I’ve been reading a little more lately than I usually do this time of year. I recently picked up a book about John A. Macdonald. In case you don’t know (I didn’t) he was Canada’s first prime minister. Part of the book was on the dull side, but it turns out that he was a pretty interesting guy. Seems like recently he’s been treated maybe a little unfairly. In 2018 his image was removed from the Canadian $10 bill — his face had been on the bill since 1971. His name was removed from the Ottawa airport that was named in his honor in 1993. And a number of statues and monuments erected to honor him have been removed.
But from what I can tell, by most standards, Macdonald was a good-humored, tolerant, liberal-minded man. He was known for his indulgence of criticism and for the charm of his personality. However, it does appear that he enjoyed much of life through an alcoholic haze — but — he wound up supporting the temperance movement….
John was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1820 and arrived in Kingston, Ontario with his family when he was five.The future Sir John practiced law when he was only 17, supporting his mother and sisters when his father died. He was known to have wit, a good grasp of psychology, and an encyclopedic memory.
He went into politics and had the goal of uniting the British North American colonies into a new country. The fact that the inhabitants of Upper Canada were soured on Lower Canada, and Lower Canada thought the same about Upper Canada didn’t faze him. On Canada’s official start date — July 1, 1867, Macdonald became Canada’s first prime minister and, with a few interruptions, stayed in charge until his death in 1891.
Sir John’s regime was often marked by scandal and he spent a good part of his career in the pocket of big railway interests. But despite his flaws, Sir John is still loved — even in the midst of current actions against his memory. For instance, a 2018 poll found that 70 percent of Canadians opposed the removal of his image from the $10 bill.
Some of the best known stories about Macdonald concern his heavy drinking. Even in the days when both the House of Commons and the Senate had a bar directly beneath, and fully half the Members of Parliament were drunk by the late evening, Sir John stood out (maybe not up, but out.)
On the way to an election event, Sir John imbibed a little too much. As a result, he actually vomited on stage while his opponent was speaking. When his turn came to address the audience, Macdonald apologized — “ I don’t know how it is, but every time I hear my opponent speak it turns my stomach.” The crowd thought it was pretty funny.
When party members complained about the heavy drinking of another member of parliament, Macdonald chewed that member out — “Look here, McGee, this government can’t afford two drunkards, and you’ve got to stop.”
Sir John gave a speech late at night after a liquid dinner. The speech didn’t make much sense, so the reporter covering it visited Macdonald the next day and asked for help in reconstructing his words. As the reporter read his notes, Sir John jumped up and give the entire speech — correctly. The reporter thanked him and as he left, Sir John gave him a kind warning — “Never report on a public speaker when you are drunk.”
When a government commission looking into a complex real estate scandal called Macdonald to testify, he was on one of his binges. Macdonald had shaking hands and bleary eyes, and commission members sighed, giving up hope of anything useful. But Sir John then proceeded, without any hesitation or reference to notes, to give all the details of the transaction, going back 20 years, including exact dates.
In later life, during his happy second marriage, Macdonald curtailed his drinking and gave support to the temperance movement.
Given the political atmosphere in this country today, a “Sir John” just might not be a terribly bad choice.
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