Tilley, Sir Samuel Leonard, 1818–96, Canadian political leader, b. New Brunswick. He was active in provincial politics and led the government from 1861 to 1865. An advocate of a united Canada, he was an important figure at the conferences (1864) to discuss confederation and at the Westminster Conference, which drafted the provisions of the British North America Act (1867). He served in the first administration of John Macdonald as minister of customs (1867–73) and then of finance (1873). As minister of finance (1878–85) in the second Macdonald government, he formulated the protective tariff plan known as the National Policy. He was knighted in 1879.
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