Sir John Alexander Macdonald was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political career that spanned almost half a century.
Macdonald was born in Scotland; when he was a boy his family immigrated to Kingston in the Province of Upper Canada . As a lawyer, he was involved in several high-profile cases and quickly became prominent in Kingston, which elected him in 1844 to the legislature of the Province of Canada. By 1857, he had become premier under the colony's unstable political system. In 1864, when no party proved capable of governing for long, Macdonald agreed to a proposal from his political rival, George Brown, that the parties unite in a Great Coalition to seek federation and political reform. Macdonald was the leading figure in the subsequent discussions and conferences, which resulted in the British North America Act and the establishment of Canada as a nation on July 1, 1867.
Macdonald was the first prime minister of the new nation, and served 19 years; only William Lyon Mackenzie King has served longer. In his first term, Macdonald established the North-West Mounted Police and expanded Canada by annexing the North-Western Territory, Rupert's Land, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island. In 1873, he resigned from office over a scandal in which his party took bribes from businessmen seeking the contract to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. However, he was re-elected in 1878. Macdonald's greatest achievements were building and guiding a successful national government for the new Dominion, using patronage to forge a strong Conservative Party, promoting the protective tariff of the National Policy, and completing the railway. He fought to block provincial efforts to take power back from the national government in Ottawa. He approved the execution of Métis leader Louis Riel for treason in 1885 which alienated many francophones from his Conservative Party. He continued as prime minister until his death in 1891. He remains the oldest prime minister in Canadian history.
In the 21st century, Macdonald has come under criticism for his role in the Chinese Head Tax and federal policies towards Indigenous peoples, including his actions during the North-West Rebellion that resulted in Riel's execution, and the development of the residential school system designed to assimilate Indigenous children. Macdonald, however, remains respected for his key role in the formation of Canada. Historical rankings in surveys of experts in Canadian political history have consistently placed Macdonald as one of the highest-rated prime ministers in Canadian history.
Wikipedia
“I must have another $10,000. Will be the last time of calling. Do not fail me. Answer today.”
Telegram to Hugh Allan, head of the Canadian Pacific Railway, six days before the 1872 election. The release of this telegram spurred the Pacific Scandal.
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“Let us be English or let us be French… but above all let us be Canadians”
http://www.canadianwild.ca/canadiana/sirjohn.html
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“Yes, but the people would prefer John A. drunk to George Brown sober.”
Responding to a heckler. (from John A: The Man Who Made Us by Richard J. Gwyn).
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“He has no British instincts or British feelings or aspirations.”
speaking about the Chinese, debating the 1885 Electoral Franchise Act in the House of Commons, Official Report of the Debates of the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada (Ottawa: Maclean, Roger & co, 1885) (Henceforth, Commons Debates), 18, May 4, 1885, 1582.
page 82 of Contesting White Supremacy: School Segregation, Anti-Racism, and the Making of Chinese Canadians https://books.google.ca/books?id=mH-3BR845GwC&pg=PA82 quotes this
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1865, quoted on page 394 of Canadian Constitutional Development: Shown by Selected Speeches and Dispatches, with Introductions and Explanatory Notes https://books.google.ca/books?id=LRukOUFKGnkC&pg=PA394 published 1907
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February 3, 1891 as the 1891 election was called, fought largely over the issue of free trade with the United States; reported at Historic Canada http://www.histori.ca/prodev/article.do;jsessionid=8D3831D48EE489EBCF46813C8427E685.tomcat1?id=15356.
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same 1885 speech, quoted in 2012 Macleans article http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/was-john-a-macdonald-a-white-supremacist/
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