Voter Almanac

You are here: Home > Voter Almanac > Top Five Federal Elections in Canada > 1911

The Election Issues

Two primary issues emerged in the 1911 election. The naval question was the primary issue in Quebec, and issues of imperialism went along with it. In the rest of Canada, the question of reciprocity with the United States emerged as the main issue of the election.

Reciprocity with the United States

After Laurier and President Taft had negotiated the free trade agreement, they took the unusual step of agreeing to concurrent legislation rather than a formal treaty to implement it. This allowed the Conservatives to delay passage of the agreement through the House of Commons, and reciprocity became an election issue.

The reciprocity agreement seemed favourable for all Canadians. Liberals argued that the Canadian economy could only improve by lowering tariffs and expanding markets. However, those who opposed it raised the following concerns:

• Free trade would simply make Canada a supplier of raw materials for American manufacturing
• It would slow the movement to set up American branch plants in Canada
• Some Canadian agriculturalists would face stiff competition from Americans
• Free trade with the USA would run counter to the country’s basic economic policies as started by John A. Macdonald – western expansion to promote east-west trade
• Since the agreement was to be put in place by legislation and not a treaty, it could be terminated at anytime – this was a precarious situation on which to base Canada’s economy

Although the Conservatives tried to raise other issues in the election, in English Canada, the reciprocity issue overshadowed everything else.

The Naval Question

This would be the defining issue of the election in Quebec, with reciprocity playing a minor role. At the heart of the naval issue was the question about imperialism. Quebec Nationalists were afraid that the Canadian navy was going to allow Britain too much influence over Canadian affairs. They did not want to see Canada entered into wars which they should not be involved in.

The Quebec nationalist Henri Bourassa led the anti-imperialist fight against the Liberals. He thought that if Laurier was re-elected, he would abandon the interests of French Canada. Bourassa also did not support reciprocity, because he thought Laurier was using it to distract attention away from the more important question of the naval bill. He would lead the Union government in Quebec.

Next >>
The Campaign

© 2001-2006 Maple Leaf Web.
All Rights Reserved

This page was last modified: August 10, 2007