In 1917, the Alberta Liberal Party, held delicately together since 1910, burst once again into conflict with the conscription crisis. The Conservative federal government of Robert Borden supported imposing conscription to help win World War I, and most of English Canada supported him. The Liberal leader, Wilfrid Laurier, opposed conscription, but many of the party's English-speaking members supported it and defected to a Borden-led Union government. This dispute had repercussions in the Alberta party: Sifton supported conscription, and shortly after winning the 1917 election (in which Cross was re-elected in Edson but did not run in Edmonton) resigned as Premier to move to federal politics and a ministry in Borden's government. Cross opposed conscription. In this he was joined by Oliver, and the two put aside years of animosity to campaign together for Laurier in the 1917 federal election. Cross regarded Laurier as something of a hero, and proclaimed that he was "fairly convinced that the first duty of Canadians to their country is to get rid of the crowd of profiteers at Ottawa who have brought the country to its present condition."