4. Sir John Abbott (1891-1892) Liberal-Conservative.
Abbott
was the first Canadian prime minister to actually be born in Canada.
He got his law degree from McGill College in Montreal. He successfully
defended fourteen American Confederate Agents from extradition, who had
made a raid from Canada on Burlington, VT which increased tensions with
the US in the immediate post civil war period. He was a successful
Montreal corporate lawyer and as a young man was in favor of Canada
joining the United States.
In
1865 he changed parties to join the conservatives. He was tainted by
the Pacific Scandal and was defeated along with MacDonald's party. He
became Prime Minister on McDonald's death in 1891. Although the
original candidate was John Thompson, his Catholic faith led to Abbott's
appointment instead. Thompson eventually succeeded him anyway, after
Abbott, already suffering from a brain tumor and in failing health, had
to leave office in 1892.
5. Sir John Thompson (1892-1894) Liberal-Conservative.
Thompson
was of Irish descent and came from Nova Scotia. He served in various
offices in that province before becoming Prime Minister in 1892. He was
one of the founders of the Dalhousie Law School.
Originally
a Methodist, he converted to Catholicism on his marriage to Anne
Affleck. He gained acclaim for his hard line against the followers of
Louis Riel, though he was passed over for Prime Minister the first time
because of his Catholicism.
As
PM he almost succeeded in wooing Newfoundland and persuading it to join
the confederation, but it held out until 1949. In 1893 he succeeded
in an international arbitration over the dispute with the US over its
exclusive claim to the seal harvest in the Bering Sea, winning rights
for Canadian sealers. He died while at a conference in London at the
rather early age of 49.
6. Sir MacKenzie Bowell (1894-1896)
Liberal-Conservative.
The
main problems confronting MacKenzie Bowell were the religious and
ethnic tensions in Manitoba and in Quebec. As the growing
English-Canadian and Protestant population had grown in the province,
the province of Manitoba eliminated public funding of Catholic and
mainly French schools in the province. This led to a crisis in Bowell's
government which was split between those who favored removing French
Catholic schools and those who believed in some kind of compromise with
Bowell in the latter group. His inability to act on the matter brought
his government down and his replacement by Sir Charles Tupper in 1896.
1. Sir John MacDonald (1867-1873), Liberal-Conservative
MacDonald was
born in 1815 in Glasgow. His family emigrated to Canada in 1820. His
father was a shopkeeper and John, like many of his generation had no
formal schooling after he left grammar school. At the time after he
left grammar school he decided to study for the law and was apprenticed
to a lawyer for this purpose. In 1836 he qualified for the bar and
shortly afterwards took on two apprentices under him, who also became
"fathers of confederation". He practiced in what is now known as the
Picton and Kingston area of Ontario. He became active in colonial
government. When a capital of the new colony was originally considered
many favored Quebec City as the capitol but those in the west were non
agreeable to this, so they appealed to Queen Victoria for the decision.
Victoria duly chose Ottawa, which was geographically midway between the
two halves of Canada.
MacDonald was a
leader of the conservatives in efforts to form a Canadian
confederation. The Maritime colonies met in Charlottetown, Prince
Edward Island in 1864. The Canadian colonies met in Quebec City in
1865, and in 1866 there was a London Conference, which led to the
passage by the British parliament of the British North America Act in
1867, which served at the Canadian constitution for more than a century.
MacDonald received a knighthood and Canada West and Canada East
became Ontario and Quebec.
In
his first term, MacDonald had to deal with numerous problems. Foreign
policy was still handled through London, New Brunswick was already
wishing to withdraw from confederation. The railway which was designed
to link the provinces together had yet to be built, and much of Canada
was still under direct British control. The Americans had withdrawn
from the Reciprocity Treaty of 1866. Newfoundland refused to join the
confederation. During his tenure Canada succeeded in receiving the
Northwest Territories and Rupert's Land as part of Canada, as well as
retaining the province of British Columbia, where there was some
interest in US annexation.
Other
Canadian-American disputes included arguments over fishing rights in
coastal waters. The British negotiated these in the Treaty of
Washington, which did not serve Canadian interests well, in view of the
fact that no compensation was forthcoming from Fenian raids into Canada
and Canadian waters were considered open to American fishermen.
MacDonald's
first government fell owing to Pacific Scandal, in which Conservative
members accepted bribes for the contracts to build the Canadian Pacific
Railway. Alexander MacKenzie, of the Liberal Party took over. By
profession he was a building contractor and a stonemason from Scotland.
As PM he helped to design and oversee the construction of Canada's new
parliament buildings in Ottawa. He also negotiated a free trade
agreement with the US in the wake of the Panic of 1873. When economic
conditions did not improve the Liberals were swept from office in 1878
and the Conservatives, headed by MacDonald took over once more.
2. Alexander MacKenzie (1873-1878) Liberal.
MacDonald's
first
government fell owing to Pacific Scandal, in which Conservative members
accepted bribes for the contracts to build the Canadian Pacific
Railway. Alexander MacKenzie, of the Liberal Party took over. By
profession he was a building contractor and a stonemason from Scotland.
As PM he helped to design and oversee the construction of Canada's new
parliament buildings in Ottawa. He also negotiated a free trade
agreement with the US in the wake of the Panic of 1873. When economic
conditions did not improve the Liberals were swept from office in 1878
and the Conservatives, headed by MacDonald took over once more.
The
only reason Alexander MacKenzie never received a knighthood was that he
declined it each of the three times it was offered to him.
3. Sir. John A. MacDonald (1878- 1891) Liberal- Conservative.
The
conservatives opposed free trade with the US and raised tariffs once
more. The transcontinental railroad proved hideously expensive and an
engineering nightmare, especially for a nation of about 4 million.
Nevertheless it was completed with large public subsidy in 1885, and
MacDonald celebrated by traveling west to British Columbia. New
disputes over fishing rights broke out with the Americans and the
British had to intervene.
At this time
Louis Riel, a Manitoban of Metis (mixed First Nations and French)
background led the Red River rebellion which led to some bloodshed and
the controversial execution of Thomas Scott, who failed to die from
being shot by a firing squad, and an additional gun shot to the head,
and was later buried alive. Riel, following the suppression of the
rebellion, fled into American exile but was enticed back to Canada by
John MacDonald in hopes that a political settlement could be reached.
When this proved unfeasible, Riel was arrested and hanged.
MacDonald, a
protectionist to the end, was in favor of trade barriers while the
Liberals were in favor of more open trade with the US, owing to the
practicalities of high freight rates on the Canadian National railway
and the geographic proximity of much of the US. The Conservative
majority dwindled, but he remained in office until he died from a stroke
in 1891.
