 I think our greatest prime minister who did not serve a full term in office was John Thompson. In fact, I’d go so far to say that in a parallel universe, Wilfrid Laurier’s 15 years in office is pared down to only two terms against this intelligent, highly skilled young leader. It would be a dream political match-up. The two would have fought it out over the course of 15 years or so, for the hearts and minds of Canadians.Thompson, born and raised in Nova Scotia, served between 1892 and 1894, for almost exactly two years. He was hand-picked by John A. Macdonald, who realized his aging cabinet was not up to renewing the Tory dynasty. A brilliant young lawyer and then judge, Thompson nearly ended his political career by doing the unthinkable at the time and converted from his Methodist roots to Catholicism in order to marry his future wife, Annie. Thompson didn’t want to give up his life in Nova Scotia when John A. Macdonald came calling. He was content to be a Supreme Court judge at 36 years old, helping to shape important laws. It was said that he detested crimes against women and children in an era when it was far more commonplace to look the other way. But Macdonald offered the job of minister of justice to the Maritime legend and he could not refuse. For nine years he shaped Canada’s fledgling justice system and began to write the Criminal Code. His reputation for hard work, honesty and brilliance grew. After Macdonald died, even Thompson himself didn’t think he should take over the leadership role because of his conversion to Catholicism at a time when religious intolerance was the norm. John Abbott stepped in as a caretaker prime minister from his seat in the Senate; although most everyone knew it was Thompson who ran the House of Commons. Abbott’s health failed quickly, though, and after a year or so after assuming the duties of prime minister he resigned, dying a year later. The government took a chance on giving Thompson the job of prime minister, despite his Catholic background. (The Americans didn’t choose a Catholic leader until John F. Kennedy in 1960.) Thompson made his mark quickly. He did his best to preserve Catholic rights in Manitoba. He negotiated a trade treaty with France while strengthening British ties. He created a Labour Day holiday for working people. In his first major speech Thompson made it about tolerance and Canadian nationalism. He asked Canadians to stop judging each other, whether because of race, religion, politics or geography. Like John A, ahead of his time, he believed women should take their rightful place, and wanted their full participation in democratic life. Queen Victoria was expecting Thompson in England so he could become a member of her Privy Council. As they sat down to dinner together in the palace, Thompson collapsed. He said he felt foolish, “to faint like this.” He convinced them to carry on with dinner. A moment later he turned to the doctor now sitting beside him to say there was pain in his heart. He fell forward into the doctor’s arms – dead of a heart attack at 49. At the Queen’s command, his body lay in state in the marble hall of Windsor Castle. A British battleship was brought from Gibraltar, painted black and took him home. As his biographer, P. B. Waite says, “John Thompson’s legacy was his integrity and his hard work. His name has been largely forgotten, writ in water, as Keats said. Yet a man so distinguished by decency, intelligence, knowledge…a man so passionately Canadian cannot be so easily written off. He was one of the finest men the country produced.” |
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CategoriesFirst NationsGovernment Prime Ministers Teaching History The Settlement of the West This and That |
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