Alexander Mackenzie followed John A. Macdonald as Prime Minister of Canada. In the next election, Macdonald won and again took over the reins.
I have always held those political opinions which point to the universal brotherhood of man, no matter in what rank of life he may have taken his origin. - Alexander Mackenzie
The Honorable Alexander Mackenzie was born in Logierait, Scotland in 1822 and became a stone mason, a building contractor and a writer. The lure of the wilderness and The New World pulled at him. He decided to follow his sweetheart, Helen Neil, who had emigrated earlier, and he sailed to Canada in 1842 where he and Helen married in 1845.
He continued working in the building and stone mason trades and left a legacy behind, including the Welland Canal, the Martello Towers at Fort Henry Episcopal Church, a bank in Sarnia and Courthouses and jails in Chatham and Sandwich.
He and Helen had three children. Unfortunately, only one daughter survived infancy. Helen died in 1852 and, in 1853, he married Jane Sym.
When the Macdonald government fell in 1873 because of the Pacific scandal, the Governor General, Lord Dufferin, looked for someone else to take over the reins of government. There was no leader of the Liberal party at the time, and Dufferin finally settled on Alexander Mackenzie. Mackenzie formed the new government, and was officially elected in 1874. He was our second Prime Minister.
Mackenzie remained in power until 1878 when another election returned John A. Macdonald and his Conservatives to power.
While in office, Alexander Mackenzie did several notable things:
He introduced the secret ballot.
He created the Supreme Court of Canada
He established the Royal Military College of Canada at Kingston
He created the Office of Auditor General
After losing the election, he remained Leader of the Opposition until 1880, and was a Member of Parliament until his death in 1892 at the age of seventy from a stroke. He was buried in Sarnia, Ontario.
In 1999, his grave had fallen into disarray, the writing on the tombstone was barely legible. It was noted that this was a sad state of affairs for Canada's second Prime Minister, and steps were taken to refurbish the site. It was dedicated as a national historic site on Aug. 2, 1999.
We shall all respect the principles of each other and do nothing that would be regarded as an act of oppression to any portion of the people. - Alexander Mackenzie.
