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Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919), known as Wilfrid Laurier (; ; lor-yay), was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada, in office from July 11, 1896, to October 6, 1911. Canada's first francophone prime minister, Laurier is often considered one of the country's greatest statesmen. He is well known for his policies of conciliation, expanding Confederation, and compromise between French and English Canada. His vision for Canada was a land of individual liberty and decentralized federalism. He also argued for an English-French partnership in Canada. "I have had before me as a pillar of fire," he said, "a policy of true Canadianism, of moderation, of reconciliation." He passionately defended individual liberty, "Canada is free and freedom is its nationality," and "Nothing will prevent me from continuing my task of preserving at all cost our civil liberty." Laurier was also well-regarded for his efforts to establish Canada as an autonomous country within the British Empire, and he supported the continuation of the Empire if it was based on "absolute liberty political and commercial". A 2011 ''Maclean's'' historical ranking of the Prime Ministers placed Laurier first. Laurier is the holder of a number of records: he is the fourth-longest serving Prime Minister of Canada, behind William Lyon Mackenzie King, John A. Macdonald, and Pierre Trudeau. Laurier also holds the record for the most ''consecutive'' federal elections won (4), and his 15-year tenure remains the longest unbroken term of office among Prime Ministers. In addition, his nearly 45 years (1874–1919) of service in the House of Commons is an all-time record for that house.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Years of service in Parliament )〕 Finally, at 31 years, 8 months, Laurier was the longest-serving leader of a major Canadian political party, surpassing King by over two years. Laurier's portrait is displayed on the Canadian five-dollar bill. ==Early life== The second child of Carolus Laurier and Marcelle Martineau, Wilfrid Laurier was born in Saint-Lin, Canada East (modern day Saint-Lin-Laurentides, Quebec) on November 20, 1841. Laurier was among the seventh generation of his family in Canada. He was a sixth-generation Canadian. His ancestor François Cottineau, dit Champlaurier came to Canada from Saint-Claud, France. He grew up in a family where politics was a staple of talk and debate. His father, an educated man having liberal ideas, enjoyed a certain degree of prestige about town. In addition to being a farmer and surveyor, he also occupied such sought-after positions as mayor, justice of the peace, militia lieutenant and school board member. At the age of 11, Wilfrid left home to study in New Glasgow, a neighbouring village largely inhabited by immigrants from Scotland. Over the next two years, he had the opportunity of familiarizing himself with the mentality, language and culture of British people. Laurier attended the College of L'Assomption and graduated in law from McGill University. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in the 1871 Quebec general election in Drummond-Arthabaska, but resigned on January 19, 1874, to enter federal politics in the riding of Quebec East. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1874 election, serving briefly in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie as Minister of Inland Revenue. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wilfrid Laurier」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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