About the Author
Jacqueline Brown is a former environmental scientist with a passion for Canadian history. After completing her master's degree, Jackie ran her own environmental consulting business and published several United Nations reports and newsletters in her field. She turned to the story of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, believing that kids would want to read a history book written with humour and a light touch. She lives in Mono Township, Ontario, with her husband, Paul, and their six children.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
People called him a "frightful old rascal" and "the father and founder of this country." To this day, he is the only prime minister to throw up in the House of Commons, resign for dishonourable behaviour, and take up arms against invading Americans. He built a country and he built a railroad to cross it from coast to coast, but all his searching could not find a doctor to save the life of his invalid wife. Crowds went crazy with applause listening to him, newspapers reported his mad drunken bouts, and experts said he was nuts for adoring his daughter because she had a disability. When Sir John Thompson, Canada's fourth prime minister, was asked his opinion of Sir John A. Macdonald, he replied, "there is not one of us who had not lost his heart to him." What does it mean to build a nation? Most people living today assume that Canada was meant to be because they cannot remember anything else. But don't kid yourself! Canada might not have happened at all. When Sir John A. Macdonald was a child, there was no vast, united country called Canada. Can you imagine a time when our provinces (called colonies in those days) argued about whether they should join the United States of America or remain British colonies forever? Can you imagine a time when the provinces fought so much with each other that lots of people didn't believe they could ever join together to create their own country? A time when most people didn't even believe that it was possible to build a railroad connecting eastern Canada with British Columbia, or that French- and English-speaking peoples could share a nation? But Sir John believed. And he worked his whole life long to make this dream of a strong, free, and just country named Canada come true. Sir John followed his dream through some of the most exciting yet troubling events in Canada's history: the Red River Rebellion, the Pacific Scandal, the Northwest Rebellion, and the execution of Louis Riel. His personal life was just as challenging: lifelong financial difficulties, alcoholism, and the early deaths of his first wife and son. He made plenty of mistakes, learned from them, and kept on going forward. He was a charismatic and wise man whose legacy includes the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the RCMP, often called the Mounties), our first national park, and most importantly, Canada itself! He was the first prime minister of Canada and a man just as fascinating and diverse as the country he founded. Tall and handsome with curly black hair and striking blue eyes, Sir John had a charming personality and winning ways. A magnetic speaker who loved having lots of people around him, he gave his first speech at age six! His memory was incredible: he always remembered names, faces, and all the details of conversations. This made everyone who knew him feel important to him, and even people he had met only once or twice felt that he liked and respected them. As you can guess, this skill made him very popular. It was no surprise he rose to a leadership position in every group he joined! Sir John was highly intelligent and an excellent organizer. He was particularly talented at convincing other people to work with him to get things done. He often used his fabulous sense of humour to break through tension and help people get along with each other. He was the main author of the British North America (BNA) Act, which later became the Canadian Constitution. Imagine creating a document that would become the foundation of a country! On the other hand, Sir John was, as they would say in those days, a rascal and a scalawag. He would do anything to make sure he got his own way... and he drank way too much whiskey. They nicknamed him "Old Tomorrow" because he was always putting difficult decisions off "until tomorrow," perhaps in the hopes that they would disappear. But with characteristic humour and charm, Sir John openly acknowledged his faults and just kept doing his best, saying, "As far as I am concerned, I've gone through life with one principle: 'Be to our faults a little blind, and to our virtues always kind.'" So what does all this tell us about Sir John A. Macdonald? That he was a real person just like the rest of us - someone with talents and faults, whose vision led him and whose ambition sometimes misled him, who triumphed over personal difficulty at the same time as he struggled under it. While his life was seldom easy, it was always interesting!
