They will be celebrating in Kingston, Ontario, next week 鈥� celebrating the 200th birthday of their favourite adopted son, the best-known Father of Confederation. There is no reason why Victoria should not be celebrating as well.
Sir John A. Macdonald was the first prime minister from a constituency west of the Great Lakes. To be more precise, from Victoria. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on Jan. 11 (or maybe it was Jan. 10; sources vary) in 1815. His parents moved to sa国际传媒 when John was five years old. As an adult, he became interested in politics, and played a crucial role in bringing sa国际传媒 together.
Macdonald was not without fault; to name just two, he drank too much and he procrastinated when big decisions were needed. But still, he was sa国际传媒鈥檚 first prime minister, serving from July 1, 1867, until his government was defeated in 1873, with a controversy over financing for the Canadian Pacific Railway playing a major role in his downfall.
His Conservatives were returned to office in September 1878, but the good people of Kingston 鈥� the city that, today, so proudly claims Macdonald as its own 鈥� turfed him from office. Rejected him. Fired him. Cast him aside.
The day after the election in Kingston, a group of citizens in Victoria fired off a telegram urging Macdonald to seek office here.
At the time, the Victoria constituency had two representatives. In October, Macdonald and Amor De Cosmos, who had been the first publisher of this newspaper, were elected.
Macdonald did not campaign here during the election, which, it could be argued, might have increased his chances of winning. He did not visit the city during his four years as our MP, which might be unique in Canadian history.
Soon after we elected Macdonald, H. Dallas Helmcken, a young lawyer from here who was living in Toronto, sent a photograph of Victoria to the prime minister, just to give him an idea of the place he was representing.
鈥淚 am definitely obliged for the note,鈥� Macdonald replied, 鈥渁nd for the bird鈥檚-eye view of Victoria which you have sent me.
鈥淎lthough you say that the engraving does not give a correct idea of the beauty and picturesqueness of Victoria, it conveys to anyone who has not seen the locality a most favourable impression of the infant city. I am very proud of representing it.鈥�
Macdonald served as our MP until 1882, when he ran in a riding near Ottawa. He was prime minister until his death on June 6, 1891.
He visited Victoria in 1886. While here, he took part in the official ceremony marking the last spike of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway. He was wined and dined at some of the finer homes, spent a day in Metchosin and enjoyed a lantern-lit boat ride on the Gorge.
On July 30, 1886, Macdonald addressed a large crowd in the Victoria Theatre 鈥� where the Bay Centre is today 鈥� and thanked Victoria for showing him confidence and kindness after he was fired by the voters in Kingston.
In 1891, a few months before he died, Macdonald said in a letter to Dr. J.S. Helmcken, the father of H. Dallas Helmcken and one of the most important people in the early history of British Columbia, that he owed Victoria 鈥渁 debt of gratitude鈥� for supporting him after Kingston had rejected him.
How is Sir John remembered in Victoria? With a statue, unveiled in 1982, at the Pandora Avenue entrance to City Hall.
We should do more. We never rejected Macdonald the way that Kingston did. We have a week to plan a party. Let鈥檚 do it.
