Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Laurier, Sir Wilfrid (1841–1919), a Canadian statesman. He was Canada's first prime minister of French descent, serving from 1896 to 1911. Throughout his career Laurier sought to improve relations between English- and French-speaking Canadians. During his administration Canada enjoyed a period of prosperity and expansion. Two new provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, were created. Two new transcontinental railways, the Grand Trunk and the Canadian Northern, were built. Laurier tried to make Canada politically independent of Britain while remaining within the British Empire.
Laurier was born in St. Lin, Quebec. He attended L'Assomption College and McGill University, where he received a law degree in 1864. While practicing law he joined the Liberal party and served in the Quebec provincial legislature, 1871–74. In 1874 he was elected to the federal House of Commons, where he served the rest of his life. Laurier, himself a Catholic, struggled against Catholic hostility to liberalism and opposed church interference in politics.
Laurier was chosen the Liberal party's leader in 1887. He led the Liberals to victory at the polls in 1896 and became prime minister. His party retained power by winning elections held in 1900, 1904, and 1908. He was knighted in 1897.
Some of Laurier's major problems concerned foreign policy. He sent volunteers to aid Great Britain in the Boer War (1899–1902) but opposed attempts to create a closer imperial union. In 1910 he introduced an unpopular naval construction bill. In 1911 he lost more support by proposing a reciprocal trade agreement with the United States, which many Canadians felt would give the United States too much influence in Canada. His government was defeated at the polls in 1911 by a combination of Conservatives and French Canadians from Laurier's own party.
As opposition leader, Laurier gave his full support to Canadian participation in World War I. However, he refused to join in a coalition government that would carry out conscription. English-speaking Liberals joined the coalition, and Laurier was defeated in the 1917 election.