https://nationalpost.com/opinion/patrice-dutil-the-democrat-how-i-see-sir-john-a-macdonald
Not a perfect, squeaky clean record but these points are rarely discussed
"...As prime minister of Canada, he won the first election of 1867 and was re-elected in 1872, 1878, 1882, 1887 and 1891
...He stabilized the banking system, he legislated the legalization of trade unions, he investigated the abuses of workers by industry...he argued vehemently that women and Indigenous Canadians (even those who had been involved in the uprisings led by Louis Riel) be allowed to vote. He was turned down on the last two, but never stopped advocating for it. He ensured that a national enfranchisement law be enshrined so that the right to vote was uniform across the country.
...Macdonald won the support of the people all through his 47-year political career, and when he died in 1891 he was as most popular as he had ever been... That’s why statues in his honour were erected in Montreal, Kingston, Toronto and Hamilton within years of his passing. He was the peoples’ favourite.
...He was not a dictator or a bully; he knew too well that those tactics would not cut the mustard in this country. That makes Macdonald singularly different from the people who destroyed or damaged the statues that were erected in his honour. He spoke for people: English or French; Catholic or Protestant (that win in 1861 was mostly because Kingston Catholics rallied to him); Easterner and Westerner; rich or poor..."
No comments:
Post a Comment