Navigating the Heartache WWI Brings
Canada passed the Wartime Elections Act in September 1917. The act was part of the Conservative government’s efforts to win the federal election later that year. The act, however, was not without controversy. The act followed the nation’s conscription crisis that split the country between those of English decent, who favored conscription, and everyone else,…
The United States has the Founding Fathers. Canada has the Fathers of Confederation. Unlike the Founding Fathers, whose new nation gained independence thanks to war, the Fathers of Confederation took a quieter, more methodical approach. Fathers of Confederation refers to 36 men who represented their colonies at one or more conferences that were held to…
Any discussion of Canada during the early 20th century would not be complete without including Henri Bourassa. Bourassa was outspoken and not afraid to fight for his beliefs. Bourassa was born in Quebec in 1868, a little more than a year after the formation of Canada. He entered politics in his early 20s and was…
Robert Borden was the prime minister who led Canada through the contentious years of World War I. An attorney by trade, he entered politics in 1896 and quickly rose to leader of the Conservative Party. Borden became prime minister following the nasty 1911 federal election that split the nation between those who were for and…
Hettie Bartlette, the main character in my novel Angel of Mercy, was born in Ontario in 1892. Despite being 27 at the end of the third novel in the series, Adjustment Year, she has memories of only two prime ministers. Laurier was Canada’s seventh prime minister, taking office in 1896 when Hettie was four years…