Sir George-Etienne Cartier

  George-Etienne Cartier, son of a soldier, was born September 6, 1814 in St. Antoine, Lower Canada. He was educated in Montreal and opened a law office there in 1835. A few years later, his youthful daring and his profound dislike for arbitrary government led him into the camp of rebellion with Papineau.

  Entering politics, he represented VerchMres 1848-1861 and Montreal East 1861-1872. He became a staunch supporter, loyal colleague and close friend of Macdonald in several administrations and leader in one of them.

  Living at the center of Canadian business activity in Montreal and moving in the same circles as Alexander Galt, he became greatly interested in trade and in railway building. He felt that his French compatriots should plunge into these commercial fields on equal footing with the English.  He supported the building of the Grand Trunk Railway, acted as that company's solicitor, and diligently promoted the Canadian Pacific Railway. In his view, these enterprises carried great commercial possibilities for his province.

  Confederation held no terrors for Cartier. He believed that French Canada could protect its distinctive culture better in a federation than in the existing-union. Together with the mutual trust of Macdonald and Cartier for each other, the confidence reposed in Cartier by the French people was one of the most vital factors in the achievement of confederation. He was a delegate at all the conferences. In the first federal parliament, he was made minister of militia and defense - a far cry from his position thirty years back!

  In the summer of 1870, during Macdonald's four-month illness, Cartier took over the leadership. In 1872, in the hope of regaining his own failing health, Cartier sailed for England, but he died in London May 20, 1873.