Canada’s First Prime Minister honoured with restored portrait and bicentennial stamp and coin at special ceremony
Kingston, Ontario - 11 January 2015
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today visited the City of Kingston, Ontario, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Right Honourable Sir John Alexander Macdonald and to pay tribute to the important role he played as one of Canada’s founding fathers and as Canada’s first Prime Minister. During the ceremony, which was held in the Memorial Hall of Kingston City Hall, the city unveiled a restored portrait of Sir John A. Macdonald along with a special bicentennial stamp from Canada Post and a coin from the Royal Canadian Mint. The Prime Minister was joined by former Prime Ministers Kim Campbell and John Turner, Bryan Paterson, Mayor of the City of Kingston, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, The Honourable Peter Van Loan, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, The Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport, and Gord Brown, Member of Parliament for Leeds–Grenville.
Born two hundred years ago on January 11, 1815 in Glasgow, Scotland, Sir John A. Macdonald played a key role in shaping Canada's history. He was instrumental, along with Sir George-Étienne Cartier, in the negotiations that led to Canada’s Confederation and later in expanding our country to the Pacific Ocean. They are two of the 36 Fathers of Confederation who met to share their vision on union and, ultimately, to forge a new country. During his years as Prime Minister, Canada experienced rapid growth and prosperity. Manitoba, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island all entered Confederation between 1870 and 1873, while the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway's transcontinental line was driven into the ground in 1885. Sir John A. Macdonald established the North-West Mounted Police, the precursor to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the first Canadian national park in Banff, Alberta.
The bicentennial of the birth of Sir John A. Macdonald is one of a number of nation-building milestones the Government of Canada is commemorating in the lead up to Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017. Each of these milestones represents an opportunity to celebrate the events that have shaped our history and made Canada what it is today.
