Sir Clifford Sifton, PC (March 10, 1861 – April 17, 1929) was a Canadian politician best known for being Minister of the Interior under Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He was responsible for encouraging the massive immigration to Canada which occurred in the first decade of the 20th Century. Born in Middlesex County, Upper Canada (now Ontario), Sifton's father, John Wright Sifton, was a contractor and businessman who moved with his family to Manitoba when Clifford was a boy. He trained as a lawyer, and graduated from Victoria College in 1875. He worked on his father's political campaigns before being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, himself, in 1888. Sifton served in the cabinet of Thomas Greenway from 1891 to 1896 as Attorney General and Provincial Lands Commissioner. He played a role in negotiating the Laurier-Greenway Compromise, which temporarily resolved the Manitoba Schools Question. In 1896, Sifton was elected a Member of Parliament and served as Minister of the Interior under Laurier. As Minister of the Interior he started a vigorous immigration policy to get people to settle and populate the West. Sifton established colonial offices in Europe and the United States. While many of the immigrants came from Britain and the United States, Canada also had a large influx of Ukrainians, Doukhobors, and other groups from the Austrian Empire. Between 1891 and 1914, more than three million people came to Canada, largely from continental Europe, following the path of the newly constructed continental railway. In the same period, mining operations were begun in the Klondike and the Canadian Shield. In the federal election of 1900, Sifton retained his seat against a strong challenge from former Manitoba Premier Hugh John Macdonald. After presiding over the creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905, Sifton resigned from cabinet following a dispute with Laurier over religious education. Sifton retired from politics in 1911 and died in 1929.
References
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Synopsis of federal political experience from the Library of Parliament
| Parliament of Canada | ||
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| Preceded by D'Alton McCarthy |
Member of Parliament for Brandon 1896–1911 |
Succeeded by James Albert Manning Aikins |
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| Secretaries of State for the Provinces (1867-1873) | Archibald · Howe · Aikins (acting) · Gibbs |
| Ministers of the Interior of Canada (1873-1936) | Campbell · Laird · Scott (acting) · Mills · J. Macdonald · White · J. Macdonald (acting) · Dewdney · Daly · H. Macdonald · Scott (acting) · Sifton · Laurier (acting) · Oliver · Rogers · Roche · Meighen · Lougheed · Stewart · Stevens (acting) · Bennett · Stewart · Murphy · Crerar |
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| Langevin · Howe · Aikins (acting) · Gibbs · Campbell · Laird · Scott (acting) · Mills · Macdonald · White · Macdonald (acting) · Dewdney · Daly · H. Macdonald · Scott (acting) · Sifton · Laurier (acting) · Oliver · Rogers · Roche · Meighen · Lougheed · Stewart · Stevens (acting) · Bennett (acting) · Stewart · Mackenzie · Murphy · Crerar1 |
| 1The offices of Minister of Immigration and Colonization, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Mines and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs were abolished and the office of Minister of Mines and Resources was created and came in force on December 1, 1936. |
