Timeline

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.

During the First World War nearly 3,000 Canadians became prisoners of war.

Louis Riel was born in Saint Boniface in 1844 and was educated in Montréal. When he returned to the Red River Settlement in 1868, he found the community anxious and divided over its political future.

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.

Excerpt from an interview with Mary Riter Hamilton is accompanied here by paintings. Focuses on what remains standing after the horrors of war. The spirit of hope shows through in a painting entitled "Looking Outwards."

For his part in this first major engagement of the war in which Canadian troops were involved, Lance-Corporal Fisher was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously, and became the first Canadian from a Canadian unit to win the decoration in that conflict.

The term Métis, like the 'mestizo', has its origins in the Latin word 'mixticius' which means a person of mixed racial ancestry. Métis, however, describes more than race-it refers to a culture and a nation that played a significant role in the history of the Canadian West and is now a proud part of the Canadian mosaic.

On August 6, 1914, a grateful Empire sent word requesting that Canada's offer of soldiers be "dispatched as soon as possible." Presents an overview of the formation of new Canadian military units to help Britain fight the First World War.