Macdonald’s Record Refutes the Campaign Against Him

Canada's first prime minister helped Indigenous Peoples and tried to give women the vote

City workers prepare to clean the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in downtown Montreal on Aug. 17, 2018, after it was vandalized the previous night. The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes

Commentary

Sir John A. Macdonald, our first prime minister and the man who more than anyone else made Canada a bicultural confederation from sea to sea, died this month in 1891, age 76. Liberal opponent Wilfred Laurier called him “the foremost Canadian of his time.” Another contemporary said “his work—a nation—stands as his monument.”