The Triumph of Liberalism in Canada: Laurier on Representation and Party Government

Abstract

While liberal theorists provide the framework for modern party government, statesmen assist its practical establishment. This paper explores Wilfrid Laurier’s contribution in his 1877 speech on “Political Liberalism.” A close analysis underlines the rhetorical difficulties in establishing modern party government against a theocratic exponent of what Tocqueville called “great party" politics. The liberal solution, in its fully developed, democratic version, implicates the thought of Hobbes on political representation, and the separation of church and state addressed by Locke. Laurier’s speech could be seen as a successful attempt to bring to Quebec, almost 200 years later, the Glorious Revolution of 1688.