The Prime Minister Who Opposed Confederation (Part 1)

Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Lady Laurier (L, in black) ride in a chauffeur driven automobile with an unidentified man and woman in an undated photo. CP PhotoCommentarySir Wilfrid Laurier was one of Canada’s most successful political operators and served as the national Liberal leader from 1887 to 1919 (32 years), and about half that time as prime minister. He eventually took up the old Cartier-Macdonald mantle of Confederation, adding two new provinces, and even managed to play the imperial statesman, attending Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, where he was knighted. In 1899, he reluctantly sent volunteers to participate in Canada’s first overseas expeditionary force, winning our first overseas military victory at Paardeberg in the Boer War in February 1900.