History Browser

Wilfrid Laurier's penchant for compromise allowed him to remain in power for 15 years, earning him the nickname of the "Great Conciliator". But in 1911, this talent proved inadequate to the task of winning elections.

Throughout his career, compromise would remain the main political strategy Laurier used to settle conflicts. A staunch defender of national unity, he was called on to solve a series of major controversies which set Canadians against one another.

For Canada and Canadians the Second World War began in Parliament. Canadian newspapers documented the changes in government and social platform during World War Two.

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier National Historic Site of Canada is located in Saint-Lin-Laurentides, a town 50 km north of Montreal. The site commemorates one of the most important figures in Canadian political history, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the man often referred to as the father of modern Canada.

The development of a Canadian army overseas promoted the growth of a Canadian identity that was separate from the British model. Canada's military independence on the battlefield would be succeeded, over the decades, by gradual political independence.

The Liberals, headed by Prime Minister Mackenzie King, steered Canada through some rocky waters during the war years. The challenges the government faced were well documented in the English language newspapers of the time.

The Battle of the Atlantic was the struggle for control of the sea routes between the Americas and Europe and Africa. German forces attempted to break Britain’s vital supply link from the United States and Canada. During this six year conflict both sides suffered losses of personnel and materials.

One of the principal features of his vision was a strong sense of national unity. As a young man, he asserted that "The unity of the people is the secret of the future", ["L'union entre les peuples, le secret de l'avenir"] ...

Debunking of myth of threat posed by Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War, through interviews with both government officials and victims of internment. Argument that it was in fact the very act of resettling and interning Japanese-Canadians that could have alienated them enough to pose a threat in case of Japanese invasion of the Pacific coast.

On 6 June 1944, Allied forces invaded Western Europe along an 80-kilometre front in Normandy, France. Of the nearly 150,000 Allied troops who landed or parachuted into the invasion area on D-Day, 14,000 were Canadians.