Wilfrid Laurier

A

Opposition

However, Laurier's first period in office was brief. In the election of 1878 the Liberals were defeated and the Conservatives, led by Sir John Alexander Macdonald, returned to power. In the years of opposition to the Conservatives that followed, Laurier continued to build a personal following in Québec. In the election of 1882 he was not only returned to Parliament but was also made mayor of Arthabaska, where he had been rejected five years before.

In 1885 Louis Riel, who had led an unsuccessful rebellion of Métis, or people of mixed European and indigenous heritage, was hanged in Regina, in what is now Saskatchewan. Laurier, convinced that both Riel and the plight of the Métis deserved sympathy, immediately denounced the government in Parliament and at a mass meeting in Montréal. His views echoed those of most French Canadians. Nevertheless, in the 1887 election the Liberals gained only a few seats in Québec and the Conservatives remained in power.

B

Liberal Leader

Edward Blake, who had succeeded Mackenzie as leader of the Liberals, was disheartened by the Liberal loss and insisted on resigning in 1887. Although the Liberals had never before been led by a French Catholic, Blake advised them to choose Laurier as his successor, and he was elected.

Laurier led a vigorous campaign against Macdonald in the election of 1891. The Liberals' chief campaign issue was free trade with the United States. The Conservative majority was reduced, but it still held. Then, in 1891, Macdonald died. He was followed as prime minister in rapid succession by Sir John Abbott, Sir John Thompson, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, and Sir Charles Tupper. None of them managed to deal with the controversial question of church schools in Manitoba.

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In 1891 the Protestant majority in the Manitoba legislature passed a law closing the separate schools attended by Roman Catholics. The Thompson government was pressed to declare the law unconstitutional but preferred to leave the matter to the courts. In 1895 the judicial committee of the Privy Council in Britain, the ultimate court of appeal, gave its decision: It declared the Manitoba law to be legal, but also said that the federal government had the power to reverse it. The federal government was forced to act, since it had the duty of protecting the educational rights of minorities. Laurier refused to give his opinion on what should be done until the government showed its hand. Tupper introduced a bill in 1896 that would have restored separate schools in Manitoba. The Catholic hierarchy backed the measure and called on Laurier to support it. He refused, declaring to Parliament: “I am here representing not Roman Catholics alone, but Protestants as well, and I must give an account of my stewardship to all classes.” Tupper failed to pass the bill and was obliged to seek support from the people in a general election.

V

Prime Minister

A

The Manitoba Schools Crisis

The Manitoba schools were the main issue in the 1896 election. Although the Catholic clergy campaigned against him, Laurier argued in Québec that he would obtain better terms for the Catholics by negotiating directly with the provincial government of Manitoba. “Hands off Manitoba” was an effective slogan in the other provinces as well. A second issue was corruption in the Conservative Party, as a series of scandals had rocked the Bowell administration. Israel Tarte, a former Québec conservative who possessed evidence of these charges, managed Laurier's campaign in Québec. It was in Québec that he had his greatest victory, carrying a large majority of seats. Victories in Ontario and western Canada brought the Liberal majority in Parliament to 21. Tupper resigned on July 8, and on July 11, 1896, Laurier became prime minister of Canada.

Laurier's cabinet contained, in marked contrast to those of his predecessors, many people of real ability, some of whom had been provincial leaders. Sir Richard Cartwright was made minister of trade and commerce. The post of minister of finance was given to William Fielding, a former premier of Nova Scotia. Tarte was made minister of public works, and Clifford Sifton of Manitoba became minister of the interior. The minister of justice was Sir Oliver Mowat, a comparatively old man who had been premier at Ontario since 1871. Laurier took no department for himself.

The first task of the new government was to find a solution to the Manitoba crisis. Laurier did so by pushing through a plan that allowed a limited amount of religious teaching and instruction in French in the Manitoba schools. However, it did not return the province to its original educational system, which had been based on equality between the Protestant and Catholic populations. The plan failed to satisfy the more extreme Catholics. When L'Electeur, the Liberal paper in Québec, defended Laurier's compromise, the Catholic bishops of the province excommunicated anyone who continued to read it. However, the paper merely changed its name to Le Soleil. Eventually the Pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic church intervened to restrain the bishops, whose political domination in Québec came to an end.

B

Tariff

Laurier's first budget was a compromise between his free trade views and the need to protect Canadian industries accustomed to a high protective tariff, a tax on imports. He made only a few reductions in the general tariff and then offered Britain a large discount, amounting to one-third of the duty on all its trade with Canada. This offer made Laurier a key figure at the Colonial Conference of 1897, a meeting of the heads of state of the British Commonwealth, when he firmly resisted pressure from the British to form an imperial confederation or to contribute Canadian ships to the British navy.

C

Imperial Policy

In 1899 the outbreak of the Boer War in South Africa, a conflict between the British and the South Africans of Dutch descent (Boers), again made an issue of Canada's relationship with Britain. The British Canadians believed that Canada should strongly support England against the Boers. Most French Canadians believed that it was none of Canada's business. Feelings on both sides were high, and Laurier's solution was again a compromise. He agreed to equip a contingent of volunteers, and although this action did not please extremists on either side, it gained general support. About 8000 Canadians eventually fought in South Africa, about one-third of whom came from the militia and were paid by the government. Laurier's policy was fiercely attacked by Henri Bourassa, one of his former supporters from Québec. However, Bourassa's views had little effect on the results of the next election, in 1900. The Liberals lost a few seats in Ontario but carried Québec and the country as a whole. Laurier was at the height of his power.

At the 1902 Colonial Conference, Laurier's role was much as it had been in 1897. He refused to cooperate in a common defense policy or to consider seriously an imperial parliament. When he returned from Europe, he became very ill and offered to resign. The party refused to let him go, but Tarte began to have hopes of succeeding him. Returning to his former protectionist views, Tarte made a series of speeches in Ontario urging higher protective tariffs. As this view was directly against declared government policy, Laurier forced him to resign. Tarte returned to the Conservatives and became Laurier's chief enemy in Québec.