Wilfrid Laurier
7th prime minister of Canada (1841-1919)
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1841
- Died
- 1919
- Works
- 83
Top works
- La liberté des debats et de la discussion publique
- Speech on the transcontinental railway
- 1871-1890, Wilfrid Laurier à la tribune
- Le Canada et la marine
- Manifeste de Laurier
via Open Library + Wikidata
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
Article
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.
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1841 births1919 deaths19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec20th-century members of the House of Commons of CanadaBurials at Notre-Dame Cemetery (Ottawa)Canadian King's CounselCanadian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St GeorgeCanadian members of the Privy Council of the United KingdomCanadian people of Acadian descent