Fisher, Sydney Arthur

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Anne Drummond, “FISHER, SYDNEY ARTHUR,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fisher_sydney_arthur_15E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Farmer, politician, office holder, and philanthropist; b. 12 June 1850 in Montreal, son of Arthur Fisher and Susan Corse; d. unmarried 10 April 1921 in Ottawa.
    • He attended McGill College during 1866-68 and obtained a ba in political economy and scientific agriculture from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1871.
    • In 1874 and 1875, with capital made available to him from his mother’s real estate holdings, Fisher purchased several lots in Brome Township, near the village of Knowlton (Lac-Brome). One of the properties belonged to judge Christopher Dunkin, a friend of his father and an important farmer in the region. Fisher would develop his holdings, which he named Alva Farm, into a showplace of scientific agriculture. During the 1880s he made many contacts through his involvement in agricultural associations, including the Montreal Ensilage and Stock Feeding Association, the Brome County Agricultural Society, the Dairymen’s Association of the Province of Quebec, the Fruit Growers’ Association of the Province of Quebec, and the Canadian National Live Stock Association. In 1884, at a meeting in Montreal of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, he delivered an address entitled “Agriculture in the province of Quebec.”
    • A Liberal, he obtained a narrow victory in the federal general election of June 1882. A free trader, he spoke in the commons in 1883 against the protectionism of Sir John A. Macdonald’s government. He viewed increased tariffs on agricultural implements as harmful to farmers and those on materials used for tool manufacture as unhelpful to business.
    • While sitting in the opposition, Fisher developed a close association with Wilfrid Laurier, the Quebec leader and from 1887 the national leader of the Liberal party. Laurier consequently did some campaigning in the region without Fisher, who nonetheless retained his seat with a majority of 379 votes. During his second term he frequently addressed the commons on matters concerning agriculture, tariffs, or his constituency.
    • In the federal general election of March 1891 Fisher lost Brome by three votes. In the federal election of 1896 he won Brome by over 330 votes. On 13 July 1896 Fisher was sworn in as minister of agriculture in Laurier’s government. A well-educated and experienced politician of independent means, he had excellent qualifications for the post and had demonstrated that he was Laurier’s English-Canadian organizer in Quebec.
    • As minister for 15 years, Fisher accomplished much for Canadian agriculture. One of his first tasks had been to consult in December 1896 with Julius Sterling Morton, the American secretary of agriculture. During his first term as minister, Fisher had revolutionized the marketing and transportation of Canadian produce, especially dairy products and fruit.
    • An elegant and cosmopolitan man, Sydney Arthur Fisher was nonetheless a strong believer in the virtues of rural life. He was an idealist, imbued with contemporary belief in progress and rural regeneration. He was also an able and practical Liberal politician and administrator who, as minister, did much to improve agriculture in Canada.
  • Second Great Grandson of Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory –https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=2598
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108247331/sydney-arthur-fisher