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Political Party Profiles
The parties involved in this election faced a deep division between
French and English Canada. Quebec supported the anti-conscription
Liberals, while English Canada supported the pro-conscription
Conservatives. In the end, however, the division would not be
about party loyalty. Some Liberals would join the Conservatives
to form a Union government in an election that saw one single
issue cut across party barriers.
Liberal Party
Wilfrid Laurier had been the Prime Minister from 1896-1911. He
had won elections by focusing on national unity and balancing
Quebec ’s interests with the rest of Canada . However,
the issue of conscription was too divisive to provide any sort
of balance. Laurier was anti-conscription and was supported by
his fellow French-Canadians. He did not want to support a policy
that he had no hand in making. The Liberals supported the feelings
of Quebeckers, who felt that they should not have to be involved
in Britain ’s war. Laurier and the Liberals felt that conscription
would disrupt the national unity they had worked so hard to achieve.
The Unionists
Borden and the Conservatives supported conscription because they
had promised Britain that Canada would contribute its maximum
war effort. Borden proposed a coalition government to Laurier,
but was turned down. Nevertheless, some Liberals were attracted
to his ideas. Those Liberals, mostly from the West, joined Borden
in October 1917, and the Union Government was formed.
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