 Australia and New Zealand agreed to the request, and many British Canadians expected Laurier's Liberal government to follow suit although they generally accepted that an indigenous navy was a better long-term solution as opposed to regular contributions to the British Admiralty.However, French-Canadian nationalists led by Henri Bourassa and others were opposed to Canada having any involvement with Britain's naval problem.This put Laurier in a very tough position, as the Canadian public was extremely divided.