IV.

Minister

By 1877 Laurier had already proved himself one of the most promising young men in the Liberal Party, which consisted of a union between the Parti rouge in Québec and the Grits in Ontario. In October of that year the minister of inland revenue, Joseph Cauchon, resigned. Alexander Mackenzie, the Liberal prime minister, chose Laurier to succeed Cauchon. However, by Canadian law at that time a newly appointed minister was obliged to run for Parliament again. The clergy mounted a violent campaign against Laurier, some even saying from the pulpit that it would be a sin to vote for him. Their attack was successful, and Laurier lost. The party thought that he was too valuable to lose, and the member from the eastern region of Québec was persuaded to resign in order to give Laurier a seat. He continued to hold this seat for 40 years.

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.

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.