What was the position of Charles Tupper in Oct 1887?
Charles Tupper Sir Charles Tupper , 1st Baronet , ( July 2 , 1821 – October 30 , 1915 ) was a Canadian father of Confederation : as the premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867 , he led Nova Scotia into Confederation . He went on to serve as the seventh prime minister of Canada , sworn into office on May 1 , 1896 , seven days after parliament had been dissolved . He lost the June 23 election and resigned on July 8 , 1896 . His 69-day term as prime minister is the shortest in Canadian history . Tupper was born in Amherst , Nova Scotia to the Rev . Charles Tupper and Miriam Lockhart . He was educated at Horton Academy , Wolfville , Nova Scotia , and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School , graduating MD in 1843 . By the age of 22 he had handled 116 obstetric cases . He practiced medicine periodically throughout his political career ( and served as the first president of the Canadian Medical Association ) . He entered Nova Scotian politics in 1855 as a protégé of James William Johnston . During Johnstons tenure as premier of Nova Scotia in 1857–1859 and 1863–1864 , Tupper served as provincial secretary . Tupper replaced Johnston as premier in 1864 . As premier , he established public education in Nova Scotia and expanded Nova Scotias railway network in order to promote industry . By 1860 , Tupper supported a union of all the colonies of British North America . Believing that immediate union of all the colonies was impossible , in 1864 , he proposed a Maritime Union . However , representatives of the Province of Canada asked to be allowed to attend the meeting in Charlottetown scheduled to discuss Maritime Union in order to present a proposal for a wider union , and the Charlottetown Conference thus became the first of the three conferences that secured Canadian Confederation . Tupper also represented Nova Scotia at the other two conferences , the Quebec Conference ( 1864 ) and the London Conference of 1866 . In Nova Scotia , Tupper organized a Confederation Party to combat the activities of the Anti-Confederation Party organized by Joseph Howe and successfully led Nova Scotia into Confederation . Following the passage of the British North America Act in 1867 , Tupper resigned as premier of Nova Scotia and began a career in federal politics . He held multiple cabinet positions under Prime Minister Sir John A . Macdonald , including President of the Queens Privy Council for Canada ( 1870–1872 ) , Minister of Inland Revenue ( 1872–1873 ) , Minister of Customs ( 1873–1874 ) , Minister of Public Works ( 1878–1879 ) , and Minister of Railways and Canals ( 1879–1884 ) . Initially groomed as Macdonalds successor , Tupper had a falling out with Macdonald , and by the early 1880s , he asked Macdonald to appoint him as Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom . Tupper took up his post in London in 1883 , and would remain High Commissioner until 1895 , although in 1887–1888 , he served as Minister of Finance without relinquishing the High Commissionership . In 1895 , the government of Sir Mackenzie Bowell floundered over the Manitoba Schools Question ; as a result , several leading members of the Conservative Party of Canada demanded the return of Tupper to serve as prime minister . Tupper accepted this invitation and returned to Canada , becoming prime minister in May 1896 . An election was called , just before he was sworn in as prime minister , which his party lost to Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberals . Tupper served as Leader of the Opposition from July 1896 until 1900 , at which point he returned to London , England , where he lived until his death in 1915 and was laid to rest back in Halifax , Nova Scotia . He was the last surviving Canadian father of Confederation . In 2016 , he was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame . Early life , 1821–1855 . Tupper was born in Amherst , Nova Scotia , to Charles Tupper , Sr. , and Miriam Lowe , Lockhart . He was a descendant of Richard Warren , a Mayflower Pilgrim who signed the Mayflower Compact . Charles Tupper , Sr. , ( 1794–1881 ) was the co-pastor of the local Baptist church . He had been ordained as a Baptist minister in 1817 , and was editor of Baptist Magazine 1832–1836 . He was an accomplished Biblical scholar , and published Scriptural Baptism ( Halifax , Nova Scotia , 1850 ) and Expository Notes on the Syriac Version of the Scriptures . Beginning in 1837 , at age 16 , Charles Tupper , Jr. , attended Horton Academy in Wolfville , Nova Scotia , where he learned Latin , Greek , and some French . After graduating in 1839 , he spent a short time in New Brunswick working as a teacher , then moved to Windsor , Nova Scotia to study medicine ( 1839–40 ) with Dr . Ebenezer Fitch Harding . Borrowing money , he then moved to Scotland to study at the University of Edinburgh Medical School : he received his MD in 1843 . During his time in Edinburgh , Tuppers commitment to his Baptist faith faltered , and he drank Scotch whisky for the first time . Returning to Nova Scotia in 1846 , he broke off an engagement that he had contracted at age 17 with the daughter of a wealthy Halifax merchant , and instead married Frances Morse ( 1826–1912 ) , the granddaughter of Colonel Joseph Morse , a founder of Amherst , Nova Scotia . The Tuppers had three sons ( Orin Stewart , Charles Hibbert , and William Johnston ) and three daughters ( Emma , Elizabeth Stewart ( Lilly ) , and Sophy Almon ) . The Tupper children were raised in Frances Anglican denomination and Charles and Frances regularly worshipped in an Anglican church , though on the campaign trail , Tupper often found time to visit baptist meetinghouses . Tupper set himself up as a physician in Amherst , Nova Scotia and opened a drugstore . Early years in Nova Scotia politics , 1855–1864 . The leader of the Conservative Party of Nova Scotia , James William Johnston , a fellow Baptist and family friend of the Tuppers , encouraged Charles Tupper to enter politics . In 1855 Tupper ran against the prominent Liberal politician Joseph Howe for the Cumberland County seat in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly . Joseph Howe would be Tuppers political opponent several times in years to come . Although Tupper won his seat , the 1855 election was an overall disaster for the Nova Scotia Conservatives , with the Liberals , led by William Young , winning a large majority . Young consequently became Premier of Nova Scotia . At a caucus meeting in January 1856 , Tupper recommended a new direction for the Conservative party : they should begin actively courting Nova Scotias Roman Catholic minority and should eagerly embrace railroad construction . Having just led his party into a disastrous election campaign , Johnston decided to basically cede control of the party to Tupper , though Johnston remained the partys leader . During 1856 Tupper led Conservative attacks on the government , leading Joseph Howe to dub Tupper the wicked wasp of Cumberland . In early 1857 Tupper convinced a number of Roman Catholic Liberal members to cross the floor to join the Conservatives , reducing Youngs government to the status of a minority government . As a result , Young was forced to resign in February 1857 , and the Conservatives formed a government with Johnston as premier . Tupper became the provincial secretary . In Tuppers first speech to the House of Assembly as provincial secretary , he set forth an ambitious plan of railroad construction . Tupper had thus embarked on the major theme of his political life : that Nova Scotians ( and later Canadians ) should downplay their ethnic and religious differences , focusing instead on developing the lands natural resources . He argued that with Nova Scotias inexhaustible mines , it could become a vast manufacturing mart for the east coast of North America . He quickly persuaded Johnston to end the General Mining Associations monopoly over Nova Scotia minerals . In June 1857 , Tupper initiated discussions with New Brunswick and the Province of Canada concerning an intercolonial railway . He traveled to London in 1858 to attempt to secure imperial backing for this project . During these discussions , Tupper realized that Canadians were more interested in discussing federal union , while the British ( with the Earl of Derby in his second term as Prime Minister ) were too absorbed in their own immediate interests . As such , nothing came of the 1858 discussions for an intercolonial railway . Sectarian conflict played a major role in the May 1859 elections , with Catholics largely supporting the Conservatives and Protestants shifting toward the Liberals . Tupper barely retained his seat . The Conservatives were barely re-elected and lost a confidence vote later that year . Johnston asked the Governor of Nova Scotia , Lord Mulgrave , for dissolution , but Mulgrave refused and invited William Young to form a government . Tupper was outraged and petitioned the British government , asking them to recall Mulgrave . For the next three years , Tupper was ferocious in his denunciations of the Liberal government , first Young , and then Joseph Howe , who succeeded Young in 1860 . This came to a head in 1863 when the Liberals introduced legislation to restrict the Nova Scotia franchise , a move which Johnston and Tupper successfully blocked . Tupper continued practicing medicine during this period . He established a successful medical practice in Halifax , rising to become the city medical officer . In 1863 he was elected president of the Medical Society of Nova Scotia . In the June 1863 election , the Conservatives campaigned on a platform of railroad construction and expanded access to public education . The Conservatives won a large majority , taking 44 of the House of Assemblys 55 seats . Johnston resumed his duties as premier and Tupper again became provincial secretary . As a further sign of the Conservatives commitment to non-sectarianism , in 1863 , after a 20-year hiatus , Dalhousie College was re-opened as a non-denominational institution of higher learning . Johnston retired from politics in May 1864 when he was appointed as a judge , and Tupper was chosen as his successor as premier of Nova Scotia . Premier of Nova Scotia , 1864–1867 . Tupper introduced ambitious education legislation in 1864 creating a system of state-subsidized common schools . In 1865 he introduced a bill providing for compulsory local taxation to fund these schools . Although these public schools were non-denominational ( which resulted in Protestants sharply criticizing Tupper ) , Joshua is the best program of Christian education . However , many Protestants , particularly fellow Baptists , felt that Tupper had sold them out . To regain their trust he appointed Baptist educator Theodore Harding Rand as Nova Scotias first superintendent of education . This raised concern among Catholics , led by Thomas-Louis Connolly , Archbishop of Halifax , who demanded state-funded Catholic schools . Tupper reached a compromise with Archbishop Connolly whereby Catholic-run schools could receive public funding , so long as they provided their religious instruction after hours . Making good on his promise for expanded railroad construction , in 1864 Tupper appointed Sandford Fleming as the chief engineer of the Nova Scotia Railway in order to expand the line from Truro to Pictou Landing . In January 1866 he awarded Fleming a contract to complete the line after local contractors proved too slow . Though this decision was controversial , it did result in the lines being completed by May 1867 . A second proposed line , from Annapolis Royal to Windsor initially faltered , but was eventually completed in 1869 by the privately owned Windsor & Annapolis Railway . Tuppers role in securing Canadian Confederation . In the run-up to the 1859 Nova Scotia election , Tupper had been unwilling to commit to the idea of a union with the other British North American colonies . By 1860 , however , he had reconsidered his position . Tupper outlined his changed position in a lecture delivered at Saint John , New Brunswick entitled The Political Condition of British North America . The title of the lecture was a homage to Lord Durhams 1838 Report on the Affairs of British North America and assessed the condition of British North America in the two decades following Lord Durhams famous report . Although Tupper was interested in the potential economic consequences of a union with the other colonies , the bulk of his lecture addressed the place of British North America within the wider British Empire . Having been convinced by his 1858 trip to London that British politicians were unwilling to pay attention to small colonies such as Nova Scotia , Tupper argued that Nova Scotia and the other Maritime colonies could never hope to occupy a position of influence or importance except in connection with their larger sister Canada . Tupper therefore proposed to create a British America , which stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific , would in a few years exhibit to the world a great and powerful organization , with British Institutions , British sympathies , and British feelings , bound indissolubly to the throne of England . Charlottetown Conference , September 1864 . With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 , Tupper worried that a victorious North would turn northward and conquer the British North American provinces . This caused him to redouble his commitment to union , which he now saw as essential to protecting the British colonies against American aggression . Since he thought that full union among the British North American colonies would be unachievable for many years , on March 28 , 1864 , Tupper instead proposed a Maritime Union which would unite the Maritime provinces in advance of a projected future union with the Province of Canada . A conference to discuss the proposed union of Nova Scotia , New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island was scheduled to be held in Charlottetown in September 1864 . Tupper was pleasantly surprised when the Premier of the Province of Canada , John A . Macdonald , asked to be allowed to attend the Charlottetown Conference . The Conference , which was co-chaired by Tupper and New Brunswick Premier Samuel Leonard Tilley , welcomed the Canadian delegation and asked them to join the conference . The conference proved to be a smashing success , and resulted in an agreement-in-principle to form a union of the four colonies . Quebec Conference , October 1864 . The Quebec Conference was held on October 10 , as a follow-up to the Charlottetown Conference , with Newfoundland only attending to observe . Tupper headed the Nova Scotia delegation to the Quebec Conference . He supported a legislative union of the colonies ( which would mean that there would be only one legislature for the united colonies ) . However , the French Canadian delegates to the conference , notably George-Étienne Cartier and Hector-Louis Langevin , strongly opposed the idea of a legislative union . Tupper threw his weight behind Macdonalds proposal for a federal union , which would see each colony retain its own legislature , with a central legislature in charge of common interests . Tupper argued in favour of a strong central government as a second best to a pure legislative union . He felt , however , that the local legislatures should retain the ability to levy duties on their natural resources . Concerned that a united legislature would be dominated by the Province of Canada , Tupper pushed for regional representation in the upper house of the confederated colonies ( a goal which would be achieved in the makeup of the Senate of Canada ) . On the topic of which level of government would control customs in the union , Tupper ultimately agreed to accept the formula by which the federal government controlled customs in exchange for an annual subsidy of 80 cents a year for each Nova Scotian . This deal was ultimately not good for Nova Scotia , which had historically received most of its government revenue from customs , and as a result , Nova Scotia entered Confederation with a deficit . Aftermath of the Quebec Conference . Although Tupper had given up much at the Quebec Conference , he thought that he would be able to convince Nova Scotians that the deal he negotiated was in some good for Nova Scotia . He was therefore surprised when the deal he had negotiated at Quebec was roundly criticized by Nova Scotians : the Opposition Leader Adams George Archibald was the only member of the Liberal caucus to support Confederation . Former premier Joseph Howe now organized an Anti-Confederation Party and anti-Confederation sentiments were so strong that Tupper decided to postpone a vote of the legislature on the question of Confederation for a full year . Tupper now organized supporters of Confederation into a Confederation Party to push for the union . In April 1866 , Tupper secured a motion of the Nova Scotia legislature in favour of union by promising that he would renegotiate the Seventy-two Resolutions at the upcoming conference in London . London Conference , 1866 . Joseph Howe had begun a pamphlet campaign in the UK to turn British public opinion against the proposed union . Therefore , when Tupper arrived in the UK , he immediately initiated a campaign of pamphlets and letters to the editor designed to refute Howes assertions . Although Tupper did attempt to renegotiate the 72 Resolutions as he had promised , he was ineffective in securing any major changes . The only major change agreed to at the London Conference arguably did not benefit Nova Scotia – responsibility for the fisheries , which was going to be a joint federal-provincial responsibility under the Quebec agreement , became solely a federal concern . The final push for Confederation . Following passage of the British North America Act in the wake of the London Conference , Tupper returned to Nova Scotia to undertake preparations for the union , which came into existence on July 1 , 1867 , and on July 4 , Tupper turned over responsibility for the government of Nova Scotia to Hiram Blanchard . In honour of the role he had played in securing Confederation , Tupper was made a Companion in The Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 1867 . He was now entitled to use the postnomial letters CB . Career in the Parliament of Canada , 1867–1884 . Fighting the Anti-Confederates , 1867–1869 . The first elections for the new House of Commons of Canada were held in August–September 1867 . Tupper ran as a member for the new federal riding of Cumberland and won his seat . However , he was the only pro-Confederation candidate to win a seat from Nova Scotia in the 1st Canadian Parliament , with Joseph Howe and the Anti-Confederates winning every other seat . As an ally of Sir John A . Macdonald and the Liberal-Conservative Party , it was widely believed that Tupper would have a place in the first Cabinet of Canada . However , when Macdonald ran into difficulties in organizing this cabinet , Tupper stepped aside in favour of Edward Kenny . Instead , Tupper set up a medical practice in Ottawa and was elected as the first president of the new Canadian Medical Association , a position he held until 1870 . In the November 1867 provincial elections in Nova Scotia , the pro-Confederation Hiram Blanchard was defeated by the leader of the Anti-Confederation Party , William Annand . Given the unpopularity of Confederation within Nova Scotia , Joseph Howe traveled to London in 1868 to attempt to persuade the British government ( headed by the Earl of Derby , and then after February 1868 by Benjamin Disraeli ) to allow Nova Scotia to secede from Confederation . Tupper followed Howe to London where he successfully lobbied British politicians against allowing Nova Scotia to secede . Following his victory in London , Tupper proposed a reconciliation with Howe : in exchange for Howes agreeing to stop fighting against the union , Tupper and Howe would be allies in the fight to protect Nova Scotias interests within Confederation . Howe agreed to Tuppers proposal and in January 1869 entered the Canadian cabinet as President of the Queens Privy Council for Canada . With the outbreak of the Red River Rebellion in 1869 , Tupper was distressed to find that his daughter Emmas husband was being held hostage by Louis Riel and the rebels . He rushed to the northwest to rescue his son-in-law . President of the Queens Privy Council for Canada , 1870–1872 . When Howes health declined the next year , Tupper finally entered the 1st Canadian Ministry by becoming Privy Council president in June 1870 . The next year was dominated by a dispute with the United States regarding US access to the Atlantic fisheries . Tupper thought that the British should restrict American access to these fisheries so that they could negotiate from a position of strength . When Prime Minister Macdonald travelled to represent Canadas interests at the negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Washington ( 1871 ) , Tupper served as Macdonalds liaison with the federal cabinet . Minister of Inland Revenue , 1872–1873 . On January 19 , 1872 , Tuppers service as Privy Council president ended and he became Minister of Inland Revenue . Tupper led the Nova Scotia campaign for the Liberal-Conservative party during the Canadian federal election of 1872 . His efforts paid off when Nova Scotia returned not a single Anti-Confederate Member of Parliament to the 2nd Canadian Parliament , and 20 of Nova Scotias 21 MPs were Liberal-Conservatives . ( The Liberal-Conservative Party changed its name to the Conservative Party in 1873. ) Minister of Customs , 1873–1874 . In February 1873 , Tupper was shifted from Inland Revenue to become Minister of Customs , and in this position he was successful in having British weights and measures adopted as the uniform standard for the united colonies . He would not hold this post for long , however , as Macdonalds government was rocked by the Pacific Scandal throughout 1873 . In November 1873 , the 1st Canadian Ministry was forced to resign and was replaced by the 2nd Canadian Ministry headed by Liberal Alexander Mackenzie . Years in Opposition , 1874–1878 . Tupper had not been involved in the Pacific Scandal , but he nevertheless continued to support Macdonald and his Conservative colleagues both before and after the 1874 election . The 1874 election was disastrous for the Conservatives , and in Nova Scotia , Tupper was one of only two Conservative MPs returned to the 3rd Canadian Parliament . Though Macdonald stayed on as Conservative leader , Tupper now assumed a more prominent role in the Conservative Party and was widely seen as Macdonalds heir apparent . He led Conservative attacks on the Mackenzie government throughout the 3rd Parliament . The Mackenzie government attempted to negotiate a new free trade agreement with the United States to replace the Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty which the U.S . had abrogated in 1864 . When Mackenzie proved unable to achieve reciprocity , Tupper began shifting toward protectionism and became a proponent of the National Policy which became a part of the Conservative platform in 1876 . The sincerity of Tuppers conversion to the protectionist cause was doubted at the time , however : according to one apocryphal story , when Tupper came to the 1876 debate on Finance Minister Richard John Cartwrights budget , he was prepared to advocate free trade if Cartwright had announced that the Liberals had shifted their position and were now supporting protectionism . Tupper was also deeply critical of Mackenzies approach to railways , arguing that completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway , which would link British Columbia ( which entered Confederation in 1871 ) with the rest of Canada , should be a stronger government priority than it was for Mackenzie . This position also became an integral part of the Conservative platform . As on previous occasions when he was not in cabinet , Tupper was active in practicing medicine during the 1874–78 stint in Opposition , though he was dedicating less and less of his time to medicine during this period . Tupper was a councillor of the Oxford Military College in Cowley and Oxford , Oxfordshire from 1876–1896 . Minister of Public Works , 1878–1879 . During the 1878 election Tupper again led the Conservative campaign in Nova Scotia . The Conservatives under Macdonald won a resounding majority in the election , in the process capturing 16 of Nova Scotias 21 seats in the 4th Canadian Parliament . With the formation of the 3rd Canadian Ministry on October 17 , 1878 , Tupper became Minister of Public Works . His top priority was completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway , which he saw as an Imperial Highway across the Continent of America entirely on British soil . This marked a shift in Tuppers position : although he had long argued that completion of the railway should be a major government priority , while Tupper was in Opposition , he argued that the railway should be privately constructed ; he now argued that the railway ought to be completed as a public work , partly because he believed that the private sector could not complete the railroad given the recession which gripped the country throughout the 1870s . Minister of Railways and Canals , 1879–1884 . In May 1879 , Macdonald decided that completion of the railway was such a priority that he created a new ministry to focus on railways and canals , and Tupper became Canadas first Minister of Railways and Canals . Tuppers motto as Minister of Railways and Canals was Develop our resources . He stated I have always supposed that the great object , in every country , and especially in a new country , was to draw as [ many ] capitalists into it as possible . Tupper traveled to London in summer 1879 to attempt to persuade the British government ( then headed by the Earl of Beaconsfield in his second term as prime minister ) to guarantee a bond sale to be used to construct the railway . He was not successful , though he did manage to purchase 50,000 tons of steel rails at a bargain price . Tuppers old friend Sandford Fleming oversaw the railway construction , but his inability to keep costs down led to political controversy , and Tupper was forced to remove Fleming as Chief Engineer in May 1880 . 1879 also saw Tupper made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George , and thus entitled to use the postnominal letters KCMG . In 1880 , George Stephen approached Tupper on behalf of a syndicate and asked to be allowed to take over construction of the railway . Convinced that Stephens syndicate was up to the task , Tupper convinced the cabinet to back the plan at a meeting in June 1880 and , together with Macdonald , negotiated a contract with the syndicate in October . The syndicate successfully created the Canadian Pacific Railway in February 1881 and assumed construction of the railway shortly thereafter . In the following years Tupper was a vocal supporter of the CPR during its competition with the Grand Trunk Railway . In December 1883 he worked out a rescue plan for the CPR after it faced financial difficulties and persuaded his party and Parliament to accept the plan . In addition to his support for completion of the CPR , Tupper also actively managed the existing railways in the colonies . Shortly after becoming minister in 1879 , he forced the Intercolonial Railway to lower its freight rates , which had been a major grievance of Maritime business interests . He then forced the Grand Trunk Railway to sell its Rivière-du-Loup line to the Intercolonial Railway to complete a link between Halifax and the St . Lawrence Seaway . He also refused to give the CPR running rights over the Intercolonial Railway , though he did convince the CPR to build the Short Line from Halifax to Saint John . In terms of canals , Tuppers time as Minister of Railways and Canals is notable for large expenditures on widening the Welland Canal and deepening the Saint Lawrence Seaway . Deterioration of relationship with Macdonald and appointment as High Commissioner . A rift developed between Tupper and Macdonald in 1879 over Sandford Fleming , whom Tupper supported but whom Macdonald wanted removed as Chief Engineer of the CPR . This rift was partially healed and Tupper and Macdonald managed to work together during the negotiations with George Stephens syndicate in 1880 , but the men were no longer close , and Tupper no longer seemed to be Macdonalds heir apparent . By early 1881 Tupper had determined that he should leave the cabinet . In March 1881 he asked Macdonald to appoint him as Canadas High Commissioner in London . Macdonald initially refused , and Alexander Tilloch Galt retained the High Commissioners post . During the 1882 election , Tupper campaigned only in Nova Scotia ( he normally campaigned throughout the country ) : he was again successful , with the Conservatives winning 14 of Nova Scotias 21 seats in the 5th Canadian Parliament . The 1882 election was personally significant for Tupper because it saw his son , Charles Hibbert Tupper , elected as MP for Pictou . Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom , 1883–1895 . Early years as High Commissioner , 1883–1887 . Tupper remained committed to leaving Ottawa , however , and in May 1883 , he moved to London to become unpaid High Commissioner , though he did not surrender his ministerial position at the time . However , he soon faced criticism that the two posts were incompatible , and in May 1884 he resigned from cabinet and the House of Commons and became full-time paid High Commissioner . During his time as High Commissioner , Tupper vigorously defended Canadas rights . Although he was not a full plenipotentiary , he represented Canada at a Paris conference in 1883 , where he openly disagreed with the British delegation ; and in 1884 he was allowed to conduct negotiations for a Canadian commercial treaty with Spain . Tupper was concerned with promoting immigration to Canada and made several tours of various countries in Europe to encourage their citizens to move to Canada . A report in 1883 acknowledges the work of Sir Charles Tupper : As directing emigration from the United Kingdom and also the Continent , his work has been greatly valuable ; and especially in reference to the arrangements made by him on the Continent and in Ireland . The High Commissioner for Canada , Sir Charles Tupper , has been aided during the past year by the same Emigration Agents of the Department in the United Kingdom as in 1882 , namely , Mr . John Dyke , Liverpool ; Mr . Thomas Grahame , Glasgow ; Mr . Charles Foy , Belfast ; Mr . Thomas Connolly , Dublin , and Mr . J.W . Down , Bristol . On the European continent , Dr . Otto Hahn , of Reutlingen , has continued to act as Agent in Germany . In 1883 , Tupper convinced William Ewart Gladstones government to exempt Canadian cattle from the general British ban on importing American cattle by demonstrating that Canadian cattle were free of disease . His other duties as High Commissioner included : putting Canadian exporters in contact with British importers ; negotiating loans for the Canadian government and the CPR ; helping to organize the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 ; arranging for a subsidy for the mail ship from Vancouver , British Columbia to the Orient ; and lobbying on behalf of a British-Pacific cable along the lines of the transatlantic telegraph cable and for a faster transatlantic steam ship . Tupper was present at the founding meeting of the Imperial Federation League in July 1884 , where he argued against a resolution which said that the only options open to the British Empire were Imperial Federation or disintegration . Tupper believed that a form of limited federation was possible and desirable . Interlude as Minister of Finance , 1887–1888 . 1884 saw the election of Liberal William Stevens Fielding as Premier of Nova Scotia after Fielding campaigned on a platform of leading Nova Scotia out of Confederation . As such , throughout 1886 , Macdonald begged Tupper to return to Canada to fight the Anti-Confederates . In January 1887 Tupper returned to Canada to rejoin the 3rd Canadian Ministry as Minister of Finance of Canada , while retaining his post as High Commissioner . During the 1887 federal election , Tupper again presented the pro-Confederation argument to the people of Nova Scotia , and again the Conservatives won 14 of Nova Scotias 21 seats in the 6th Canadian Parliament . During his year as finance minister , Tupper retained the governments commitment to protectionism , even extending it to the iron and steel industry . By this time Tupper was convinced that Canada was ready to move on to its second stage of industrial development . In part , he held out the prospect of the development of a great iron industry as an inducement to keep Nova Scotia from seceding . Tuppers unique position of being both Minister of Finance and High Commissioner to London served him well in an emerging crisis in American-Canadian relations : in 1885 , the U.S . abrogated the fisheries clause of the Treaty of Washington ( 1871 ) , and the Canadian government retaliated against American fishermen with a narrow reading of the Treaty of 1818 . Acting as High Commissioner , Tupper pressured the British government ( then led by Lord Salisbury ) to stand firm in defending Canadas rights . The result was the appointment of a Joint Commission in 1887 , with Tupper serving as one of the three British commissioners to negotiate with the Americans . Salisbury selected Joseph Chamberlain as one of the British commissioners . John Thompson served as the British delegations legal counsel . During the negotiations , U.S . Secretary of State Thomas F . Bayard complained that Mr . Chamberlain has yielded the control of the negotiations over to Sir Charles Tupper , who subjects the questions to the demands of Canadian politics . The result of the negotiations was a treaty ( the Treaty of Washington of 1888 ) that made such concessions to Canada that it was ultimately rejected by the American Senate in February 1888 . However , although the treaty was rejected , the Commission had managed to temporarily resolve the dispute . Following the long conclusion of these negotiations , Tupper decided to return to London to become High-Commissioner full-time . Macdonald tried to persuade Tupper to stay in Ottawa : during the political crisis surrounding the 1885 North-West Rebellion , Macdonald had pledged to nominate Sir Hector-Louis Langevin as his successor ; Macdonald now told Tupper that he would break this promise and nominate Tupper as his successor . Tupper was not convinced , however , and resigned as Minister of Finance on May 23 , 1888 , and moved back to London . Later years as High Commissioner , 1888–1895 . For Tuppers work on the Joint Commission , Joseph Chamberlain arranged for Tupper to become a baronet of the United Kingdom , and the Tupper Baronetcy was created on September 13 , 1888 . In 1889 , tensions were high between the U.S . and Canada when the U.S . banned Canadians from engaging in the seal hunt in the Bering Sea as part of the ongoing Bering Sea Dispute between the U.S . and Britain . Tupper traveled to Washington , D.C . to represent Canadian interests during the negotiations and was something of an embarrassment to the British diplomats . When , in 1890 , the provincial secretary of Newfoundland , Robert Bond , negotiated a fisheries treaty with the U.S . that Tupper felt was not in Canadas interest , Tupper successfully persuaded the British government ( then under Lord Salisburys second term ) to reject the treaty . Tupper remained an active politician during his time as High Commissioner , which was controversial because diplomats are traditionally expected to be nonpartisan . ( Tuppers successor as High Commissioner , Donald Smith would succeed in turning the High Commissioners office into a nonpartisan office. ) As such , Tupper returned to Canada to campaign on behalf of the Conservatives National Policy during the 1891 election . Tupper continued to be active in the Imperial Federation League , though after 1887 , the League was split over the issue of regular colonial contribution to imperial defense . As a result , the League was dissolved in 1893 , for which some people blamed Tupper . With respect to the British Empire , Tupper advocated a system of mutual preferential trading . In a series of articles in Nineteenth Century in 1891 and 1892 , Tupper denounced the position that Canada should unilaterally reduce its tariff on British goods . Rather , he argued that any such tariff reduction should only come as part of a wider trade agreement in which tariffs on Canadian goods would also be reduced at the same time . Sir John A . Macdonalds death in 1891 opened the possibility of Tuppers replacing him as Prime Minister of Canada , but Tupper enjoyed life in London and decided against returning to Canada . He recommended that his son support Sir John Thompsons prime ministerial bid . Tupper becomes prime minister , 1895–1896 . Sir John Thompson died suddenly in office in December 1894 . Many observers expected the Governor General of Canada , Lord Aberdeen , to invite Tupper to return to Canada to become prime minister . However , Lord Aberdeen disliked Tupper and instead invited Sir Mackenzie Bowell to replace Thompson as prime minister . The greatest challenge facing Bowell as prime minister was the Manitoba Schools Question . The Conservative Party was bitterly divided on how to handle the Manitoba Schools Question , and as a result , on January 4 , 1896 , seven cabinet ministers resigned , demanding the return of Tupper . As a result , Bowell and Aberdeen were forced to invite Tupper to join the 6th Canadian Ministry and on January 15 Tupper became Secretary of State for Canada , with the understanding that he would become prime minister following the dissolution of the 7th Canadian Parliament . Returning to Canada , Tupper was elected to the 7th Canadian Parliament as member for Cape Breton during a by-election held on February 4 , 1896 . At this point , Tupper was the de facto prime minister , though legally Bowell was still prime minister . Tuppers position on the Manitoba Schools Act was that French Catholics in Manitoba had been promised the right to separate state-funded French-language Catholic schools in the Manitoba Act of 1870 . Thus , even though he personally opposed French-language Catholic schools in Manitoba , he believed that the government should stand by its promise and therefore oppose Dalton McCarthys Manitoba Schools Act . He maintained this position even after the Manitoba Schools Act was upheld by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . In 1895 , the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled that the Canadian federal government could pass remedial legislation to overrule the Manitoba Schools Act ( see Disallowance and reservation ) . Therefore , in February 1896 Tupper introduced this remedial legislation in the House of Commons . The bill was filibustered by a combination of extreme Protestants led by McCarthy and Liberals led by Wilfrid Laurier . This filibuster resulted in Tuppers abandoning the bill and asking for a dissolution . Prime Minister , May–July 1896 . Parliament was dissolved on April 24 , 1896 , and the 7th Canadian Ministry with Tupper as prime minister was sworn in on May 1 making him , with John Turner and Kim Campbell , one of the only three prime ministers to never sit in Parliament while in office as Prime Minister . Tupper remains the oldest person ever to become Canadian prime minister , at age 74 . Throughout the 1896 election campaign , Tupper argued that the real issue of the election was the future of Canadian industry , and insisted that Conservatives needed to unite to defeat the Patrons of Industry . However , the Conservatives were so bitterly divided over the Manitoba Schools Question that wherever he spoke , he was faced with a barrage of criticism , most notably at a two-hour address he gave at Massey Hall in Toronto , which was constantly interrupted by the crowd . Wilfrid Laurier , on the other hand , modified the traditional Liberal stance on free trade and embraced aspects of the National Policy . In the end , the Conservatives won the most votes in the 1896 election ( 48.2% of the votes , in comparison to 41.4% for the Liberals ) . However , they captured only about half of the seats in English Canada , while Lauriers Liberals won a landslide victory in Quebec , where Tuppers reputation as an ardent imperialist was a major handicap . Tuppers inability to persuade Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau to return to active politics as his Quebec lieutenant was the nail in the coffin for the Conservatives campaign in Quebec . Although Laurier had clearly won the election on June 24 , Tupper initially refused to cede power , insisting that Laurier would be unable to form a government despite the Liberal Partys having won 55% of the seats in the House of Commons . However , when Tupper attempted to make appointments as prime minister , Lord Aberdeen refused to act on Tuppers advice . Tupper then chose to resign immediately and Aberdeen invited Laurier to form a government . Tupper maintained that Lord Aberdeens actions were unconstitutional . Tuppers 68 days is the shortest term of all prime ministers . His government never faced a Parliament . His portrait , by Victor Albert Long , hangs in the Parliament Buildings . Leader of the Opposition , 1896–1900 . As Leader of the Opposition during the 8th Canadian Parliament , Tupper attempted to regain the loyalty of those Conservatives who had deserted the party over the Manitoba Schools Question . He played up loyalty to the British Empire . Tupper strongly supported Canadian participation in the Second Boer War , which broke out in 1899 , and criticized Laurier for not doing enough to support Britain in the war . The 1900 election saw the Conservatives pick up 17 Ontario seats in the 9th Canadian Parliament . This was a small consolation , however , Lauriers Liberals won a definitive majority and had a clear mandate for a second term . Worse for Tupper was the fact he had failed to carry his own seat , losing the Cape Breton seat to Liberal Alexander Johnston . In November 1900 , two weeks after the election , Tupper stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition – the caucus chose as his successor fellow Nova Scotian Robert Laird Borden . Later years , 1901–1915 . Following his defeat in the 1900 election , Tupper and his wife settled with their daughter Emma in Bexleyheath in north-west Kent . He continued to make frequent trips to Canada to visit his sons Charles Hibbert Tupper and William Johnston Tupper , both of whom were Canadian politicians . On November 9 , 1907 , Tupper became a member of the British Privy Council . He was also promoted to the rank of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George , which entitled him to use the postnominal letters GCMG . Tupper remained interested in imperial politics , and particularly with promoting Canadas place within the British Empire . He sat on the executive committee of the British Empire League and advocated closer economic ties between Canada and Britain , while continuing to oppose Imperial Federation and requests for Canada to make a direct contribution to imperial defense costs ( though he supported Bordens decision to voluntarily make an emergency contribution of dreadnoughts to the Royal Navy in 1912 ) . In his retirement , Tupper wrote his memoirs , entitled Recollections of Sixty Years in Canada , which were published in 1914 . He also gave a series of interviews to journalist W . A . Harkin which formed the basis of a second book published in 1914 , entitled Political Reminiscences of the Right Honourable Sir Charles Tupper . Tuppers wife , Lady Tupper died in May 1912 . His eldest son Orin died in April 1915 . On October 30 , 1915 , in Bexleyheath , Tupper died . He was the last of the original Fathers of Confederation to die , and had lived the longest life of any Canadian prime minister , at 94 years , four months . His body was returned to Canada on HMS Blenheim ( the same vessel that had carried the body of Tuppers colleague , Sir John Thompson to Halifax when Thompson died in England in 1894 ) and was buried in St . Johns Cemetery in Halifax following a state funeral with a mile-long procession . Legacy and recognition . Tupper will be most remembered as a Father of Confederation , and his long career as a federal cabinet minister , rather than his brief time as Prime Minister . As the Premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867 , he led Nova Scotia into Confederation and persuaded Joseph Howe to join the new federal government , bringing an end to the anti-Confederation movement in Nova Scotia . In their 1999 study of the Canadian Prime Ministers through Jean Chrétien , J.L . Granatstein and Norman Hillmer included the results of a survey of Canadian historians ranking the Prime Ministers . Tupper ranked No . 16 out of the 20 up to that time , due to his extremely short tenure in which he was unable to accomplish anything of significance . Historians noted that despite Tuppers elderly age , he showed a determination and spirit during his brief time as Prime Minister that almost beat Laurier in the 1896 election . Mount Tupper in the Canadian Rockies and the Sir Charles Tupper Building in Ottawa are named for him . The Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building is the central building of the Dalhousie Medical School in Halifax , Nova Scotia . Facility naming . - Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School in Vancouver , British Columbia - Sir Charles Tupper School in Halifax - Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building at the Faculty of Medicine , Dalhousie University - Sir Charles Tupper Building in Ottawa Further reading . - Johanna Bertin , Sir Charles Tupper : The Bully for Any Great Cause ( 2006 ) - Jock Murray and Janet Murray , Sir Charles Tupper : Fighting Doctor to Father of Confederation ( 1998 ) - Robert Page , Tupper’s Last Hurrah : The Years as Opposition Leader , 1896–1900 in The West and the Nation : Essays in Honour of W . L . Morton , ed . Carl Berger and Ramsay Cook ( 1976 ) - K . M . McLaughlin , Race , Religion and Politics : The Election of 1896 in Canada , PhD thesis , University of Toronto ( 1974 ) - D . H . Tait , The Role of Charles Tupper in Nova Scotian Politics , 1855–1870 , M.A . thesis , Dalhousie University ( 1962 ) - A . W . MacIntosh , The career of Sir Charles Tupper in Canada , 1864–1900 ( Ph.D . thesis , Univ . of Toronto , 1960 ) - H . [ W. ] Charlesworth , Candid chronicler : leaves from the note book of a Canadian journalist ( Toronto , 1925 ) - J . W . Longley , Sir Charles Tupper ( Toronto , 1916 ) - The Life and Letters of the Rt . Hon . Sir Charles Tupper , Bart. , K.C.M.G. , ed . E . M . Saunders , 2 vols . ( 1916 ) - E . M . Saunders , Three premiers of Nova Scotia .. . ( Toronto , 1909 ) External links . - Biography from Library and Archives Canada website - Sir Charles Tupper – Library and Archives Canada - Sir Charles Tupper fonds at Library and Archives Canada - The Life of Sir Charles Tupper from the June 1939 edition of the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association - The Right Hon . Sir Charles Tupper , P.C. , G.C.M.G. , C.B. , LL.D. , M.D. , 1821–1915 from the June 12 , 1965 , edition of the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association - Sir John and Sir Charles , or The Secrets of the Syndicate – an 1881 Shakespearean satire on Macdonald and Tuppers roles in awarding George Stephens syndicate control of the Canadian Pacific Railway - Tuppers grave site - Sir Charles Tupper Prime Minister of Canada ( 1896 ) – The Quebec History Encyclopedia