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Sir Clifford Sif'ion

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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"SIR CLIFFORD SIF'ION (1861),'Canadian politician, of Irish descent, was born in Middlesex, Ont., May io 1861. His father, John W. Sifton, was Speaker of the Manitoba Assembly, and the son, after graduating at Victoria University, Cobourg, was called to the Manitoba bar in 1882, and six years later entered the Manitoba Legislature as member for North Brandon. He was Attorney-General and Minister of Education in 1891, became K.C. in 1905, and joined Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Dominion Cabinet in 1896 as Minister of the Interior. He represented Canada at the International Conference on Conservation of Resources at Washington (1909) and was chairman of the Commission for Conserving the National Resources of Canada (190918). From 1910-7 he was Premier of Alberta and president of its Executive Council. In 1917 he became Minister of Customs and Inland Revenue in the Dominion Cabinet, exchanging that portfolio for the Ministry of Public Works in 1919 and becoming Secretary of State for Canada. In that capacity he represented Canada at the Peace Conference in Paris and signed the Treaty of Versailles. He was created K.C.M.G. in 1914 and was sworn of the Privy Council.