Canada’s greatest Prime Minister (equaled only by Sir John A. Macdonald of Kingston) was in Cornwall, Ontario on this date in 1896. Though he had recently won that year’s election held in the shadow of the Manitoba Schools crisis, tensions between French and English remained high. Laurier countered these feelings during an address he delivered during the Cornwall riding’s by-election.
“I stand here upon the broad ground of Canadian citizenship: upon this broad ground we will fight this battle and if you cannot fight it upon this ground then, sir, I despair the fate of my country,” he bluntly told his audience.
You can read more of his address, as reported by the press, below.
PM Wilfrid Laurier: I say to you, my fellow countrymen, whether you be French or English, Catholic or Protestant, you are all Canadians, and the man who appeals to prejudice in the County of Stormont and Cornwall or any other part of Canada, is an enemy to Stormont and Cornwall, and Canada. But the man who appeals to the prejudice of one class after having appealed to the prejudice of another class is twice an enemy to Stormont and Cornwall and Canada.
The man who, after having appealed to Protestant prejudices on that identical question of Separate Schools in 1890, who has turned right about face and appealed to the prejudices of Catholics is not fit to be the representative of Stormont and Cornwall in the Parliament of Canada.
I come here appealing to you not in favour of one race, not in favour of either race: I spurn any such appeals. I stand here upon the broad ground of Canadian citizenship: upon this broad ground we will fight this battle and if you cannot fight it upon this ground then, sir, I despair the fate of my country.Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.