Sir George Luctienne Cartier Confederation

Sir George-Étienne Cartier was a lawyer, politician, rebel and co-premier of the province of Canada; born September 6, 1814 in Saint-Antoine and died on May 20, 1873 in London, England. He was a former rebel against the government in 1837 and also was Canada`s first minister of militia and defence. Sir George-Ètienne Cartier may have been the most important person in Confederation because he brang French Canada, Manitoba and British Columbia into the Dominion.

Cartier came from a wealthy family of grain exporters and millers. Many believed he was a descendant of Jacques Cartier without much proof. He attended Sulpician Collège de Montréal and was a diligent and brilliant student. After he completed his secondary eduacation in 1831,

he started his legal training in the office of Édouard- Étienne Rodier. He was called to the bar of Lower Canada on November 9, 1835. He composed the song “ O Canada, mon pays, mes amours which became a rallying-call for the Fils de la Liberté, a group that he belonged to. The Fils de la Liberté was an association of French Canadian militants.
In 1837 at Saint-Denis, Cartier fought alongside the rebels and they victoriously defeated Colonel Charles Gore`s army.

After a tight escape and exile in Vermont, he successfully petitioned to return and practice law in Montréal. One of his clients were the Sulpician Order, who were the original seigneurs of Montréal and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway.

Sir George-Étienne Cartier began to be involved in politics and in 1841, he became Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine`s campaign manager and partner. They were determined to improve the Civil Code and fix the Assembly of the Province of Lower Canada. This assembly is where French Canadians controlled a larger part and had been removed by the Act of Union. After Cabinet won in 1848, he ran and was elected as Liberal Reformer in Verchères and he was quickly put into Cabinet.

Sir George-Étienne Cartier`s discissions and achievements started to lead up to Confederation. Cartier and his supporters from Lower Canada teamed up with the Conservatives from Upper Canada to create a political deadlock in the Province of Canada. They eventually persuaded George Brown and his supporters to join the Great Coalition and work for more of the provinces of British North America. Cartier wanted Canada to be a federation of provinces rather than be like Britain. At Confederation, he chose to be the minister of militia and defence because he wanted a strong national

force.
In the first few years of Confederation, Sir George-Étienne Cartier regurlarly served as acting Prime Minister while John A.

Macdonald`s illness. He played an important role in attaining Rupert`s land and in drafting the Manitoba and British Columbia Acts. In 1868, Cartier and William McDougall arranged in London for the movement of Rupert`s Land and North-West Territories to the Dominion. By the reason of his close relationship with British railway builders, military officials and financiers, Cartier was thinking of building a route to the Pacific and Asia through their new territory. William McDougall was to be lieutenant of that area, but Louis Riel prevented him from

entering.
Sir George-Étienne Cartier and Louis Riel attended the same school, so they may have met each other before. Cartier agreed with the Métis, and he played a important role in the acceptance of provincehood. After the passage of the Manitoba Act, Cartier sent people to administer the new province.
Cartier welcomed British Columbia delegates to Ottawa and promised them a transcontinental railway if they joined Confederation. He has been promoting a railway for his entire career. He was massively involved in the developement of the Grand Trunk Railway. He became its solicitor and chairman of the Railway Commitee of Parliament. Cartier promoted the Canadian Pacific Railway and made the trade with British Columbia. He soon died of Bright`s disease after finding treatment in London and the C.P.R. vanished for nearly a decade.