Editing Wilfrid Laurier (section)

==Death==
[[File:State Funeral Of The Late Right Honourable Sir Wilfred Laurier, Feb. 22nd 1919.webm|thumb|Laurier's state funeral.]]
Laurier died of a stroke on February 17, 1919, while still in office as leader of the Opposition. Though he had lost a bitter election two years earlier, he was loved nationwide for his "warm smile, his sense of style, and his "sunny ways"."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/prime_ministers/clips/12886/|title=CBC Archives}}</ref> 50,000 to 100,000 people jammed the streets of Ottawa as his funeral procession marched to his final resting place at [[Notre-Dame Cemetery (Ottawa)|Notre-Dame Cemetery]].<ref name="WLbio" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Oosterom |first1=Nelle |title=Laurier's Sunny Ways |url=https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/prime-ministers/laurier-s-sunny-ways |website=Canada's History |access-date=January 2, 2022 |date=November 10, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Thousands Mourn Laurier. Eulogies in French and English at Funeral of Ex-Premier |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E0DE0D81139E13ABC4B51DFB4668382609EDE&legacy=true |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 23, 1919 }}</ref> His remains would eventually be placed in a stone sarcophagus, adorned by sculptures of nine mourning female figures, representing each of the provinces in the union. His wife, [[Zoé Laurier]], died on November 1, 1921, and was placed in the same tomb.

Laurier [[1919 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election|was permanently succeeded as Liberal leader]] by his former [[Minister of Labour (Canada)|minister of labour]], [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]]. King narrowly defeated Laurier's former [[Minister of Finance (Canada)|minister of finance]], [[William Stevens Fielding]]. According to Zoé, Fielding was Laurier's choice for next leader; Laurier believed Fielding had the best chance to restore unity in the party.<ref name="Fielding" />