User:Kopaka649/history

=Laurier’s Accomplishments=

Immigration to the West
One of Laurier’s major accomplishments was a huge increase in immigration to the west in the early twentieth century. This was achieved by Laurier’s minister of the interior, Clifford Sifton, who adopted an aggressive immigration policy. Although Sifton claimed his policy to be “open door”, he actually pushed hard for a specific group of immigrants, farmers from the United States and some parts of Europe. He believed that only these farmers could withstand the harsh winters and dry summers of the prairies, and he considered all other western immigration undesirable. Sifton distributed pamphlets and advertisements to these countries, and eventually oversaw migration of over two million people to Canada. Following this population boom, the provinces Alberta and Saskatchewan were created, both of which are still important economic parts of Canada today.

Manitoba Schools Act
The issue with Manitoba Schools was an important factor in increasing nationalism in Quebec. In 1890, the Manitoba government passed the Manitoba Schools Act, effectively making English the only language to be taught in schools, as well as removing funding for Catholic schools. Macdonald had encouraged Catholics to appeal this, but they failed, and even England was in favor of the act. The topic was a subject of debate for many years, and was still important in the 1896 election, in which Laurier won. Although Laurier was Roman Catholic, he was reluctant to do much on the issue, afraid of starting more conflicts between the French and English. In the end, Laurier tried a compromise, in which half an hour of religious instruction per day was offered, and French was again used as a language of teaching, but only when a school had ten or more French speaking children. Although the compromise was eventually overturned, it still was important in ensuring the French Catholics were recognized.

Canadian Autonomy
Another of Laurier’s accomplishments lies in his efforts to make Canada independent and to establish Canadian identity within the British Empire. One of his contributions to this cause was the creation of Canada’s own foreign affairs office.

=Essay= Sir John A. Macdonald And Sir Wilfred Laurier

Sir John A. Macdonald was Canada’s first Prime Minister and the architect of Canada. Sir Wilfred Laurier may have increased immigration but he couldn’t have done it without Macdonald’s starting of Canada. Macdonald brought together many provinces by promising access to the trans-continental railroad and paying off their government debts. Laurier put the dominions lands act into place that increased immigration to the west and led to the Klondike gold rush, but he did insult the French Canadiens and ruin Riel’s work with the Manitoba Schools Act. Although Laurier may have done many things to improve Canada, John A. Macdonald build the foundation for Laurier to improve on thus making Macdonald the superior leader.

When the Manitoba Schools Act was put into place in 1890 it was an insult to the French Canadian culture and religion. New settlers in Manitoba brought with them the model of the Ontario school system, and they made up most of the population of Manitoba. They abolished French as an official language. And at the same time cut off public funding to Catholic schools. For years the school question went before the courts and the federal government. In 1896 the Laurier-Greenway Compromise agreement was reached among the English speaking Protestant majority of Manitoba. Serving as an amendment to the Manitoba School Act of 1890, the Laurier-Greenway Compromise was an attempt to erase the insult directed toward the French speaking Catholic minority in 1890.

One of MacDonald’s great achievements was bringing British Columbia into confederation, though they were in serious debt and were considering joining the US. Macdonald was against that and got to them before the US and offered to pay off their debts and have access to the railroad, B.C. willfully agreed to this, they would even settle for a dirt-wagon road. Laurier’s greatest achievement was increasing immigration and movement to the west, even though it was racist and was Clifford Sifton’s idea, he did succeed in populating the west. Many people moved right away because of the cheap land, but the land was poor and they lived in appalling conditions and had harsh seasons. Though, eventually, people found gold in Klondike River and people were flocking all over the country to get at the gold. Soon towns and cities were sprouting up in the west.

The National Policy was to protect Canadian manufacturers from cheaper foreign products. Macdonald and his party in the 1878 general election with the slogan “Canada for Canadians” put it forward. The National Policy included much more than protection. It encouraged immigration, the development agriculture in the west, the growth of industry in the east, the improvement of railway and harbor facilities to promote the movement of goods and people across the country: these were other elements of Macdonald's grand vision.

Though Laurier did have a great achievement, they could never outweigh Macdonald’s multiple achievements. Macdonald and his National policy protected Canada as well as improving other things such as immigration and agriculture. Laurier tried to fight against the Manitoba Schools Act he did succeed, however it was put back into place a few years later. Macdonald is known as the Father and Architect of Canada and was a great leader. Laurier, on the other hand, was a good leader but could have never been as good as Macdonald