In partnership with his great political friend George-Etienne Cartier, they governed Canada together, practising the politics of the whole. Gravely concerned by the American Civil War, Macdonald urged Canadians to form a real union, “one people and one government, instead of five peoples and five governments, with merely a point of authority connecting us to a limited an insufficient extent.”Įven before Confederation, Macdonald shaped Canada’s national character by resisting extremism and establishing a brand of moderate government that has endured.

The paper highlights Macdonald’s desire to form a strong Canadian Union as his core contribution to Confederation. Calling the constitution a “national, by no means a party question,” likening it to the British Parliament’s abolition of the slave trade, Macdonald called for constitutional issues to be debated on their merits, and for change to come only when the issue was “ripe.” As the Gillespie comments, this “Burkean strategy of a youthful ‘Old Tomorrow’” ultimately delivered Canada’s new constitution. Long resisting demands for constitutional change, Macdonald employed a subtle and distinctive political strategy to deliver confederation. Macdonald: The Indispensable Politician,” click here. To read the full paper, titled “Sir John A. Many had dreamed of Confederation, others had long fought for constitutional reform, but only the resourceful Macdonald managed to achieve it through an extraordinary coalition deal – making his record an elegant defence of the importance of good practical politics in delivering real change.

Macdonald’s role as the indispensable politician who made Confederation possible. This paper is introduced by Peter MacKay, the final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and former Deputy Leader of its successor, the Conservative Party of Canada. OTTAWA, J– The Macdonald-Laurier Institute is pleased to showcase the fifth paper of its Confederation Series, written by Munk Senior Fellow Alastair Gillespie. Macdonald as the indispensable politician who brought allies and enemies alike to establish Confederation. This entry in the Confederation Series shows John A.

An elegant defence