This is part two of a multi-part series examining the voting history of the North Island. Part one can be read .

In five years leading to the 1896 Canadian Federal Election, the country saw four different Conservative prime ministers. 

John A. Macdonald died in 1891, just months after winning the election and was replaced by a reluctant John Abbott, who spent only a year in office before retiring and handing it over to John Thompson, the country's first Catholic prime minister. Thompson died suddenly in December 1894 while on a trip to England. Thompson, who was popular among Canadians, was replaced by Mackenzie Bowell. He was replaced by Charles Tupper, becoming the de facto prime minister and the new leader of the Conservative Party (Bowell was still legally the prime minister). 

Tupper, one of the fathers of Confederation, became prime minister in May 1896, just after the federal election was called. Tupper had served in many roles within the government of Canada but served as the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1883 until he was recalled to Canada to replace Bowell.  However, Tupper, like the rest of the previous prime ministers before him, was not able to unite and organize the party, particularly over the Manitoba Schools Question crisis (regarding publicly-funded separate schools for Roman Catholics and Protestants and French-speaking culture in Western Canada), which led to Tupper having the shortest term as prime minister (68 days). 

Election day was on June 23, 1896. It was the second time the Liberal Party had won and the first time under the leadership of Wilfried Laurier, who had embraced a more conservative platform than in previous years. Despite Tupper's party winning the most votes, the Liberals won the most seats, dominating every province except Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia (Tupper's home - he ran in Cape Breton). Laurier was extremely popular in Quebec, winning 49 seats as opposed to the Conservative Party's 16. In British Columbia, the Liberal Party won four seats, while the Conservatives won two.

Both Conservative seats were Edward Gawler Prior and Thomas Earle, who had retained their positions from the previous election. Their seats were in the Victoria riding, which at the time was one of five ridings in the province. Victoria was the only one riding with two seats.  Prior served as the controller of inland revenue in Bowell and Tupper's cabinets. 

Other parties that won seats were the Nationalist (a predecessor of the Bloc Quebec and not a Nationalist Socialist Party) with five 15, the Patrons of Industry with two, McCarthyite with two, and six independents (four being conservative, and one being liberal).

Despite Laurier winning the election, Tupper refused to resign. It was only after Governor General Lord Aberdeen refused to confirm Tupper's cabinet appointments that Tupper made way for Laurier.

In 1899, the Second Boer War broke out, with the British Empire fighting the South African Republic and Orange Free State (former Dutch colonies turned independent). The British Empire requested Canadian soldiers to enter the conflict, which was strongly opposed by French Canada. Instead of sending the Canadian militia, Laurier sent a volunteer force of 7,000 soldiers. By the war's end, the number had risen to 8,000, including non-combat roles. It was Canada's first major war since Confederation, and around 270 soldiers died during the war. The Canadians were involved in four notable engagements: The battles of Paardeberg, Zand River, Doornkop, and Leliefontein.

Other key points in Laurier's first term were the Alaska-Canada boundary dispute in 1897 and 1898 due to the Klondike Gold Rush. Laurier wanted an all-Canadian route from the gold fields to a seaport as well as a fixed border, as well as ownership of the Lynn Canal, which controlled maritime access to the Yukon (which had separated in 1898 following Laurier's enactment of the Yukon Territory Act). However, discussions with United States President William McKinley broke down, and the issue was not revisited until 1903.

Laurier led the Liberal Party in the 1900 election, again facing Tupper. The result was the same. A Liberal victory. 

Earle and Prior, Conservatives, also remained in power in Victoria. However, Prior was removed from his seat in 1901 due to violations of election rules, paving the way for Liberal George Riley. He was chosen in a by-election in 1902 after Prior's election was voided. 

Tupper, not only lost the election but also his seat in Cape Breton. He lost to Alexander Johnston, a Liberal. His loss resulted in him stepping down as party leader, resulting in Robert Laird Borden, another Nova Scotian, becoming the party leader. 

During his second term, Laurier oversaw Alberta and Saskatchewan's entry into Confederation. The Alaskan boundary was also revisited, resulting in America's favour, prompting anti-American and anti-British sentiment (Lord Alverstone, Lord Chief Justice of England, was part of the commission, which included three Americans and only two Canadians).

The Chinese Head Tax was also raised to $100 in 1900 and then to $500 in 1903. He proposed raising it again to $1,000, but it never came to be. Laurier's government had mass immigration programs, particularly in the prairies. British Columbia, however, was not in favour and adopted a whites-only policy, opposing railway and large companies hiring Asians, particularly those from China, India and Japan. In 1911, he also moved to reduce Black Americans' feelings about the United States settling in Canada by approving the Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324, but it was never enforced. 

Laurier was also involved in creating two new railways, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and the National Transcontinental Railway. Neither would be finished or operational until the 1910s. 

The next election was in 1904, which resulted in Laurier retaining his seat as prime minister. The Liberal Party won 137 seats, while Borden's Conservative Party only won 75. 

A new riding also emerged in British Columbia. Created in 1903, the Comox - Atlin riding elected Liberal William Sloan.

Laurier beat Borden again in 1908. However, the Liberal's lost four seats, having a majority of 133, while Borden's party gained 10, with 85 in total. Sloan won the seat again in Comox-Atlin, however, the majority of British Columbia was blue, with the only other Liberal elected in the Nanaimo riding, which was also created in the previous election. 

Sloan resigned his seat at the beginning of 1909, allowing William Templeman to take his place via a by-election. Templeman, also a Liberal, was the managing editor and owner of the Victoria Daily Times before he decided to run in the Victoria riding in 1891 and 1896, losing both races. He ran in 1906 in Victoria, winning a by-election after George Riley stood down, but lost his seat in 1908. From 1906 to 1911, he was the minister of inland revenue and minister of mines (from 1907 to 1911). 

Borden finally got his day in 1911, becoming Canada's eighth prime minister after his party won 132 seats on Sep. 21. The Liberals won only 85 seats, losing 48. The Liberal's downfall came mostly at a proposal with American President William Howard Taft, which focused on lowering tariffs. 

Borden and the Conservatives argued this proposal would weaken ties with the United Kingdom, which was locked in a navy arms race with the German Empire, a hot topic between Anglo and French-Canadians. Conservatives also worried the proposal would destroy Canadian identity, as well as open up annexation by the United States.

Conservative used this to leverage more Anti-American and pro-British sentiments.  The former wasn't so hard to do, especially when U.S. Democrat Champ Clark made a speech on the US House of Representatives' floor.

"I look forward to the time when the American flag will fly over every square foot of British North America up to the North Pole. The people of Canada are of our blood and language."

A Republican, William Stiles Bennet, introduced a resolution to approach the United Kingdom with a proposal to annex Canada. 

Both of these incidents were used by Borden to drum up support, often citing the tariffs and the speeches in pamphlets for anti-American sentiment in Anglo-Canada. 

The Conservative campaign was a success, with Borden taking his seat. In the Comox-Atlin riding,  Borden's party mate Herbert Sylvester Clements was elected. It was the first and only time a Conservative was elected in the riding, which would be dissolved in 1917. Clements beat the Liberal candidate, Duncan Ross, with 1,810 votes to 1,622.