Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, PC (pronounced [ʒɔʁʒ etjɛn kaʁtje]; September 6, 1814 – May 20, 1873) was a Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation.

In the years leading up to Confederation, Cartier was a dominant figure in the politics of Canada East as leader of the Parti bleu.

Through this connection, Cartier became a member of the Société des Fils de la Liberté ("Society of the Sons of Liberty") and took part in the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837 at the Battle of Saint-Denis.

In 1848, Cartier gave up his law practice and ran for office as a Reformer and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

During his time in the Union parliament, Cartier introduced a bill in 1852 for the creation of the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada.

At the next federal election in August 1872, he was defeated by Louis-Amable Jetté while seeking a second term in Montreal East in the face of the Pacific Scandal.

The following month Cartier was acclaimed the victor in the Manitoba riding of Provencher after Louis Riel and Henry James Clarke resigned as candidates there.

[2] During his tenure in Ottawa, Cartier was responsible for the negotiations with Britain and the Hudson's Bay Company for the purchase of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory by Canada.

Cartier was also an active participant in the negotiations that led to the creation of the province of Manitoba and the entry of British Columbia into Confederation.

When Caroline, the eldest daughter, died in March 1886, at her request her remains were brought to Montreal and interred alongside those of her father.

In 1864, George Brown, leader of the Clear Grits in Canada West (Ontario), proposed an alliance with the Conservatives of Macdonald and Cartier.

In 1867, following a series of discussions and conferences (at Charlottetown and Quebec), the alliance known as the Grand Coalition succeeded in forging the agreement which gave birth to Confederation.

[4] To celebrate the part he played in the country's development, Cartier was created a baronet, of Montreal, in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom by Queen Victoria in 1868.

In addition, he had the prenominal "the Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life by virtue of being made a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on 1 July 1867.

In 1931, Canada Post issued a ten-cent postage stamp with Cartier's portrait surrounded by the national symbol, the maple leaf.

Six schools have been named in his honour: He was portrayed by David La Haye in the 2011 CBC Television film John A.: Birth of a Country.