Laurier's support was slipping for other reasons: a deep recession that lasted through most of the decade, the Naval Bill and hemorrhaging of Quebec support. Free trade was enormously unpopular in Ontario and the business commmunity, which saw their manufacturing interests threatened. Keep in mind that as in 1988, the incumbent PM wanted to debate free trade on economic terms while the opposition made it an issue of national sovereignty: "51st state" or "Empire" in 1911, "51st state" or "independent Canada" in 1988. If he did this his Ontario support collapses, as does his support in Quebec, which was already strained due to Borden courting nationalist support as Mulroney and Harper would do later. No Naval Bill might allow Laurier to scrape in for a fifth term, but 15 years in office plus the lack of any visible successor within the Liberal Party are taking its toll. With the stresses of the premiership he will die in mid-war.
Long-term: the shift from the British to the American sphere of influence speeds up by a decade or so.