Editing Charles Tupper (section)

==Tupper becomes prime minister, 1895–1896==
John Thompson died suddenly in office in December 1894. Many observers expected the [[Governor General of Canada]], [[John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair|Lord Aberdeen]], to invite Tupper to return to Canada to become prime minister.<ref name="ODNB"/> However, Lord Aberdeen disliked Tupper and instead invited [[Mackenzie Bowell]] to replace Thompson as prime minister.<ref name="ODNB"/>
[[Image:TupperCartoon.jpg|thumb|left|"Sir Charles Tupper et le parlement": [[political cartoon]] from February 1896]]

The greatest challenge facing Bowell as prime minister was the [[Manitoba Schools Question]]. The Conservative Party was bitterly divided on how to handle the Manitoba Schools Question, and as a result, on January 4, 1896, seven cabinet ministers resigned, demanding the return of Tupper.<ref name="ODNB"/> As a result, Bowell and Aberdeen were forced to invite Tupper to join the [[6th Canadian Ministry]] and on January 15 Tupper became [[Secretary of State for Canada]], with the understanding that he would become prime minister following the dissolution of the [[7th Canadian Parliament]].<ref name="ODNB"/>

Returning to Canada, Tupper was elected to the 7th Canadian Parliament as member for [[Cape Breton (federal electoral district)|Cape Breton]] during a [[by-election]] held on February 4, 1896.<ref name="ODNB"/> At this point, Tupper succeeded George Foster as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, though Bowell (a Senator) was still prime minister.<ref name="ODNB"/>

Tupper's position on the Manitoba Schools Act was that French Catholics in Manitoba had been promised the right to separate state-funded French-language Catholic schools in the [[Manitoba Act]] of 1870.<ref name="ODNB"/> Thus, even though he personally opposed French-language Catholic schools in Manitoba, he believed that the government should stand by its promise and therefore oppose [[Dalton McCarthy]]'s [[Manitoba Schools Act]].<ref name="ODNB"/> He maintained this position even after the Manitoba Schools Act was upheld by the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]].<ref name="ODNB"/>

In 1895, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled that the Canadian federal government could pass remedial legislation to overrule the Manitoba Schools Act (''see'' [[Disallowance and reservation in Canada|Disallowance and reservation]]).<ref name="ODNB"/> Therefore, in February 1896 Tupper introduced this remedial legislation in the House of Commons.<ref name="ODNB"/> The bill was [[filibuster]]ed by a combination of extreme Protestants led by McCarthy and Liberals led by [[Wilfrid Laurier]].<ref name="ODNB"/> This filibuster resulted in Tupper's abandoning the bill and asking for a dissolution.<ref name="ODNB"/>