Doctorate Tom Matthews
McMaster University
Sir Wilfrid Laurier: A Harmonious and Conciliating Man
1987
Table of Contents
Sir Wilfrid Laurier was a harmonious and conciliating Prime Minister.
- Introduction
- His Early Life
- His Education
- His Reaction to the Execution of Riel
- The Manitoba Schools' Question
- Imperialism and the Boer War
- Notes
- Bibliography
Sir Wilfrid Laurier: A Harmonious and Conciliating Man
Throughout early Canadian history, Québec and the rest of Canada had been at complete loggerheads - a clash between Protestantism and Catholicism, English speaking Canadians versus French speaking "Canadiens." Obviously, there was little promise in bringing these two societies together. The country was in of a great conciliator, and who could have been the best man to fill this gap but Sir Wilfrid Laurier himself. He was the great conciliator.
Practically most of Laurier's biographers agree that the first French Canadien Prime Minister of Canada was very conciliative. However, to understand this agreement, it is important to know some facts: Laurier's early life - a basis for his later political beliefs, his position as Leader of Opposition - how he dealt with various contentious debates, and his more important role as the Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada.
The seventh Prime Minister was born in 1814 in St. Lin, Eastern Québec. He lived there until the age of 12 when he was sent to the College of L'Assomption, 20 miles to the east of Saint Lin.1 This move was greatly credited to his ambitious, strongminded father and grandfather. Both were determined that young Wilfrid would obtain and English education, something special for French Canadiens at the time of his era. At the college, he spent seven years learning French and Latin as well as mathematics, philosophy, history, and more importantly English. As noted by scholars, "Through his lessons, he learnt to love English poetry - Milton, Shakespeare, and Burns."2 Also, he grew to love the King James' version of the Bible through his Presbyterian family friends, and would quite often read extracts in his later life. In the end, his education mainly took place at a church run college followed by three years in the Faculty of Law at McGill University in Montréal; at university however, he learnt law at both levels - provincial law and federal law, which obviously prepared him for his conciliatory approach to politics.
The young lad of St. Lin had experiences in the Roman Catholic faith as well as in the Protestant faith. These two endowments helped give young Laurier of a French descent which was the grace and facility of his expression, and on the other hand of an English descent which gave him the breadth of vision to the rest of Canada. A great mas was in the making, a man that was irresistible appealing to both races of the country, British and French, Protestant and Catholic.
It is obvious that Laurier had been given the best of both worlds. Through his extensive education, he learnt how to understand not only the social problems and the political ideologies of Québec, but also, he grew to learn how English Canada viewed its own political and social beliefs; to which - at times - he showed great sympathy. George-P. Vanier wrote about Laurier as Prime Minister in 1902 and said that "The most remarkable aspect of his political career was his ability to leave his listeners with the impression that he shared their views."3 However, looking at the other side of the coin, if Sir Wilfrid had not been given such an "éducation supérieur," then perhaps he would not have been so accepting to various ideas from colleagues and from others such as the common people. Most importantly, her tried to conciliate these ideas into one national concept. Examine the following debates and ideologies which contributed to Laurier's conciliating personality.
One of the very first speeches that Sir Wilfrid ever gave was at McGill University. The Undergraduate's Society, Faculty of Law of McGill, was holding a general meeting. The students attending this meeting had the opportunity of hearing their "confrère" of the class of 1864, bidding farewell to McGill. Curiously enough, the proposer of the address of the farewell was a young man - Laurier. In his address, this talented young lawyer said among other things that: "I pledge my honour that I will give the whole of my life to the cause of conciliation, harmony, and concord amongst the different elements of this country of ours."4 It is clear that Sir Wilfrid, at this early age, knew of Canada's bi-culturalism and for him the only was that his country could function as a unified polis was that the federal government follow policies containing harmonious and conciliatory features. He urged the French and the English alike to withdraw from their hatreds and to become united for the future of Canada. This was a concern of his which would dominate throughout his life, as one scholar indicated: "Two races share today the soil of Canada, but I hasten to say it, and I say it to our glory, that race hatreds are finished on our Canadian soil. There is no longer any family here but the human family. It matters not the language people speak, or the altars at which they kneel."5 Lawyers like himself, he constantly thought, had a large duty to maintain the "union between the peoples, the secret of the future."6
Laurier was never a man to speak unless he had something to say, or to act unless he had considered the consequences. He once presented a speech revitalised the nation's attention upon him at a great meeting in Montréal, he said: "Had I been born on the banks of the Saskatchewan, I would myself have shouldered a musket to fight against the neglect of governments and the shameless greed of speculators."7 The Rebellion of 1885, like all other rebellions had a cause and a motive to rebel, which was the stark result of the Conservative Government's neglect at the time; of course, this gave Riel much support. However, in attacking Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister, and his Conservative Party's decision to execute Riel, Wilfrid Laurier added: "But this I say, and I say it coming from a province where less than 50 years ago every man of the race to which I belong was a rebel, and where today every man of that race is true and loyal subject as true and loyal as any that breathes; I say give these men justice, give them freedom, give them their rights, treat them as for the last 40 years you have treated the people of Lower Canada, and by-and-by, throughout those Territories, you will have contentment, peace, and harmony - where today discord, hatred, and war are ruining the land."8 The Québec Liberals, Blake and Laurier, all believed that vengeance, not justice, was the cause of Riel's execution. Furthermore, Sir Wilfrid and company thought that Canada was in need of a policy of reconciliation and not vengeance. Further on and into this great meeting, Laurier said, "We are a new nation. We are attempting to unite the different conflicting elements which we have into a nation. Shall we ever succeed if the bond of union is to be revenged?"9 However, Macdonald was conciliate to the Protestants and the English alone; Riel was executed. Laurier's riveted speech was delivered to the House of Commons by Thomas White and was said to have been the finest parliamentary speech ever pronounced since Confederation.
Moving along to another important issue. The Manitoba Schools question brought Laurier back into the spotlight and with his "Sunny Ways" form of solution to political affairs, Sir Wilfrid once again showed the Canadian people that he was a man in favour of justice, freedom, and conciliation. Only with these key ingredients could the people of Manitoba receive a compromising solution that would please both Catholics and Protestants. However, the Liberals needed to do very little about the Manitoba Schools question except sit back and enjoy the spectacle of the harassed Conservatives trying endlessly and failing continually to find a satisfactory solution. When the Remedial Bill was introduced in the session of 1896, Laurier made a motion to adjourn the discussion for six months; he apposed the dictatorial nature of the bill and urged that it would never accomplish half as mush as "Sunny Ways" that investigation and conciliation were the only sure means of arriving at a solution everyone would accept.10
Later in the year of 1896, the Conservative Party was in a shamble. They were badly divided on the Manitoba Schools question, which led to their defeat in the 1896 Federal Election. The Liberals and Laurier at the helm, now as Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada, were forced from the start with the M. S. question. As it turned out, the "Sunny Ways" would really be more helpful to the French Roman Catholic minority than any number of blusterous orders from the Territories, and it would also be helpful to the English citizens, for Manitoba would still have control over its own system of education. Despite little flurries from some bishops of Manitoba and Québec, the Manitoba Schools Act proved to be "a pretty good compromise."11 There would be no restoration of tax supported, separate schools; but within the one public system, there could be "after hours" denominational, religious instruction if local school boards or a certain minimum number of parents of pupils of said denomination wished. Where ten pupils in any school spoke French, or any other language than English as mother tongue, the teaching was to be on a bilingual basis. For the most part, the Manitoba Schools Act left both Anglophones and Francophone speaking Canadians with something to be please with; they were not left empty handed.
Canada's imperial relationship with Britain would dominate all other debates held in the House of Commons. Sir Wilfrid, in forming his policy on imperial relations, did not follow solely his individual preference. As leader of a party and ruler of a country of many shades of view, he had always kept in touch with the central body of opinion. More important than personal preferences were the need of preserving national unity, or preventing a division on racial lines. His constant effort was to find a policy and a formula which would keep the country not only moving in what he considered the right direction, but a country moving "abreast" - more to the point.
When Laurier went to the United Kingdom to attend the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, he stressed the fact that in the military sphere, he stoutly refused the pledging of the Canadian assistance in British Wars around the world. However, when Sir Wilfrid returned to Canada, he was faced with a different matter that would evidently bring him to reason, for it was evident that the English in Canada wanted to participate in their motherland's international wars. It was the Boer War that brought once again strife and hatred between the two races of Canada. Laurier now had to find a compromising solution.
His assessment of what Canada should do was presented by him in Parliament. He claimed that Canadians were taking part in the Boer War no because of British pressure on the government; but because a great many of Canadians desired this involvement; and that in the future, as in the past, his country would decide her own policy. Ultimately, before the Boer War concluded in 1902, Canada sent over seven thousand volunteers to South Africa. The government had stood against forced conscription. That's why the men listed as volunteers. This decision would keep the English happy, for they incitingly wanted to participate in the war, which constantly place the French in contempt, for they were not conscribed to service the British's war efforts; thus, only volunteers were sent.
All the same, for now it is much clearer than it was in the beginning that Sir Wilfrid Laurier believed and worked toward, throughout his public life for harmonious and conciliating policies. His preference for British traditions and his French origins strengthened his feeling that Canada would only flourish under a conciliatory government; and it was this feeling that made him fight, argue, and debate for hours on end, endlessly seeking for a compromising solution. Examples of his efforts to bring the two races of Canada together were without a shadow of doubt the introduction of his "Sunny Ways" policy, the need to reconciliate Riel and not to place vengeance up the execution of the past, and his compromise to the English to volunteer in the Boer War. However, all is in the past now. His life, his achievements, and his endeavours will remain in the history books of Canada, but when it is called upon to look the man up - for whatever reason - remember this please: "He was the great conciliator."12
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Notes
1 Richard Clippingdale, Laurier: His Life and World (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1979), p. 13. For further information on Laurier's birthplace and immediate family.
2 Barbara Robertson, Wilfrid Laurier: The Great Conciliator (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 9.
3 Marcel Hamelin, ed., Les idées politiques des premiers ministres du Canada (Ottawa: Les éditions de l'université d'Ottawa, 1969), p. 72.
4 Lucien Pacaud, Sir Wilfrid Laurier: Letters (Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1935), p. 19.
5 Barbara Robertson, Wilfrid Laurier: The Great Conciliator (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 11.
6 Lucien Pacaud, Sir Wilfrid Laurier: Letters (Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1935), p. 25.
7 Barbara Robertson, Wilfrid Laurier: The Great Conciliator (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 50.
8 Ibid, p. 51.
9 Ibid, pp. 51-52.
10 Richard Clippingdale, Laurier: His Life and World (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited), 1979.
11 Barbara Robertson, Wilfrid Laurier: The Great Conciliator (Toronto: Oxford University Press), 1971.
12 Ibid, 1971.
Bibliography
Clippingdale, Richard. Laurier: His Life and World. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1979.
Dafoe, J.W. Laurier: A Study in Canadian Politics. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1963.
Finlay, J.L. and D.N. Sprague. The Structure of Canadian History. Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., 1984.
Hamelin, Marcel, ed. Les idées politiques des premiers ministres du Canada. Ottawa: Les éditions de l'université d'Ottawa, 1969.
Matthews, Tom. Lecture: "The Manitoba Schools Question and Imperialism." McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, July 16th, 1987.
Neatby, H. Blair. Laurier and a Liberal Québec. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1973.
Pacaud, Lucien. Sir Wilfrid Laurier: Letters. Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1935.
Robertson, Barbara. Wilfrid Laurier: The Great Conciliator. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Skelton, Oscar Douglas. Life and Letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1965.