I waited to write this blog - not because I've been pretending to be a cowboy at the Calgary Stampede or neglecting this blog in order to watch Brits play football (both of which I'm guilty of) but because today is a special day in the legacy of Wilfrid Laurier - it's 122 years to the day that he was elected as the seventh prime minister of Canada.

Laurier holds a multitude of records among our fellow prime minister, including:
*First Francophone PM
*Longest uninterrupted time in office at 15 years, 2 months, and 25 days - or 5664 days in total
*Winner of most consecutive federal elections (that one he is actually tied with John A.)
*Longest-serving leader of a major political party at 31 years and 8 months (basically the age I am now...)
*Served under the reign of three different monarchs - Victoria, Edward VII and George V.
*The most traded prime minister, as his face is on the $5 bill and that is the most common one to circulate (that one is not official, just me speculating....)

Laurier was mostly known for his ability to compromise. From his handling of the Manitoba Schools Question, which took down Mackenzie Bowell's government, to the role he lead in the Francophone-Anglophone relations, his politics was dubbed as the "lesser evil" - do what is least evil of the options. Which seems like common sense politics, but sometimes common sense lacks in the world of policy.

What I'm wondering is how politics would have seemed during that era. With heart throb Teddy Roosevelt in the White House and Laurier in charge of Canada, it seems like it would have been a congenial and prosperous time. Journalism was healthy, railroads were being built across the country, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became baby provinces. And while Canada participated in minor squirmishes, including sending volunteer aid to help Britain in the Boer War, it was pre-World War 1, pre the world knowing just how shitty we could be to each other with massive weapons and technology. It seems like it would have been a relatively pleasant and peaceful time.

Of course, I'm looking at this from a position of privilege. This era was likely not very kind to people in lesser position, such as the Indigenous communities. Seemingly, there has yet to be a prime minister that has a decent record with Canada's Indigenous people's, continuing the systems of oppression and residential schools instilled by John A. They all added to the giant closet of skeletons that we have as our national shame.

It seems I'm not the only one who Laurier has impressed, both with his "lesser evil" tactics and his good looks (that might have just been me, but yeah, younger Laurier....) In a 2011 ranking, McLean's Magazine toted Laurier was the best prime minister in our history, a rank they dropped to second place in 2016 - Laurier now sits behind William Lyon Mackenzie King and ahead of John A. on their list of PMs.

It seems as Laurier has as many skills as that political cartoon from 1894 depicts. He was a higher pedigree of prime minister.