Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919), Canadian statesman, the first French-Canadian prime minister (1896-1911) of Canada. He was of French-Canadian parentage, born November 20, 1841, in St Lin (now Laurentides, Quebec), and educated at L'Assomption College and at McGill University, Montreal. After being admitted to the bar in 1864, he practised law first in Montreal and later at Arthabaskaville (now Arthabaska). In 1871 he was elected as a Liberal to the Quebec provincial legislature, and in 1874 he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons. While in the House he advocated a closer bond between the French- and English-speaking peoples of Canada. In 1877 he served briefly as minister of inland revenue, and in 1896 he became prime minister of Canada. The following year he was knighted. His government was notable for the expansion of Canadian trade, the construction of the transcontinental Grand Trunk and Canadian Northern railway companies (renamed Canadian National Railways, and now North American Railways), the solution of the boundary dispute between Alaska and British Columbia, and the development of Canadian resources and agriculture. He resisted closer ties with Great Britain, while advocating a removal of economic barriers with the United States. He could not, however, avoid the criticism of Quebec nationalists led by his former supporter, Henri Bourassa. Although Laurier's party lost the elections in 1911, he continued to lead the Liberal opposition in the House of Commons. During World War I he supported the Conservative policy of extending aid to Great Britain, appealing to French-Canadians to fight for Britain on a voluntary basis. He opposed a conscription, however, and therefore refused to join the wartime coalition government of Prime Minister Sir Robert Laird Borden. Laurier died in Ottawa on February 17, 1919.