Vimy ridge

Former Prime Minister of Canada, Sir Robert Borden served as Queen's fifth Chancellor.

When Sir Robert Laird Borden succeeded Sir Edward Wentworth Beatty as Chancellor of Queen's in 1924, he was one of the most well known men in Canada. He had served as Prime Minister from 1911-1920, leading Canada through WWI and helping the young nation take important steps to independence from Britain.

Born on June 26, 1854 in Grand Pre, Nova Scotia, Borden was raised on a farm and taught at private academies in Canada and the US before articling with a law firm in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1874. He was admitted to the bar in 1878 and by 1890 headed a prestigious Halifax law firm.

Borden was by this time one of Halifax's leading citizens and Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper convinced him to run in the 1896 election as a Conservative. He was elected to Parliament in 1896 and in 1901 became leader of the Liberal-Conservative Party.

As Leader of the Opposition, he advocated putting an end to patronage in government and demanded that appointments be made on merit alone. He also believed that the

Robert Borden

Prime Minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920

This article is about the prime minister of Canada. For the American TV writer and producer, see Robert Borden (TV producer).

The Right Honourable

Sir Robert Borden

GCMG PC KC

Borden in 1918

In office
October 10, 1911 – July 10, 1920
MonarchGeorge V
Governors General
Preceded byWilfrid Laurier
Succeeded byArthur Meighen
In office
February 6, 1901 – July 10, 1920
Preceded byCharles Tupper
Succeeded byArthur Meighen
In office
December 17, 1917 – July 1920
Preceded byArthur de Witt Foster
Succeeded byErnest William Robinson
In office
February 4, 1905 – January 25, 1909
Preceded byEdward Kidd
Succeeded byEdward Kidd
In office
October 26, 1908 – December 16, 1917
Preceded byMichael Carney
Succeeded byPeter Francis Martin
In office
June 23, 1896 – November 2, 1904
Preceded byJohn Fitzwilliam Stairs
Succeeded byMichael Carney
Born

Robert Laird Borde

Sir Robert Borden

Sir Robert Borden was Canada’s prime minister from 1911 to 1920.

War Leader

Borden led Canada through one of the most difficult periods in its history. He orchestrated its enormous contribution to the war effort while managing growing social tensions and political problems at home.

Canada had little control over its military forces or its foreign policy at the start of the war, and no experience with managing a wartime economy. Borden used the scale and importance of Canada’s growing war effort to advocate greater national autonomy within the Empire. He nevertheless believed strongly in imperial solidarity and the necessity of a large-scale military and industrial contribution, and returned in May 1917 from a visit to London and to the battlefront in France convinced that Canada must make every effort, including conscription, to maintain its forces overseas. Borden led a Conservation-Union government to a decisive victory in the bitterly contested 1917 election, and presided over a vast, effective military, industrial, and agricultural mobilizatio

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