Why was lauriers slogan sunny ways

To Dalhousie University history professor Shirley Tillotson, it was a "brilliant" remark. When Laurier became prime minister in , Tillotson says there was a highly acrimonious dispute in Manitoba over French-language Catholic schools. The Protestant majority was attempting to eliminate the separate schools.

It was a battle over minority language rights and education. Laurier created an approach he called "sunny ways" in an attempt to dial back some of the bad blood. There is a question to be settled. There is an appeal of the minority in Manitoba to the Governor-in-Council, which has to be heard and determined upon. Section 93 of the British North America Act provides that whenever a minority in any province where a system of separate schools has been established is not satisfied and thinks itself aggrieved by the legislation of that province, that minority has an appeal to the federal executive.

As you know, it has been decided by the Judicial Committee of the [British] Privy Council that in this matter the minority has a grievance and has the right of appeal. What are we to do here? That is the question. The minority has the right to appeal.

I say this and I submit it to your knowledge. If the minority has an appeal, you must not conclude, as some men conclude, that this appeal is to be denied in every case; but if the minority has an appeal it is the duty of the Government to investigate the subject and to ascertain what the facts are in order to see whether or not a case has been made out for federal interference.

That is the position I take in the province of Ontario. I have never wavered from that position. The only question is a question of facts.

Make an investigation; it is the first thing to be done. That is the position I take in the Province of Ontario. But what are you to investigate? There are many things to investigate. You will have to see what is the position of affairs, what is the relative strength of the population, how the groups of population are constituted and how far the pretensions of the minority can be met without encroaching upon the rights of the majority.

Why, sir, there is a way and a way of doing things. They have proceeded in a way which, instead of solving the question, has made it far more difficult to solve than ever. If they had proceeded in the way I have indicated there is reason to believe by this time, perhaps before this time, they would have accomplished something; but having done it in the way they have, you see the position in which they are.

After the Wind had exhausted all its force and blown down and rooted up trees from the ground, the traveller still had his coat upon his shoulders just as close as before. Well, sir, the Government are very windy. They have blown and raged and threatened, but the more they have threatened and raged and blown the more that man Greenway has stuck to his coat.

If the Government has anything better than this to offer, let them do so and they will receive my heartiest support. If it were in my power, and if I had the responsibility, I would try the sunny way. Do you not believe there is more to be gained by appealing to the heart and soul of men rather than by trying to compel them to do a thing? But the Government of Canada, instead of appealing to Mr. Greenway in this way, have threatened to coerce Mr.

Laurier has spoken about this question again, and he has said nothing. I am prepared for that. Sure, he likes cats and Dad-sweaters and can talk hockey with Wayne Gretzky, but Harper has never shed the perception among many Canadians that he is a cold-blooded fish.

Remember the infamous school drop-off in , when the then new Conservative PM delivered his young son, Ben, to class, but instead of wrapping him in a goodbye hug he shook his hand? Harper was all business and, lately, his business relied on mounting a campaign that was divisive and mean. In doing so he overlooked a simple truth: Canadians are nice people.

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If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Difficult allies and even more difficult rivals. A caucus that leaks. Cabinet ministers with ambition. An opposition party or two ready to pounce. Come to think of it, how does a government anything done?

New Democrat. We were all sold a bill of sunny ways goods. And now we hear from the PM and those around him that, well, of course, this is just how it works. No one likes a hypocrite. They help us make sense of the world and reach judgments and decisions. Especially if they believed in you. He set the bar high. And then he walked into it. Bad timing, too. Globally, democracy is in retreat—a democratic recession that threatens to become a depression.