Sir Wilfrid Laurier Visits Thunder Bay, July 9, 1910.
The years Laurier led the country as Prime Minister from 1896 to 1911 almost coincide with Canada's wheat boom which the Liberal government fostered through its aggressive immigration and railway building policies. The welcome Port Arthur and Fort William gave to Laurier during his 1910 tour of Western Canada can best be described as exultant as citizens cast aside political differences to celebrate the benefits derived from the great inland harbour and three railway terminals in their midst. "Our Gratitude and Thanks for Progress and Prosperity" proclaimed one banner across Port Arthur's main intersection, while a more parochial slogan in Fort William boasted, "The C.P.R. chose the best harbor at the head of the lakes."
In this photograph, Laurier is seen with a group of local dignitaries at the residence of Member of Parliament James Conmee (behind Laurier to the left). Conmee's biography was said to be practically identical with the history of railway building in northwestern Ontario.
In 1911, however, Thunder Bay's romance with the Liberal Party collapsed during the federal election campaign fought on the issue of reciprocity with the United States. With the backing of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Conservative Party vigorously opposed the Taft-Fielding free trade agreement, contending it would destroy Canada's East-West transportation system and result in annexation to the United States. The prospect that the Canadian grain trade might be funnelled through Duluth gave by acclamation the traditional Liberal riding of Thunder Bay and Rainy River to Conservative J.J. Carrick. Not until 1935 did the federal Liberals regain the ridings of Port Arthur and Fort William.
Courtesy: Whalen Collection, Lakehead University Library
