The Laurier Era

The Laurier Era

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The Laurier -Greenway COmpromise

Laurier and Reciproctiy

Laurier's Compromise

There were some people who didn't agree to Laurier compromise, like Arhcbishop Adelard Langevin from St. Boniface, a catholic church ne Winnipeg. Some thought that the matter was out of proportion. Grip Magazine had illustrated a cartoon that showed the problem in the Northwest Territories. Laurier had establish compromise, when he had many oppositions. This technique of Laurier of detecting the the solution to make both sides happy, is what has helped made him prime minister for 15 consecutive years.

In 1897 Laurier made a compromise with the

with Thomas Greenway, who was the Premiere of Manitoba. The law was changed along the lines of Lauriers solution. In this compromise English speaking citizens and French speaking citizens. They could get what they wish for, at the same time they couldn't get each thing. The following shows you when these laws were passed in some provinces/ territories of Canada:

• New Brunswick: 1871
• Prince Edward Island: 1877
• Northwest Territories: 1892
• Saskatchewan:1905
• Alberta 1905

In the House of Commons, Laurier offered another solution. If the Liberals were elected to government, they would do the following:

• not restore the government for separate schools in Manitoba
• pass a law allowing French instruction in any school, if there were at least ten children who required it
• allow for religious instruction of Catholic children by priests at the end of the school day

Laurier believed that U.S. was an important partner to Canada as economic partners, since America was growing much more quickly. He wanted the two nations to be close economically, therefore he created reciprocity, allowing all natural products to cross the border.

The Legal Ruling

Dispersal of the Metis

The Political Situation

There were many opinions that ran the language lines. Anglophones in Canada supported Manitoba reforms, whereas the Francophones did not. The legal system couldn't find a resolution to these problems. In 1895, a rule was made that Manitoba had the power to make the changes, but the federal government could overrule them.

The Conservative party in Ottawa chose to introduce legislation and reestablish the old system in Manitoba, but Laurier the leader of the liberal's (opposing party) opposed this. You might believe that Laurier would support French and Catholic rights, however he was a politician, and wanted to become prime minister. He saw that if he opposed the government, the French would be against him. On the flip side, if he supported the government, it wouldn't be likely for the Liberals to win many Anglophone votes in the upcoming election.

As the flow of immigrants was increasing, the life of the Metis were being disrupted, because when settlers moved into area, they established farms, and developed large town and cities. This caused the Metis to move out in search of land where they could hunt, fish, and trap. They were also being cheated out of their scrips by land speculators, causing disruption and dispersal of the Metis communities.

Manitoba Schools

In the 1880's and 1890's Manitoba had received many immigrants who were English speaking protestant, and the Anglophone population began to pressure the government to change the laws. In 1890, the government had passed a law that made the following changes:

• It removed French as part of the official language. Debates in the legislature and proceedings in courts had to be in English only.
• It passed an act that withdrew government support on Roman Catholic schools. These schools would run as private schools, this meant that the parents needed to pay fees for their children.

The Manitoba School Crisis

This was the most serious English-French problem. The Manitoba Act : For the reason of the Manitoba act of 1870 gave guarantees to English and French speaking people. This satisfied both populations.

• English- and French- language rights were guaranteed in the legislature and courts.
• Schools would be separated based on religion ( Protestant schools and Roman Catholic schools)

The Population Challenge

Canada's population was very small only around 3.5 million, compared to the 34.88 million now. The population wasn't spread evenly. There was allot in the east and less on the west. What would Wilfrid Laurier do to solve this problem?

Canada's Economic Pattern

Clifford Sifton's Immigration Plan

Sifton organized his campaigns in a variety of European languages to attract the settlers he wanted in Canada. He talked about rich soil, government assistance, free land - but no black farmers were allowed. Immigration Campaigns: Sifton created immigration campaigns in European languages , and created pamphlets telling settlers the advantage of what it called, "The Last Best West"

The Election of 1911

Laurier decided that the best strategy was to hold an election. If the Liberals were in power then everyone would focus on Reciprocity.

Why the Immigrants Came

Foreign investments are crucial to the growth of a country, not only that, but they are also an important factor between economic relationships.

Exports and Imports: Canada's economic future was either by Britain or the United States. To help the government figure out which country would be their economic partner they used the balance of trade, meaning the difference between a country's imports and exports.

International Investments: the government also used foreign investments to see where there economic future lay. Foreign investments is money invested in companies in a different country instead somebody's own company.

Where did Canada's Future Lie?: Britain was the richest country in the world,however the U.S. was growing rapidly, because Canada had a quick and easy trade trading system due to the fact that there borders were right beside each other.

A Typical Immigrant Family

The Result of the Election of 1911

The immigrants came because of push and pull factors. Push factors encouraged them to leave their home country, and the pull factors encouraged them to choose Canada. The push and pull factors are listed in the following:

Push Factors: lack of land, lack of personal freedoms, and threat of war.

Pull Factor: Free land, good farming conditions, and ethnic communities.

The following is a text that a Canadian has written about his ancestors:

Reciprocity had no future in Canada. The Liberals lost, and the conservatives had won. Canada would be economic partners with Britain.

The Positions of Laurier and Borden

Laurier knew that there was no compromise on reciprocity, so he told the House of Commons that he wanted to live in harmony. Robert Borden accused Laurier of abandoning Britain (Borden opposed of reciprocity), which had helped Canada develop economically.