January 11th is Sir John A. Macdonald day. 199 years ago, in 1815, Sir John was born in Glasgow, Scotland. As one of the founders of our nation, and Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald played an integral role in the bringing together East and West parts of Canada to form the Great Coalition leading to the birth of our nation on July 1, 1867.
As Canada’s second longest serving Prime Minister (19 years), Sir John oversaw many of Canada’s early accomplishments, including uniting Canada with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which was completed with the driving of the last spike at Craigellachie, BC.
Sir John understood the need for separate parties to see their common interests and work together to see those goals met. This is a quality that all of us, as Canadians, can see the benefit in.