John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 - June 6, 1891) was Canada's first prime minister, serving from 1867 to 1873 and then again from 1878 to 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, with a political career spanning nearly half a century.
Macdonald was born in Scotland, but his family moved to Kingston, Ontario, when he was a child (today in eastern Ontario). As a lawyer, he was involved in several high-profile cases and quickly rose to prominence in Kingston, which elected him to the Province of Canada legislature in 1844. Under the colony's volatile political system, he had become premier by 1857. In 1864, when no party could govern for an extended period of time, Macdonald agreed to George Brown's proposal that the parties form a Great Coalition to seek federation and political reform. Macdonald was the driving force behind the subsequent debates and conferences that resulted in the British North America Act, 1867, and the establishment of Canada as a nation on July 1, 1867.
Only William Lyon Mackenzie King served as the new nation's first prime minister for longer than Macdonald. During his first term, Macdonald established the North-West Mounted Police and annexed the North-Western Territory, Rupert's Land, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island, as well as expanding Canada. He resigned from office in 1873, following a scandal in which his party accepted bribes from businessmen seeking the contract to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was, however, re-elected in 1878. Macdonald's greatest achievements were establishing and directing a successful national government for the new Dominion, forging a strong Conservative Party through patronage, promoting the National Policy's protective tariff, and completing the railway. He fought to derail provincial efforts to reclaim power from the federal government in Ottawa. In 1885, he approved the treasonous execution of Métis leader Louis Riel, which alienated many francophones from his Conservative Party. He held the position of Prime Minister until his death in 1891.
In the twenty-first century, Macdonald has been chastised for his role in the Chinese Head Tax and federal policies toward Indigenous peoples, such as his actions during the North-West Rebellion, which resulted in Riel's execution, and the establishment of the residential school system, which was designed to assimilate Indigenous children. Macdonald, on the other hand, is still revered for his pivotal role in the formation of Canada. In historical rankings of experts in Canadian political history, Macdonald has consistently been ranked as one of the best prime ministers in Canadian history.
