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Sir John A. Macdonald's Birth Date
Sir John A. Macdonald was born in January 11, 1815. -
Alexander Mackenzie's Birth Date
Alexander Mackenzie was born on January 28, 1822. -
Wilfrid Lauerier's Birth Date
Wilfrid Laurier was born on November 20, 1841. -
First Prime Minister of Canada
Sir John A. Macdonald was the first Prime Minister of Canada. Years in power: 1867-1873, 1878-1891. -
Liberal-Conservative Party Leader
Sir John A. Macdonald was the Liberal-Conservative Party Leader (now Conservative) from 1867 until he died on June 6, 1891. -
Britsih Columbia joined confederation
Macdonald worried that Canada might lose British Columbia to the Americans. So he promised the people, that he would build a railway to connect them with the rest of Canada within 10 years if they joined the Dominion. On July 20, 1871, Macdonald had accomplished his goal of getting B.C. to join Canada. -
Alexander Mackenzie became Prime Minister
Alexander Mackenzie was prime minister for 5 years, 1873-1878. -
The Secret Ballot
In 1874, Mackenzie introduced the "secret ballot." Before the secret ballot was introduced, a man (all voters were male) voted by publicly stating his choice. The problem with this way of voting, was that this practice often left elections open to abuse, since people with power can control the ways others voted. The secret ballot allows a persons vote to be kept anonymous. -
Establsihment of the Supreme Court of Canada
Alexander Mackenzie establsihed the Supreme Court of Canada in April 1875, which is now the highest court of Canada. -
Royal Military College of Canada
Mackenzie saw the need to increase Canadian Military strength after all the British troops had left Central Canada in 1871. The college was built in Kingston, Ontario, in 1874. Some of the graduates from this college made their mark during World War 1, where twenty-eight of them served as officers in the British army. A number of graduates earned honours in this war. -
Office of the Auditor General
In 1878, Mackenzie created the Office of the Auditor General. The Auditor General is used to examine how the government spends its money.The auditor general's task, is to judge whether the government spends its money effectively or not. -
Macdonald returns to power
Macdonald returned to power in 1878-1891. -
Confederation
Sir John A. MacDonald helped bring Upper and Lower Canada together. Between 1867-1880, Macdonald had gotten the North West Territories, Manitoba, British Columbia, P.E.I, the Arctic Islands, Upper Canada, and Lower Canada to join Canada. -
Canadian Pacific Railway
Macdonald had promised to build a railway connecting B.C. with the rest of Canada within 10 years. It was important for him to do so, becasue he needed B.C. to join Canada-rather than them joining the United States. He fulfilled this promise, and the railway was completed on November 7 1885.The last spike was driven by Donald Smith, and the first passenger train went across Canada on July 4th 1886. Its final stop was at Port Moody, British Columbia. -
Wilfred Laurier became Prime Minister
Years in power: 1896-1911 -
Klondike Gold Rush/Creation of Yukon Territory
The Klondike Gold Rush led to the creation of the Yukon Territory in 1898. Gold had been discovered in Bonanza Creek, August 16, 1896 -
Immigration to Canada West
Laurier had encouaged large numbers of immigratns to settle in to Canada West. By 1905, there was massive population increase. -
Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created
Massive immigration in Canada West resulted in the creation of two new provinces; Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905. -
15 years in power
Wilfrid Laurier was in power for 15 years, which is the longest uninterrupted term that any Prime Minister of Canada has ever had. He was Prime Minister of Canada from 1896-1911.
