Stein. Sir Marc Isambard Brunel. Sir Willans Owen Richardson. Sir William Bowman. Sir William George Armstrong.

Sir William Hamilton. Sir William Petty. Sirach, Book of. Siracusa, Catherine Jane. Siracusa, Vittorio. Sirani, Elizabetta — Sirat, Rene Samuel. Siravo, Joseph. Sirch, Cornelia —. His proposal for free trade with the United States was a step too far, however, and cost him his bid for a fifth term in the bitterly anti-American election of As the first French-Canadian to lead Canada, Laurier often struggled to overcome French accusations that he was disloyal to Quebec , and English accusations that he was turning his back on the British Empire.

The order was intended to keep out Black Americans escaping segregation in the American south, stating that "the Negro race The order was cancelled on October 5, , the day before Laurier left office, by cabinet claiming that the minister of the interior was not present at the time of approval. The act became effective on March 1, It prohibited business transactions from taking place on Sundays; it also restricted Sunday trade, labour, recreation, and newspapers.

The act was supported by organized labour and the French Canadian Catholic hierarchy but was opposed by those who worked in the manufacturing and transportation sectors. In , a system was introduced where by annuities may be purchased from the government, the aim of which was to encourage voluntary provision for old age. On June 22, , Laurier attended the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria , which was the 60th anniversary of her accession.

There, he was knighted, and was given several honours, honorary degrees, and medals. Laurier also took part in the and Imperial Conferences. Laurier was caught between demands for support for military action from English Canada and a strong opposition from French Canada Laurier eventually decided to send a volunteer force, rather than the Canadian Militia as expected by Britain.

Roughly 7, Canadian soldiers served in the force. On June 1, , Laurier's government established the Department of External Affairs for Canada to take greater control of its foreign policy. The Anglo-German naval arms race escalated in the early years of the 20th century. The British government requested financial and material resources to assist in expanding the Royal Navy , precipitating a heated political division in Canada.

Many English Canadians wished to send as much as possible; many French Canadians and those against wished to send nothing. The navy would initially consist of five cruisers and six destroyers ; in times of crisis, it could be made subordinate to the British navy. However, the idea faced opposition in both English and French Canada, especially in Quebec where Bourassa organized an anti-Laurier force.

In and , the Alaska -Canada border emerged as a pressing issue. The Klondike Gold Rush prompted Laurier to demand an all-Canadian route from the gold fields to a seaport. The region being a desirable place with lots of gold furthered Laurier's ambition of fixing an exact boundary. Laurier also wanted to establish who owned the Lynn Canal and who controlled maritime access to the Yukon.

However, this commission was unsuccessful and came to an abrupt end on February 20, On October 20, , the commission by a majority Root, Lodge, Turner, and Alverstone ruled to support the American government's claims. Canada only acquired two islands below the Portland Canal. The decision provoked a wave of anti-American and anti-British sentiment in Canada, which Laurier temporarily encouraged.

Though supportive of free trade with the United States, Laurier did not pursue the idea because the American government refused to discuss the issue. Instead, he implemented a Liberal version of the Conservatives' nationalist and protectionist National Policy by maintaining high tariffs on goods from other countries that restricted Canadian goods.

However, he lowered tariffs to the same level as countries that admitted Canadian goods. In , Laurier's government impelemented a preferential reduction of a tariff rate of For the most part, the policy was supported by those for free trade due to the preferential reduction and those against free trade due to elements of the National Policy remaining in place.

Laurier's government again reformed tariffs in His government introduced a "three-column tariff", which added a new intermediate rate a bargaining rate alongside the existing British preferential rate and the general rate which applied to all countries that Canada had no most-favoured-nation agreement with. The preferential and general rates remained unchanged, while the intermediate rates were slightly lower than the general rates.

Also in , Laurier's minister of finance , William Stevens Fielding , and minister of marine and fisheries , Louis-Philippe Brodeur , negotiated a trade agreement with France which lowered import duties on some goods. In , Fielding negotiated an agreement to promote trade with the British West Indies. Laurier led the Liberals to three re-elections in , , and In the and elections, the Liberals' popular vote and seat share kept increasing whereas in the election, their popular vote and seat share went slightly down.

By the late s, Laurier had been able to build the Liberal Party a base in Quebec, which had remained a Conservative stronghold for decades due to the province's social conservatism and to the influence of the Roman Catholic Church , which distrusted the Liberals' anti-clericalism.

Wilfrid laurier biography summary

However, Catholic priests in Quebec repeatedly warned their parishioners not to vote for Liberals. Their slogan was " le ciel est bleu, l'enfer est rouge " "heaven is blue, hell is red", referring to the Conservative and Liberal parties' traditional colours. In , controversy arose regarding Laurier's support of trade reciprocity with the United States.

His long-serving minister of finance, William Stevens Fielding , reached an agreement allowing for the free trade of natural products. The agreement would also lower tariffs. This had the strong support of agricultural interests, particularly in Western Canada, but it alienated many businessmen who formed a significant part of the Liberal base.

The Conservatives denounced the deal and played on long-standing fears that reciprocity could eventually lead to weakened ties with Britain and a Canadian economy dominated by the United States. They also campaigned on fears that this would lead to the Canadian identity being taken away by the US and the American annexation of Canada. Contending with an unruly House of Commons, including vocal disapproval from Liberal MP Clifford Sifton , Laurier called an election to settle the issue of reciprocity.

The Conservatives were victorious and the Liberals lost over a third of their seats. Over 15 consecutive years of Liberal rule ended. Laurier stayed on as Liberal leader. Laurier argued that the bill threatened Canada's autonomy, and after six months of battling it, the bill was blocked by the Liberal-controlled Senate. Laurier led the opposition during World War I.

He supported sending a volunteer force to fight in the war, arguing that an intense campaign for volunteers would produce enough troops. Borden initially had a volunteer military system in place, but when applications started to decline, he imposed conscription in the summer of , which led to the Conscription Crisis of Laurier was an influential opponent of conscription , and his position on the matter was applauded by French Canadians, who were generally anti-conscription.

Laurier refused to join the Unionist Party, and instead created the " Laurier Liberals ", a party composed of Liberals opposed to conscription. Laurier also rejected Prime Minister Borden's proposal to form a coalition government composed of both Conservatives and Liberals, arguing that there would be no "real" opposition to the government.

He also argued that if the Liberals joined, Quebec would feel alienated and would lead to the province being heavily influenced by outspoken French-Canadian nationalist Henri Bourassa , and what Laurier called Bourassa's "dangerous nationalism" which might lead to Quebec seceding from Canada. In the election , the Laurier Liberals were reduced to a mostly French Canadian rump.

Laurier swept Quebec, winning 62 out of 65 of the province's seats, not least due to the French Canadians' overwhelming respect and support for Laurier as a result of his opposition to conscription. Most English Canadians favoured conscription as they believed this would strengthen ties with Britain, whereas most French Canadians opposed conscription as they wanted nothing to do with the war.

Laurier was now seen as a "traitor" to English Canadians and English Canadian Liberals, whereas he was seen as a "hero" for French Canadians. After the election, Laurier still stayed on as Liberal and Opposition leader. When World War I came to an end on November 11, , he focused on his efforts to rebuild and reunify the Liberal Party.

Laurier died of a stroke on February 17, , while still in office as leader of the Opposition. Though he had lost a bitter election two years earlier, he was loved nationwide for his "warm smile, his sense of style, and his "sunny ways". Laurier was permanently succeeded as Liberal leader by his former minister of labour , William Lyon Mackenzie King.

King narrowly defeated Laurier's former minister of finance , William Stevens Fielding. She was the daughter of G. Vincent de Paul. The couple lived at Arthabaskaville until they moved to Ottawa in She was one of the vice presidents on the formation of the National Council of Women and was honorary vice president of the Victorian Order of Nurses.

Overall, Laurier's efforts to remain neutral between English Canadians and French Canadians, and his efforts to seek a middle ground between the two ethnic groups have paved the way for him to be ranked among the top three of Canadian prime ministers. Despite being a French Canadian, he did not fully accept the French Canadian demands of repealing Manitoba's ban on public funding for Catholic schools nor did he fully accept their demands of refusing to send any Canadian troop to fight in the Boer War.

Nonetheless, in all seven elections he fought, the majority of Quebec's ridings were handed over to his Liberal Party. Despite one notable exception in , the Liberal Party continued to dominate federal politics in Quebec until Historian Jacques Monet wrote, "To his faithful followers, especially in Quebec, where his surname is used as a first name by many other Canadians, Laurier is a charismatic hero whose term of office was a happy time in Canadian history.

He worked all his life for cooperation between French- and English-speaking Canadians while he strove to keep Canada as independent as possible from Britain. His personal charm and dignity, his great skill as an orator, and his great gifts of intellect won the admiration of all Canadians and non-Canadians alike. According to historians Norman Hillmer and Stephen Azzi, a poll of historians and experts voted Laurier as the "best" Canadian prime minister, ahead of John A.

Macdonald and Mackenzie King. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer. More recently, Laurier has been criticised for his policies towards aboriginals and Chinese and Indian immigrants. Additionally, Laurier also encouraged settlements, which affected local populations. Laurier is commemorated by three National Historic Sites. Its establishment reflected an early desire to not only mark his birthplace a plaque in and a monument in , but to create a shrine to Laurier in the s.

Despite early doubts and later confirmation that the house designated as the birthplace was neither Laurier's nor on its original site, its development, and the building of a museum, satisfied the goal of honoring the man and reflecting his early life. In their will, the Lauriers left the house to Prime Minister Mackenzie King , who in turn donated it to Canada upon his death.

Both sites are administered by Parks Canada as part of the national park system. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. Prime Minister of Canada from to For other uses, see Laurier disambiguation.

The Right Honourable. Early life — [ edit ]. Childhood [ edit ]. Political beginnings [ edit ]. Early political career — [ edit ]. Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec — [ edit ]. Member of Parliament — [ edit ]. Leader of the Official Opposition — [ edit ]. Print PDF. He was a strong supporter of individual liberty and decentralized federalism.

He left a complex legacy that holds a variety of meanings to those impacted by decisions made under his leadership.