Good morning, and a happy belated Dominion Day to our readers. Thanks for starting your day with the Best of the West; you’ll find a distinctly Canadian edition of our newsletter below. 🍁
Today's reading time is 5 minutes.
Spotlight: Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier by John Russell, oil on canvas, c. 1915
Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841–1919) was one of Canada’s most influential political leaders and served as the country’s seventh Prime Minister from 1896 to 1911. Known for his vision, diplomacy, and commitment to national unity, Laurier helped guide Canada through a period of rapid growth and modernisation. He is remembered as one of the greatest prime ministers in Canadian history and as the first French Canadian to hold the nation’s highest political office.
Laurier was born on November 20, 1841, in Saint-Lin, Canada East. He received his education in French as well as English and became a successful lawyer before entering politics. In 1874, he was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party. Over the following decades, he gained a reputation as a skilled speaker and thoughtful leader who worked to bridge differences between Anglo and French Canadians.
When Laurier became Prime Minister in 1896, Canada was still a young country facing many challenges. During his fifteen years in office, he promoted economic growth and supported the expansion of settlement in Western Canada. Under his leadership, hundreds of thousands of immigrants arrived from Europe, helping to develop the Prairie provinces and strengthen Canada’s position relative to the United States. Alberta and Saskatchewan officially became provinces in 1905 during his tenure.
In recognition of his service to Canada and his leadership within the British Empire, Laurier was knighted by King Edward VII in 1897. From that point forward, he was formally known as Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
Laurier believed strongly in Canadian unity and often sought compromise on difficult issues. He worked to balance the interests of French and English Canadians at a time when tensions between the two groups threatened national unity. Although not all of his solutions satisfied everyone, his efforts reflected his belief that Canada’s strength came from cooperation and mutual respect.
A passionate defender of liberty, Laurier once declared, ‘Canada is free and freedom is its nationality.’ He also famously praised freedom as ‘the great Saxon word which has done more for humanity than any other word in the English language.’ These statements reflected Laurier’s belief that individual liberty, democracy, and tolerance were essential to Canada’s future.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier held a number of progressive ideas, but he also embodied many of the qualities of a great statesman. He should be remembered because he helped transform Canada into a more prosperous, united, and confident nation. His policies encouraged economic development, population growth, and westward expansion, while his leadership promoted dialogue and compromise during times of political division.
Through his dedication to public service, belief in national unity, and vision for Canada’s future, Laurier left a lasting legacy.
Verse: 'Canadian Born’ by E. Pauline Johnson
We first saw light in Canada, the land beloved of God;
We are the pulse of Canada, its marrow and its blood:
And we, the men of Canada, can face the world and brag
That we were born in Canada beneath the British flag.
Few of us have the blood of kings, few are courtly birth,
But few are vagabonds or rogues of doubtful name and worth;
And all have one credential that entitles us to brag—
That we were born in Canada beneath the British flag.
We've yet to make our money, we've yet to make our fame,
But we have gold and glory in our clean colonial name;
And every man's a millionaire if only he can brag
That he was born in Canada beneath the British flag.
No title and no coronet is half so proudly worn
As that which we inherited as men Canadian born.
We could no man so noble as the one who makes the brag
That he was born in Canada beneath the British flag.
The Dutch may have their Holland, the Spaniard have his Spain,
The Yankee to the south of us must south of us remain;
For not a man dare lift a hand against the men who brag
That they were born in Canada beneath the British flag.
Emily Pauline Johnson was born in Canada West in 1861 to an English mother and a Mohawk father. Her dual-identity greatly shaped her poetry and public persona, while her writing helped establish a distinctly ‘Canadian’ literary tradition in a country that was just starting to come into its own.
Pensées
Postnationalism – Justin Trudeau famously stated that Canada is a post-national state where ‘there is no core identity’. Yet he wasn’t the first prime minister to make these sorts of remarks: Jean Chretien said much the same in the year 2000. ‘Postnationalism’, or ‘internationalism’ has its origins in socialist thought going back to the 19th century. According to the Marxian view, national struggles are a distraction from the more important struggle of the global proletariat against the global bourgeois class. In the end, the universal brotherhood of man should inspire nations to dissolve their borders and make room for a utopian future of stateless communism.
Q: Whether they are heedless of its origins or not, many of our leaders have obviously imbibed aspects of the above worldview. What about you? Do you want to live in a world where borders and nations no longer exist?
Diversions
Check out this 1891 biography on Sir John A. Macdonald from an archived edition of The Atlantic monthly.
Watch: this classic Heritage Minute where Queen Victoria and Lord Melbourne discuss responsible government for Canada.
Whatever happened to the ‘Dominion of Canada’? In an article for the Dorchester Review, James Bowden explains how successive governments in Ottawa expurgated the moniker.
It’s the people that make the country, and Canada is still a good one, writes Geoff Russ.
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