Canadian federal election, 1911

The Canadian federal election of 1911 was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons. It brought an end to fifteen years of government by the Liberal Party of Wilfrid Laurier. The election was fought over the issues of free trade with the United States, and the creation of a Canadian navy. The Conservatives formed a majority government under Robert Borden.

Related Topics:
Canadian House of Commons - Liberal Party - Wilfrid Laurier - Free trade - United States - Conservatives - Robert Borden

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The Laurier Liberals, after many years in office, had run into important problems in their last term. The most important of these was the debate over the Canadian Navy. Laurier failed in his usually masterful balancing between French and English Canada and ended up annoying both groups.

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The Quebec nationalist Henri Bourassa had quit the Liberal Party in disgust with what he considered the government's pro-British policies. Many English-Canadians in Ontario, and the Maritimes felt that Laurier was abandoning Canada's traditional links to the United Kingdom.

Related Topics:
Quebec - Henri Bourassa - Ontario - Maritimes - United Kingdom

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The base of Liberal support shifted to Western Canada. The West, seeking markets for its agricultural products, had long been a proponent of free trade with the United States. The protected manufacturing businesses of Central Canada were strongly against it. The Liberals, who by ideology and history were strongly in favour of free trade, decided to make the issue the central plank of their re-election strategy, and negotiated a free trade agreement in natural products with the United States.

Related Topics:
Western Canada - Free trade - United States - Central Canada

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The campaign went badly for the Liberals, however. The powerful manufacturing interests of Toronto and Montreal switched their allegiance and financing to the Conservatives. The Tories argued that free trade would undermine Canadian sovereignty and lead to a slow annexation of Canada by the U.S.

Related Topics:
Toronto - Montreal

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The election is often compared to the 1988 federal election, which was also fought over free trade. Ironically, in that later election, the positions of the two parties were reversed: the Liberals fought against the Tories' free trade proposal.

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