Why Macdonald and Cartier
Our name patrons are Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier, the two leading Fathers of Confederation.
Over a dozen of books have been written about Macdonald individually and three biographies have been published so far. Dozens more were published on the historic Confederation-era period from 1837-1896 where Macdonald and Cartier played important roles on the political scene of Canada.
It would be unfair to summarize the lives of these two great statesmen in only a few lines when our organization is dedicated to honoring their names and educating Canadians about who they were and how their legacy still influences our government and lives today.
Macdonald and Cartier shared a political career spanning over 25 years from 1848 to 1873. Both were lawyers by career and both participated in the 1837 rebellions although on different sides. Both were proud of the British heritage of Canada and had the utmost respect for Queen Victoria, the Mother of Confederation.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland in the year of Waterloo, Macdonald immigrated to Canada at age 5. A common mistake is made to put his birthdate on January 11, but his father recorded his birth on January 10 at 4:15pm. Macdonald entered began his public life in 1834 at age 19. He began his political career as alderman on the city council in Kingston before being elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1844. He died in office at age 78 on June 6, 1891. He remains the only Prime Minister to win six majority governments in Canadian history. His only defeat came in the 1870s after the Pacific Scandal. His gravesite is a historic site and is located at the Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston.
Born a few weeks before Macdonald, Cartier’s life was influenced by the social realm of 19th century French Canada. He was born in St-Antoine-sur-Richelieu about half hour south of Montreal, QC. Cartier was first elected in 1848. He died while in London on May 20, 1873. Cartier’s death was devastating for Macdonald.
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