4 Apr 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
The Reciprocity Election of 1911
Laurier’s failure to liberalize trade 4/3/12 11:00 PM
The election of 1911 was focused on a trade agreement between the US and
Canada. The trade agreement had been a platform for the liberals for quite
some time.
The Liberals Reinterpret the National Policy
• Sir Wilfird Laurier leads the Liberals to power in 1896.
• The Liberals are unhappy with the National Policy but do not
completely throw it out.
• Crow’s Nest Pass Agreement
o Liberals do not agree that the railroad should have a
monopoly on transportation from east to west. They want to
introduce competition.
o Wanted to reduce tariffs on the crow's nest past
o reduced fares so the monopoly would not move forward in the
future
• Laurier’s government seeks more immigrants ! Clifford Sifton’s
role
o He improved the type of immigrants that were coming into
the country ! looking for farmers to farm …etc…
o set up offices in other countries to let people know what kinds
of opportunities they have in Canada
o they attracted immigrants who would come and stay
o Under the Tories, any immigrant could come and move to any
plot of land they want
o By the 1940's, Canada was a major exporter of grain
• But tariffs unchanged ! U.S. unreceptive
o The republicans won the U.S. election at this time, and they
wanted to raise the tariffs
o the Liberals of Canada had no way to change their tariffs
because there was no one internationally who would listen
• Liberals appear to prefer trade liberalization
The Election of 1911
• Laurier still leading the Liberals
• Western farmers demanding free trade
• Quebec divided by economic and Imperial issues
• Britain rejects own policy of preferences
The Campaign in 1911
• Secret negotiations with U.S. in 1910
• Results announced- stuns the Tories
• Swiftly, Ontario businessmen announce opposition
• Sifton says he is against it too
o you are not going to get businesses in the West if you reduce
tariffs
• Laurier departs for London…
• "Unholy Alliance” formed
o a deal between the Tories and the Quebec Nationalists
o Nationalists say that Laurier is too close to London
o Tories say Laurier is too close the the U.S.
o start bashing Laurier’s personal beliefs and character
o The Tories and Nationalists decide who will campaign against
Laurier in Quebec
Interpreting the Results
• Stolper-Samuelson predicts: factor based
o The most important issues before the voters was economic
o It is easy to move factors around
o Owners of abundant factors should prefer free trade
" land owners should like this ! the mass of Canadians in
these days were farmers
o Owners of scarce factors should prefer protection
" Tories did really well in the cities
" the Liberals did not sweep the country side
" All the land owners did not stand together
• Sector-Specific Approach predicts: sector based
o Look at how producers combine factors of production
o For the urban areas, land is not really important
" capital and labor are the most important
" these sectors want protectionism
o The only ones supporting free trade are those who use a lot
of land in their production
o If tied to abundant factor intensive sectors, then should prefer
trade liberalization
" wheat farmers: just need a lot of land