George Cartier

George Cartier (1814-1873), Canadian statesman and prime minister of Canada (1858-1862), born in Saint-Antoine, Lower Canada (now Quebec Province). After practising law for a short time, Cartier took part in the French-Canadian rebellion of 1837 led by Louis Joseph Papineau. Cartier was forced into brief exile to avoid arrest, but, after public feeling began to subside, he returned and resumed his law practice. In 1848 he was elected as a Conservative to the Canadian Legislative Assembly and soon became a leader of the French-Canadians. He was secretary of Lower Canada from 1855 to 1857, when he became Provincial Attorney-General. From 1858 to 1862 he was leader of the French-Canadian section in a coalition government with Sir John Alexander Macdonald. While in office, Cartier promoted improved relations between French and English Canada and favoured the plan to federate Lower Canada and Upper Canada (now Ontario Province) with the other British colonies in North America; the plan resulted in the British North America Act of 1867 and the establishment of the Dominion of Canada. Cartier joined Macdonald's first dominion Cabinet as minister of militia and defence (1867-1873). He was influential in gaining approval from the Canadian Parliament for the idea of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first transcontinental railway in Canada which was eventually granted a charter in 1878.