Biography of Robert Borden
...of the Conservative Party would last for 19 years. 1904 brought the reelection of the Liberal party after Borden failed to changed the discouraged and divided Conservative Party. In 1905, Robert Borden was reelected and, after giving up his law practice, moved to Ottawa, where he felt he would be more capable of carrying on his duties as a leader more effectively. 1907 brought change to the Conservative Party as Borden announced public ownership of the telephone and telegram systems, and of certain railways and grain elevators. He publicly favored closer supervision of immigration and a protective tariff on imports to protect Canadian goods. Robert Borden won the election to Parliament in 1908 from both Halifax and Carleton, and ended up representing Halifax. It was then that the Conservatives began picking up strength in the election while the Liberals began losing it in areas such as Ontario and especially Quebec, where French Canadians considered Prime Minister Laurier to be too "British" in his procedures. Borden's chance at becoming Prime Minister come from Laurier's two biggest problems. The problems being Canada's relationship with Great Britain and Canada's relationship with the United States. The biggest problem in Canada's relations with Great Britain was the inquiry of what role Canada would play in any major war fought by the British Empire. Because British leaders anticipated that a war with Germany was likely, they thought Canada should construct troops and build ships and that the Canadian Parliament should decide if and when they should be used. So in 1910, Parliament passed a bill, which led to the building of a Canadian navy. This was entitled the Naval Service Bill. Borden opposed this bill and thought it to be useless in view of the international emergency. He believed it would take too long to produce a Canadian navy and thought that sending money to Britain for the immediate building of ships would be more worthwhile. The second problem, dealing with Canada's relations with the United States, was concentrated on a mutual trade agreement between two countries. The agreement had been put together by the Liberal government in 1911, and Borden thought having such close trade communion could jeopardize Canada's independence. It was these two issues which became the most significant during the 1911 election and, winning their first victory in 15 years, Robert Borden, leader of the Conservative Party, stepped up to becomes Prime Minister of Canada. Sir Robert Borden's career began to reach its climax in 1914 with the beginning of the First World War. By this time, Canada had neither built its own navy nor given ships to Britain. Canada entered the war as part of the British Empire and for two years Borden and the Conservative government raised, equipped, and sent units to France that became a military power. Sir Robert Borden had accomplished great power among the leaders of the British Empire. Borden now felt it was time to push for a larger input in policy making and so, from February until May 1917, he helped to organize the Imperial War Cabinet. The group contained the Prime Ministers of all the British Dominions and over the next two years the Imperial War Cabinet assisted in planning the actions of the war. Members of the British Empire worked together for the first time ever and even made plans for peace that would follow the war. Borden's influence helped to achieve success in the Imperial War Cabinet. 1917 ended with more serious military problems. Canadian men were being killed or injured and the need for replacements was high. Canadian men were not forced to enlist in the army and Borden believed that drafting men for military duty had become the only way to keep up the strength of the Canadian forces. It was mainly the French Cana...