same level as countries that admitted Canadian goods. In 1897, Laurier's government impelemented a preferential reduction of a tariff rate of 12.5 percent for countries that imported Canadian goods at a rate equivalent to the minimum Canadian charge; rates for countries that imposed a protective duty against Canada remained the same. For the most part, the policy was supported by those for free trade (due to the preferential reduction) and those against free trade (due to elements of the National Policy remaining in place). Laurier's government again reformed tariffs in 1907. His government introduced a "three-column tariff", which added a new intermediate rate (a bargaining rate) alongside the existing British preferential rate and the general rate (which applied to all countries that Canada had no most-favoured-nation agreement with). The preferential and general rates remained unchanged, while the intermediate rates were slightly lower than the general rates. Also in 1907, Laurier's minister of finance, William Stevens Fielding, and minister of marine and fisheries, Louis-Philippe Brodeur, negotiated a trade agreement with France which lowered import duties on some goods. In 1909, Fielding negotiated an agreement to promote trade with the British West Indies. Election victories Laurier led the Liberals to three re-elections in 1900, 1904, and 1908. In the 1900 and 1904 elections, the Liberals' popular vote and seat share kept increasing whereas in the 1908 election, their popular vote and seat share went slightly down. Quebec stronghold By the late 1900s, Laurier had been able to build the Liberal Party a base in Quebec, which had remained a Conservative stronghold for decades due to the province's social conservatism and to the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, which distrusted the Liberals' anti-clericalism. The growing alienation of French Canadians from the Conservative Party due to its links with anti-French, anti-Catholic Orangemen in English Canada aided the Liberal Party. These factors, combined with the collapse of the Conservative Party of Quebec, gave Laurier an opportunity to build a stronghold in French Canada and among Catholics across Canada. However, Catholic priests in Quebec repeatedly warned their parishioners not to vote for Liberals. Their slogan was "" ("heaven is blue, hell is red", referring to the Conservative and Liberal parties' traditional colours). Reciprocity and defeat In 1911, controversy arose regarding Laurier's support of trade reciprocity with the United States. His long-serving minister of finance, William Stevens Fielding, reached an agreement allowing for the free trade