Канадские федеральные выборы 1911 года: спор о торговле с США и будущее Канады.

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The 1911 Canadian federal election was held on September 21, 1911, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 12th Parliament of Canada. The central issue was Liberal support for a proposed agreement with the United States president William Howard Taft to lower tariffs. The Conservative Party denounced it because it threatened to weaken ties with Britain, submerge the Canadian economy and Canadian identity with the US, and lead to American annexation of Canada. The idea of a Canadian Navy was also an issue. The Conservatives won, and Robert Borden became the eighth prime minister. The election ended 15 years of government by the Liberal Party of Wilfrid Laurier.

The Liberal government was caught up in a debate over the naval arms race between the British Empire and Germany. Laurier attempted a compromise by starting up the Canadian Navy (now the Royal Canadian Navy) but failed to appease either the French Canadians or English Canadians: the former refused giving any aid, and the latter suggested sending money directly to Britain. After the election, the Conservatives drew up a bill for naval contributions to the British, but it was held up by a lengthy Liberal filibuster before it was passed in the House of Commons by invoking closure, only to be defeated by the Liberal controlled Senate.

Many English Canadians in British Columbia and the Maritimes felt that Laurier was abandoning Canada's traditional links to their mother country, Great Britain. On the other side, the Quebec nationalist Henri Bourassa, who had earlier quit the Liberal Party over what he considered the government's pro British policies, campaigned against Laurier in the province. Ironically, Bourassa's attacks on Laurier in Quebec aided in the election of the Conservatives, who held policies that were more staunchly imperialist than those of the Liberals. In mid 1910, Laurier had attempted to kill the naval issue, which was settling English Canadians against French Canadians by opening talks for a reciprocity treaty with the United States. He believed that an economically favourable treaty would appeal to most Canadians and have the additional benefit of dividing the Conservatives between the western wing of the party, which had long wanted free trade with the United States, and the eastern wing, which was more hostile to Continentalism. In January 1911, Laurier and US President William Howard Taft announced that they signed a reciprocity agreement, which they decided to pass by concurrent legislation rather than a formal treaty, as would normally have been the case. Clark went on to suggest in his speech that reciprocity agreement was the first step towards the end of Canada, a speech that was greeted with "prolonged applause" according to the Congressional Record. The Washington Post reported, "Evidently, then, the Democrats generally approved of Mr. Clark's annexation sentiments and voted for the reciprocity bill because, among other things, it improves the prospect of annexation." Since Bennett, a strong protectionist, had been an opponent of the reciprocity agreement, the Canadian historian Chantal Allen suggested that Bennett had introduced his resolution deliberately inflame Canadian opinion against the reciprocity agreement. The Montreal Daily Star, English Canada's most widely read newspaper and had supported the Liberals and reciprocity, now did a volte face and turned against the reciprocity agreement. In an editorial, it wrote, "None of us realized the inward meaning of the shrewdly framed offer of the long headed American government when we first saw it. It was as cunning a trap as ever laid. The master bargainers of Washington have not lost their skill."

Contemporary accounts mentioned in the aftermath of Clark's speech that anti Americanism was at an all time high in Canada. One Conservative MP compared the relationship of Finance Minister William Stevens Fielding and Taft to Samson and Delilah, with Fielding having "succumbed to the Presidential blandishments." In his first speech given in London, Borden declared, "It is beyond doubt that the leading public men of the United States, its leading press, and the mass of its people believe annexation of the Dominion to be the ultimate, inevitable, and desirable result of this proposition, and for that reason support it." Kipling wrote in his appeal to Canadians, "It is her own soul that Canada risks today. Once that soul is pawned for any consideration, Canada must inevitably conform to the commercial, legal, financial, social and ethical standards which will be imposed on her by the sheer admitted weight of the United States."

The campaign went badly for the Liberals, however. The powerful manufacturing interests of Toronto and Montreal switched their allegiance and financing to the Conservatives, who argued that free trade would undermine Canadian sovereignty and lead to a slow annexation of Canada by the US. In an editorial after Borden's victory, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Their ballots have consigned to everlasting flames the bogy of annexation by the United States which Champ Clark called from the deeps. It was not really a wraith of anything that existed on this side of the line. It was a pumpkin scarehead with blazing eyes, a crooked slit for a nose, and a hideous grinning mouth which the fun loving Champ placed upon a pole along with the Stars and Stripes, the while he carried terror to loyal Canuck hearts by his derisive shout of annexation." The election is often compared to the 1988 federal election, which was also fought over free trade, but the positions of the two parties were now reversed, with the Liberals against the Conservatives' trade proposals. The Conservatives dominated in Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba. They also made significant gains in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, although the Liberals still won pluralities in both regions. The Liberals continued to dominate in Alberta and Saskatchewan, where free trade was extremely popular. Notably, this remains the most recent federal election where the Liberals would win the most seats in Alberta (although most Albertan Liberals supported the Borden led Unionist government during the First World War).

Party name BC AB SK MB ON QCNB NS PE YK Total Conservative Seats: 7 1 1 8 71 26 5 9 2 1 131 Popular vote (%): 58.7 38.5 39.0 51.9 53.5 44.1 43.6 44.5 51.1 60.8 48.0 Liberal Seats: 6 9 2 13 36 8 9 2 85 Vote (%): 37.7 53.3 59.4 44.8 41.2 44.6 47.7 55.2 48.9 39.2 45.8 Independent Conservative Seats:         1 2         3 Vote (%):         1.5 1.6         1.0 Labour Seats:         1         1 Vote (%):         0.1 3.6         0.9 Liberal Conservative Seats:       1           1 Vote (%):   4.1     0.8           0.5 Total Seats 7 7 10 10 86 65 13 18 4 1 221 Parties that won no seats: Unknown Vote (%):   1.0     2.1 2.6 8.7       2.0 Independent Vote (%):   3.1 1.6 0.3 0.5 1.2   0.3     0.8 Vote (%): 3.7     3.0 0.2 0.1         0.4 Nationalist Conservative Vote (%):         0.3 1.0         0.3 Nationalist Vote (%):           1.1         0.3

Borden, Robert. Robert Laird Borden: His Memoirs edited and with an introduction by Henry Borden
Harpell, James J., Canadian National Economy: the Cause of High Prices and Their Effect upon the Country. Toronto, 1911.