SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD

Victory, tragedy, alcoholism and national pride would mark the life of Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Macdonald is best known as the founding father of Canada, who united the French and the English and who facilitated the construction of Canadian Pacific Railway. Macdonald was a deft politician, able to balance the various interests of the nation. The characteristics that made him such an effective leader are the same ones that define Canada as a nation.

Sir John A. Macdonald

Macdonald was born January 10, 1815 in Glasgow, Scotland to an unsuccessful merchant, Hugh Macdonald, and his wife, Helen Shaw. Hugh wanted a new start - he decided to move his family to Kingston (Upper Canada) in 1820. Hugh's fortunes were to rise there. Macdonald was educated in the area's finest schools, and he established his own law practice in Kingston at the age of 19. By the time he was elected to represent Kingston in the Legislative Assembly of Canada in 1844, he had become a successful lawyer and businessman, holding directorships with at least 10 companies.

In that time, he also married his cousin Isabella Clark. Two years after the wedding, Isabella started to deteriorate, stricken by a mystery illness. She bore him two boys, the first died after 13 months and the second, Hugh John, would become a prosperous lawyer. Isabella died in 1857.

Macdonald led the Conservative Party for 24 years (1867 to 1891) and was prime minister for most of those years (1867 to 1873, 1878 to 1891). From 1847 to 1848, he served as receiver general and as commissioner of crown lands. When he won again in September 1854, he was appointed Attorney General for Upper Canada in the coalition government of Allan MacNab and Augustin-Norbert Morin. In early 1855, Macdonald would push through a controversial bill on separate schools, an issue close to French Roman Catholics, over the objections of his Protestant, Upper Canadian electorate. In 1856, he became leader of the Upper Canada section of government. A shrewd man, Macdonald forged a lasting alliance with George-Etienne Cartier, who would keep Lower Canada within the Conservative fold.

Macdonald oversaw many changes in the 1850s: the state assumed responsibility for social welfare, standards were set for government institutions and places were constructed for the poor who had no means of support. New departments, such as agriculture, fisheries and militia affairs, were born and in 1857, a system of tariffs was implemented to protect Canadian industry. These accomplishments were overshadowed by widespread opposition to a bill to expand the military. The bill was defeated in May 1862 and the government resigned. By this time, Macdonald's drinking problems were public. Newspapers would refer to Macdonald as having an "attack," a code word for being drunk, while speaking to the assembly. During the election of 1863, Macdonald reportedly felt nauseous and became sick during a campaign speech. His opponent quickly pointed this out and said: "Is this Macdonald you want running your country? A drunk." To which Macdonald replied: "I get sick ... not because of drink [but because] I am forced to listen to the ranting of my honourable opponent."

Sir John A. Macdonald PHOTO: National Archives of Canada

The Conservatives lost the election. Twice as many Reformers were voted into the Assembly. But forces to the south compelled these parties to unite and march towards confederation. The American Civil War was raging and rebels there were casting an eye towards Canada. This hastened the formation of the "Great Coalition" on June 30, 1864. Reformers joined Conservatives and Cartier's Bleus to fashion a federal union. Up until now; Macdonald had been indifferent to the idea, he was afraid it would mean a weak central government. Now, he was its strongest supporter. A few months later, the leaders of the three parties sailed to Prince Edward Island where Macdonald would make an impassioned speech for a union with the Maritimes at the Charlottetown Conference. All the leaders agreed to convene in Quebec City to work out a deal. The conference in October between representatives of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island would form the basis of the British North America (BNA) Act.

In 1865, Macdonald and a several other fathers of confederation left for England to get the required acts passed. The British Parliament passed the BNA Act and on July 1, 1867, a nation was born. Macdonald was chosen to be its first Prime Minister and was proclaimed Knight Commander of the Bath, bestowing him the title of "Sir." Macdonald easily won the election in the summer of 1867.

In the same year, Macdonald married Susan Agnes Bernard. She would give birth to a daughter in 1869. The girl was born with mental and physical disabilities. Macdonald always hoped she would get better, but she never did. Sometimes, he would return late from a session in the commons to rock his baby girl to sleep.

After winning the 1867 election, Macdonald started drawing up the constitution. He set provisions for a bilingual parliament and court system. Federal powers oversaw "peace, order and good government." Other federal jurisdictions included national defence, finance, trade and commerce, currency, banking and taxation. Macdonald reigned in provincial powers with a clause giving the federal government the power to disallow provincial legislation.

High on Macdonald's agenda was the appropriation of Rupert's Land, the area west of Upper Canada administered by the Hudson's Bay Company. The U.S. had offered the British a large sum for it but London gave it to Canada for 300,000 pounds. The area would be formally transferred to Canada on December 1, 1869. The announcement of a transfer caused worry among the métis living in Manitoba. They feared they would lose their land. Their worries were whipped up by métis leader Louis Riel. Macdonald became anxious about Riel, whom he referred to as a "clever man." In defiance, the métis set up their own provisional government. Riel would negotiate Manitoba Act with the Canadian government and in 1870, the province of Manitoba came into existence.

After taking in Manitoba, Macdonald focused on incorporating British Columbia. Many people in B.C., including Americans who had come for the gold rush, were campaigning for union with the United States. The province was cut off from the rest of Canada by a cavalcade of mountains. Macdonald, always astute, felt the solution to the separation was to construct a railroad across the country. However, the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway would be his undoing, even though many viewed it as his greatest achievement.

Around 1872, Macdonald selected Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal to form a company to build the railroad. What he didn't know was that his French right-hand man, Cartier, had promised Allan a majority of stock in the railroad in return for $350,000 in election funding. The deal was soon uncovered and dubbed "the Pacific Scandal." Newspapers discovered telegrams showing that Macdonald and Cartier accepted large sums of money from Allan, while the government was considering bids to construct the railway, Macdonald and his government resigned on November 5, 1873 - the same time Prince Edward Island joined Canada.

In the 1874 election, the Conservatives lost to the Liberals, led by Alexander MacKenzie. But MacKenzie had a short tenure, due to a recession that followed the election. In 1878, Macdonald came back to power, riding on a policy of protectionism, the "National Policy." The main themes of the policy were: a transcontinental railway, increased immigration from Europe to settle the West and more trade between the eastern part of Canada and the West. He took over the Department of the Interior and awarded Canadian Pacific the right to build a railway. In November 1885, the last spike was driven.

Sir John A. Macdonald PHOTO: National Archives of Canada

That same year, Riel reemerged as the leader of the Northwest Rebellion. The Métis and other native tribes in Saskatchewan grew afraid of the encroaching European settlers on their land. Riel decided to make a stand at the village of Batoche . Ottawa sent a large military force, which attacked the town on two fronts: from the South Saskatchewan River and by land. After three days of fighting, Riel and other métis leaders surrendered. A jury of six Protestants deemed him guilty of treason. Macdonald gave him three reprieves but Riel was hanged in Regina on November 16, 1885. His execution would set the foundation of a deep mistrust among French-Canadians of English-Canadians.

Macdonald won another majority government in 1887, but he lost ground in Quebec. He went on to fight his last election in March 1891. By this time, the 76-year-old political warhorse would start to feel the years of overwork, stress, drink and several bouts of serious illness, including a gallstone problem in 1870 that turned his office into a sick room for two months.

Parliament opened at the end of April 1891. On May 29, Macdonald suffered a severe stroke, robbing him of the ability to speak. He died a week later on June 6. Macdonald was given a state funeral and is buried in Cataraqui Cemetery, near Kingston.

After his death, politicians, friends and historians would remember him as an artful manager of people, a skillful negotiator and a passionate defender of Canada. Macdonald would leave a legacy of centralized government that would be the framework of many governments to come.