Clifford Sifton Essay

“I think a stalwart peasant in sheep-skin coat, born on the soil, whose forefathers have been farmers for ten generations, with a stout wife and half a dozen children, is good quality”-Clifford Sifton. Sir Clifford Sifton born on March 10th,1861 is one of the most accomplished Politian’s of his time, most notable for his assertive promotion of immigration to settle 20th century Canada’s west. Sifton moved to Manitoba in 1875 and Graduated from Victoria College in 1880, and was called to be a member of the Manitoba Bar in 1882. He was elected in 1891 as attorney general under Thomas Greenway. His fortification of the “national school system” brought him to distinction. On November 17th 1896 Sifton became federal Minister of the Interior under

Sifton drove the campaign to open Canada’s doors to central and Eastern Europe. The country needed to establish the prairies and they needed people who could survive on their own to do it. The first to Canada’s invite for free land were peasants from Galicia and bukonovia. They were poor farmers who were practically starving to death on their own farms. Facing a bleak future and deep poverty, the idea of being granted 160 acres of land they themselves would own with bush that would provide them with food and wood for fuel, this became a strong force into pushing them to strike the opportunity.Sifton’s aggressive immigration campaign was extremely important in Canada’s 20th century development. The driving force of Sifton’s efforts to populate western Canada was the fear that the United States would act upon their eager Interest into moving into the vast unpopulated land. Without Sifton’s immigration advances it is very likely the United States would have invaded Canada taking over the west destroying MacDonald’s vision Canada from sea to sea. Another importance of immigrants populating the west is for them to become laborers to construct the railroad that was to connect Canada coast to coast and these jobs were extremely dangerous jobs which the white