Wilfrid Laurier

Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minister, his 15-year tenure remains the longest uninterrupted term of office among Canadian prime ministers and his nearly 45 years of service in the House of Commons is a record for the House. Laurier is best known for his compromises between English and French Canada. Laurier studied law at McGill University and practised as a lawyer before being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in 1871. He was then elected as a member of Parliament (MP) in the 1874 federal election. As an MP, Laurier gained a large personal following among French Canadians and the Québécois. After serving as minister of inland revenue under Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie from 1877 to 1878, Laurier became leader of the Liberal Party in 1887. He lost the 1891 federal election to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party. However, controversy surrounding the Conservative government's handling of the Manitoba Schools Question gave Laurier's Liberal Party a victory in the 1896 federal election. He led the Liberals to three more majority governments in 1900, 1904, and 1908. As prime minister, Laurier resolved the Manitoba Schools Question by persuading the Manitoba government to permit Catholic students to receive a Catholic education on a school-by-school basis. While this compromise drew criticism from some French Canadians, it earned him the nickname "the Great Conciliator" for balancing the interests of French and English Canada. Laurier also sharply increased immigration levels, oversaw the creation of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905, and initiated the Grand Trunk Pacific and National Transcontinental railway projects. In foreign policy, Laurier promoted Canada's autonomy within the British Empire. His government dispatched a volunteer force...