Sir Wilfrid Laurier
The first French Canadian to become prime minister of Canada was Wilfrid Laurier.
Although French was his native tongue, he became a master of the English
language. This and his picturesque personality made him popular throughout
Canada, and he led the young country in a 15-year period of great development.
Wilfrid Laurier was born in St-Lin, Quebec, and studied law at McGill University.
After three years in the Quebec legislature, he was elected to the Canadian
House of Commons in 1874. There he rose rapidly to leadership. Although he was a
French Canadian and a Roman Catholic, he was chosen leader of the Liberal party
in 1887. Nine years later he became prime minister. He was knighted in ...
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He reduced postal rates, promoted the building of
railroads needed for national expansion, and appointed a commission to regulate
railroad rates. After 15 years in office his government was defeated, presumably
on the issue of reciprocal trade with the United States. Laurier believed,
however, that his political defeat was caused primarily by opponents in Ontario
who considered him too partial to Roman Catholic interests in Quebec. Prior to
World War I, Laurier tried forcefully to support the formation of a Canadian
navy. His own Liberal party defeated this measure, however, and Canada entered
the war without a fleet of its own. During the early years of World War I,
Laurier supported the war policy of Sir Robert Borden's Conservative government.
In 1917 he refused to join a coalition government that was formed to uphold
conscription. Laurier felt that he could not back a measure so unpopular in the
province of Quebec. Wilfrid Laurier's regime lasted 15 years. It was one ...
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become the most
publicized gold rush in history, eventually to be celebrated in the works of
such writers as Jack London and Robert Service. The gold strike had some
beneficial side effects. As miners poured into western Canada from the United
States and other parts of the world, the extent of the unpopulated prairie lands
became known. By this time, of course, the supply of free land in the United
States had become exhausted, and the frontier was closed. Very soon after the
gold rush, settlers began pouring into the western prairies of Canada by the
thousands, from Europe as well as the United States. With much of Canada being
unpopulated, this would help to create the massive population ...
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Sir Wilfrid Laurier. (2004, January 21). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier/1833
"Sir Wilfrid Laurier." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 21 Jan. 2004. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier/1833>
"Sir Wilfrid Laurier." Essayworld.com. January 21, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier/1833.
"Sir Wilfrid Laurier." Essayworld.com. January 21, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier/1833.
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