32 Facts About David Laird

David Laird was born in New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island, into a Presbyterian family noted for its civic activism.

David Laird became a Liberal member of the Canadian parliament in the government of Alexander Mackenzie.

David Laird served as minister of the interior and guided the passage of the Indian Act into Canadian law.

David Laird was the first resident lieutenant governor of North-West Territories.

David Laird was the fifth lieutenant governor in charge of the territory.

David Laird was born in New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island, the son of Alexander Laird and Janet Orr.

David Laird's father was a successful farmer and member of the island's executive council.

On June 30,1864, David Laird married Mary Louise Owen in Georgetown.

David Laird attended the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Truro, Nova Scotia, after which he planned to become a minister.

David Laird became a journalist and newspaper publisher and editor instead.

David Laird served on the Charlottetown City Council, its board of education and board of works, and he was a governor of the Prince of Wales College.

David Laird represented the electoral district of Belfast in the Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly from 1871 to 1873.

David Laird served as a trustee and elder in the Presbyterian church.

David Laird was a member of the Auxiliary Bible Society, a vice-president of the Young Men's Christian Association and Literary Institute.

David Laird earned the name 'David Laird Whose Tongue is Not Forked'.

In 1874, David Laird paved the way for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway and Dominion Telegraph by negotiating the Qu'Appelle Lakes Treaty with local First Nations groups in southern Saskatchewan, to procure land for the railway and telegraph lines.

David Laird was responsible for the negotiations that brought the Blackfoot Confederacy together to sign Treaty 7.

David Laird ordered the capital to be moved from Fort Livingstone to Battleford.

David Laird's presence allowed Morris to negotiate confident that the federal government would support the results.

David Laird's interest was to get the native people to extinguish their claim to the land so that the incoming settlers could establish their own properties.

David Laird led out in this process as Interior Minister.

David Laird finally received permission to arrange for a treaty negotiation with the Saskatchewan Cree for the following summer at Forts Carlton and Pitt.

David Laird arranged with the Surveyor General to prepare a map showing the boundaries for Treaty Six.

In 1877, David Laird reported to the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs in Ottawa that most of the bands in Treaty 6 had been supplied with seed and were beginning to farm.

David Laird mentioned that several of the Bands living near Carlton and Prince Albert were very pleased with the potatoes, grain, etc.

In 1877, David Laird was the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories.

Mills appointed two commissioners to carry out the task: David Laird, who had assisted in the negotiation of Treaty Four in 1874 and Colonel James Macleod, who had recently been promoted to Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police.

David Laird was obviously chosen because of his experience and official position, while Macleod was important because of the respect he commanded among the Blackfoot.

David Laird was President of the Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society from 1903 to 1904.

The town of David Laird, Saskatchewan was named in his honour.

David Laird believed that higher education was wasted on Native youth.

David Laird included a portrait of David Laird and Government House.