Canadian statesman, born at Grand Pré, NS, on the 26th of June 1854. In 1878 he was called to the bar, and became a leading lawyer in his native province. In 1896 he was elected to the Canadian parliament for the city of Halifax, but later lost his seat there and was elected for Carlton. In February 1901, on the resignation of Sir Charles Tupper, he became leader of the Conservative opposition. At the general election of 1908 he was returned again for Halifax. He became leader of the Conservative Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons in February 1901, on the resignation of Sir Charles Tupper. This position he held until 1911, when the Laurier Administration was defeated on the Taft–Fielding Reciprocity Compact with the United States; he was then called upon to form in October 1911 a new administration and was sworn of the Privy Council on the 1st of January 1912, taking office as president of the King’s Privy Council of Canada in the new Cabinet. For the purpose of more effectively carrying on Canada’s part in the World War he formed, in October 1917, a Union Government, comprising members of both the Liberal and Conservative parties, in which he took office as Secretary of State for External Affairs. The Union Government was returned to power in the general election of December 17, 1917. Borden was a member of the Imperial War Cabinet and Imperial War Conference 1917–8 held in London, England, but owing to ill-health resigned the premiership in 1919. He was created G.C.M.G. in 1914.
