Today in Canada’s Political History: Laurier grants a press interview in Paris
Sir Wilfrid Laurier was in Paris on this date in 1897 where he sat for an extensive interview with a European reporter. His visit to France came after he took the UK by storm during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations., when it came time to publish Laurier’s answers, the reporter’s questions were not provided. Despite this fact Laurier’s answers are fascinating reading even today. Laurier, for example, discussed the issue of voting rights in Canada and other countries.
My own election, moreover, is a justification of the devotion which we profess for our fellow countrymen and for the great English nation. Out of 213 members of the House of Commons 53 of us are French race, and without any sacrifice of my opinions or love for my French extraction I have become Prime Minister.
Since coming here [to Paris] I have been struck by the bitterness towards England, and you can understand how deeply it grieves me. It probably arises from the fact that the English are in Egypt and the French are not. Yet the French refused to accompany the English in spite of the counsels of Gambetta, who, at least when in office, urged it.
Perhaps one day, in five or ten or twenty years, when we 12 are or 15 millions, we may be hampered by our present situation. Then the federal idea will present itself quite naturally. And then, I am convinced, the best way of realizing this idea will be found.
The second blunder is the too absolute application of universal suffrage. Let the franchise be easily gained, but let some effort, however slight, be made before the franchise is obtained. I do not think the right to vote ought to be inherent merely in the fact of birth. Those who enjoy this right should have won it. Then they may be trusted to use the right wisely, because of the effort they have made to obtain it.
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