Frederick Borden, the Minister of Militia and Defence, announced in May that a 200-strong force would be deployed to Fort Selkirk; and one of the arguments put forward in favour of this option was that it was much cheaper than sending additional police, who enjoyed higher pay than soldiers.
While he was the Minister for Militia and Defence, he was the father of the most famous Canadian casualty of the Second Boer War Harold Lothrop Borden. Following the succession of King Edward VII and the end of the Second Boer War by the Peace of Vereeniging in late May 1902, Borden was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902. He attended the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 to mark the coronation, and received the order in an investiture on board the royal yacht Victoria and Albert the previous day. 
