| Richard John Cartwright |
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The Right Honourable Sir Richard John Cartwright, PC ( December 4 1835 – September 24 1912 ) was a Canadian businessman and politician. He born and raised in Kingston, Ontario in a United Empire Loyalist family. He was a major landowner in the area, and became prominent in Kingston's financial community as president of the Commercial Bank of Canada. He suffered a major blow when his bank failed in 1867 . Cartwright entered politics when he was elected as a Conservative Party member and supporter of John A. Macdonald in the Province Of Canada's Legislative Assembly in 1863 . In 1867 , the Province of Canada became part of the new Canadian Confederation . Cartwright was Elected to the newly-formed Canadian House Of Commons , again as a Tory. In 1869 , he broke with the Conservatives over Macdonald's appointment of Sir Francis Hincks as Minister Of Finance , and Crossed The Floor to join the Liberal Party Of Canada . With the Liberal party's victory in the 1874 Election , Cartwright was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie . He supported Free Trade , but sought limited Tariffs as a means of government revenue. Cartwright returned to the Opposition Bench when the Liberals were defeated in the 1878 Election . As a recognition of his service, he was awarded a Knighthood in 1879. From the 1887 Election , he represented the ridings of Oxford South . In the 1890s, the Liberals moved away from support for unrestricted Reciprocity with the United States , and Cartwright's influence in the party diminished. With the victory of Wilfrid Laurier 's Liberals in the 1896 Election , Cartwright returned to Cabinet . Laurier denied Cartwright the finance ministry as a way of assuring Canada's business community that the government was not going to adopt free trade. Instead, he appointed Cartwright Minister of Trade and Commerce. He also served as a Canadian member of the Anglo-American Joint High Commission to resolve diplomatic problems between Canada and the US in 1898 . Cartwright was appointed to the Imperial Privy Council in 1902 , which allowed him to use the honorific " Right Honourable ". In 1904 , he was elevated to the Canadian Senate , but remained Trade and Commerce minister until the fall of the Laurier government in the 1911 Election . In this position he introduced, in 1908 , a limited system of old age annuities. Additionally, he served as Leader Of The Government In The Senate from 1909 until 1911 , and as Leader Of The Opposition In The Senate from 1911 until his death in 1912 . EXTERNAL LINKS
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