12axes-testTake the test
Wilfrid Laurier
Historical figureCanada1841-1919

Wilfrid Laurier

7th Prime Minister of Canada (1896-1911) · Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (1887-1919)

Canada's first French-speaking prime minister, a Liberal lawyer from Quebec who ruled from 1896 to 1911 by compromise between English and French, and lost power after a push for free trade with the US.

Compare yourself See the 12 scores
Profile on 12 axes11 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Wilfrid Laurier, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership+30
    PublicPrivate
  2. 02Markets+35
    PlannedFree
  3. 03Welfare+45
    SharedSelf-reliant

    Welfare as we know it was not yet a political issue in his time. His 19th-century liberal outlook favoured self-reliance, and the score reflects that.

  4. 04Authority-20
    DemocraticStrong leader
  5. 05Security-10
    LibertyOrder
  6. 06Structure-30
    LocalCentral
  7. 07Morality+20
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08Religion-15
    SecularReligious

    A Catholic himself, he resisted attempts by ultramontane clergy in Quebec to steer politics. The score leans slightly toward a secular public sphere.

  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution

    He left no recorded view on technology as we use the word today, so this axis has no score.

  10. 10Culture+35
    MulticulturalNational identity

    He welcomed large-scale European settlement on the Prairies. But the head tax on Chinese arrivals rose to $500 under him, and his cabinet agreed in 1911 to an order, never enforced, barring Black immigrants. The score leans toward restriction.

  11. 11Trade-40
    GlobalProtected

    He kept a tariff to raise revenue but in 1911 campaigned for free trade with the Americans, known as reciprocity. The score leans toward free trade.

  12. 12Foreign policy-15
    CooperationStrength

    He refused imperial federation and a shared imperial navy, but he did let volunteers go to the Boer War. The score leans slightly toward cooperation and compromise.

One axis has no clear record, so matching leaves it out.

Who was Wilfrid Laurier?

Wilfrid Laurier was born in 1841 in Saint-Lin, in what was then Canada East. He qualified as a lawyer in Montreal and entered politics for the Liberals in the 1870s. He led the party from 1887 and won the 1896 election, becoming the first prime minister from French Canada. He stayed in power until 1911 while immigration, railway building and Prairie settlement transformed the country. Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905. The 1911 election, fought over reciprocity with the United States and the question of a navy, put him out of office. He led the opposition until he died in 1919.

Political views

  • Settled the Manitoba schools dispute through the 1896 Laurier-Greenway compromise, describing his method as sunny ways, as opposed to forcing the province from Ottawa.Source: cbc.ca
  • While in opposition he argued for a moderate tariff, provincial autonomy and Canada's links with the Crown.Source: biographi.ca
  • Made a trade deal with America, called reciprocity, the centre of his 1911 campaign, and was defeated.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Despatched 1,000 volunteers to fight in the Boer War in 1899, insisting it set no precedent, and in 1902 turned down an imperial council and an imperial navy.Source: biographi.ca
  • Created the Canadian navy in 1910 through the Naval Service Act.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Increased the head tax on Chinese immigrants twice: to $100 in 1900, then to $500 in 1903.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Opposed conscription in 1917. Liberals who supported it left to join Borden's Unionist government, and the party split.Source: en.wikipedia.org

Legacy

To admirers Laurier was a great peacemaker who kept English and French Canada together, widened Canada's independence inside the British Empire and presided over the growth that filled the West with settlers. His fifteen years are still the longest unbroken run for any Canadian prime minister, and in 2015 Justin Trudeau brought back his phrase sunny ways. Critics say the Manitoba deal failed to restore Catholic separate schools. Historians also see the raised head tax on Chinese immigrants and a 1911 order aimed at Black American migrants as marks of a racially restrictive immigration policy. His stand against conscription in 1917 left the Liberals split along language lines.

How close are you to Wilfrid Laurier?

Take the 12 Axes test and see which historical figure is your political twin, axis by axis.

Take the test

Wilfrid Laurier: questions

Which party did Wilfrid Laurier lead?

Laurier was a Liberal. He led the Liberal Party from 1887 until he died in 1919, and he was prime minister from 1896 to 1911.

What were Laurier's sunny ways?

Sunny ways was Laurier's name for winning people over with patience and compromise rather than force. He used it for the 1896 settlement of the Manitoba schools dispute. Justin Trudeau revived the phrase in 2015.

Sources