Sir Wilfrid Laurier Education Guide
To mark the 175th birthday of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Historica Canada has created this Education Guide on Canadian history during Laurier’s life and the importance of his legacy.
Historical figures and events are commemorated in many ways: statues, plaques, museums, on bank notes and stamps, buildings and parks named in their honour, and national days. Wilfrid Laurier, Canada’s prime minister from 1896 to 1911, can lay claim to all of these: there is a statue of Laurier on Parliament Hill in Ottawa (unveiled in 1927), his childhood home has been declared a national historic site, his face adorns the $5 bill, Sir Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario is named after him, and his birthday, 20 November, is celebrated as “Laurier Day” by an Act of Parliament.
Laurier’s influence is felt even today. In 2015, on the night of his election victory, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked Laurier’s “Sunny Ways” speech, reviving Laurier’s optimistic approach to politics more than a century later. In both leadership and personality, Laurier’s charm, flair and silver tongue still draw praise and admiration.
So what is it that makes the seventh prime minister of Canada worth remembering?