Andrew George Blair (March 7, 1844 – January 25, 1907) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada. He served as the seventh

premier of New Brunswick The premier of New Brunswick ( French (masculine): ''premier ministre du Nouveau-Brunswick'', or feminine: ''première ministre du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of New Brunswick. T ...

for 13 years and 136 days, the second-longest tenure in the province's history, behind

Richard Hatfield Richard Bennett Hatfield (April 9, 1931 – April 26, 1991) was a New Brunswick politician and the longest serving premier of New Brunswick from 1970 to 1987.Richard Starr, ''Richard Hatfield, The Seventeen Year Saga,'' 1987, Early life T ...

's tenure of 16 years and 310 days. He was first elected to the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

in 1878 after unsuccessful attempts in the previous two elections. Though Blair was a supporter of Sir

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

's federal Liberal-Conservatives, he joined the

parliamentary opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

in the legislature and, in 1879, became leader of the opposition to the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

government of Premier

John James Fraser John James Fraser (August 1, 1829 – November 24, 1896) was a New Brunswick (Canada) lawyer, judge, and politician. John Fraser was born at Beaubears Island, New Brunswick. He married twice, the first time in 1867 to Martha Cumming. She die ...

. He molded the disparate opposition into the modern

Liberal Party of New Brunswick The New Brunswick Liberal Association (french: Association libérale du Nouveau-Brunswick), more popularly known as the New Brunswick Liberal ''Party'' or Liberal Party of New Brunswick, is one of the two major provincial political parties in New ...

, instituting party platforms or manifestos. He launched the first province-wide political campaign in an era when campaign had been run largely on a constituency basis. He took the party to power in 1883, winning enough support in the newly elected legislature to form a government. Blair became premier and

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. Blair's government built a three-quarters of a mile long

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

across the Saint John River, linking Fredericton with villages and factories, notably that of Boss Gibson, on the other side of the river, in spite of opposition by the federal government, which maintained that it was beyond provincial power to do so. His government also went to court to win the right to grant liquor licenses. He also extended the

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, which had been exclusively male, to widows and unmarried women who owned property. He was opposed, however, to universal

female suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. His government also abolished the Legislative Council (the legislature's

Upper House An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

). The Liberal government almost lost the 1889 election but was able to stay in power with the support of independent

Members of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...

(MLAs). Blair lost his own seat in the 1892 election, due to

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

opposition to his policy of accommodating

Acadians The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

and other Catholics. Blair had appointed several Acadians and other Catholics to his cabinet and other government positions. Blair was able to re-enter the house through a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. After leading his party to a major electoral victory in 1895, Blair left provincial politics in 1896 when he was appointed Minister of Railways and Canals in the federal Cabinet of

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...

. He was sworn in as Minister of Railways and Canals on 13 July 1896, entered the House of Commons of Canada in an August 1896

for Sunbury and Queens riding, and was re-elected in the 1900 election. In December 1901, Blair's daughter Bessie drowned while skating on the ill-frozen Ottawa River at a party put on by the Governor-General; Henry Harper dove in to try to rescue her, but drowned as well. His actions are remembered by the statue on Parliament Hill to

Sir Galahad Sir Galahad (), sometimes referred to as Galeas () or Galath (), among other versions of his name, is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Si ...

. Blair notified the government of his resignation on 13 July 1903; in his speech on 16 July he outlined his reasons for his opposition to Laurier's plan to build the

Grand Trunk Pacific Railway The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National Tra ...

.parl.canadiana.ca: Debates of the House of Commons, 16 July 1903, column 6735, p.806 - "Resignation of the Hon. Mr. Blair"
/ref> The official New Brunswick biography has the date of his resignation 20 July. He spoke about the reason for his resignation for five hours in the House of Commons on 11 August.copy of Blair Biography by Government of New Brunswick at wayback machine
/ref>parl.canadiana.ca: Debates of the House of Commons, 11 August 1903, column 8406, p.423 - "National Transcontinental Railway"
/ref> He did not see why the government "should build and own the lean section . . . and provide a company with government credit to enable them to build and operate the fat section," and referred to discussions about the railway that

had had with other ministers behind his back, although he was the Minister charged with the portfolio. He further stated that other Ministers had been allowed to discuss with Grand Trunk officers plans for the transcontinental without informing him. In order to prevent him from becoming a major opposition figure, Laurier appointed Blair to head the Board of Railway Commissioners in December 1903, taking Blair out of active politics and out of the House of Commons. However, Blair resigned from the Board sixteen days before the 1904 election in order to campaign against Laurier. He withdrew from the campaign, however, after discussions with Laurier. He died on January 25, 1907, of a heart attack during a dinner party in Fredericton, New Brunswick. and was buried in the Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario.

References

External links

Biography, Government of New Brunswickcopy of Blair Biography by Government of New Brunswick at wayback machine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Andrew George 1844 births 1907 deaths Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Lawyers in New Brunswick Canadian King's Counsel Premiers of New Brunswick Members of the House of Commons of Canada from New Brunswick Liberal Party of Canada MPs Canadian Ministers of Railways and Canals Canadian Presbyterians Politicians from Fredericton Burials at Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa)