The Roles and Achievements of Prime Ministers

Name Tutor Course Date The Roles and Achievements of Prime Ministers John a Macdonald and Laurier Sir John a MacDonald was the first prime minister of Canada and was the dominant representative of the Canadian confederation. He was born on the 11th January 1815 and passed on 6th June. His term in office was 18 years long which places him to the second longest serving prime minister in Canada. He is the only one to ever win six majority governments (Hennessy 12). As for Sir Wilfrid Laurier, he was the seventh prime minister, Born on 20th November 1841 and passed on on the 17th February 1919. He was the first francophone prime minister and was considered one of the countries superb statesmen. As compared to his counter part John a MacDonald, sir Wilfrid was also in the list of the longest serving prime ministers in Canada although him coming in as position four. Sir Wilfrid also contributed to the expanding of the confederation. Sir John MacDonald was born in Glasgow Scotland was the third in a family of five while Sir Wilfrid laurier was born in Saint-lin Canada East and was the 7th generation of his family. MacDonald’s parents decided that he should become a lawyer after his completion of schooling. It was a great choice for a boy who seemed to really admire studying and beside that he had an urgent to start earning cash in order to support his family since his fathers business ventures were failing. As compared to Macdonald Lauriers’ father was well up and by the age of eleven he was sent to study in new Glasgow. Macdonald had a rather sorrowful and tragedous private life. When Sir Macdonald first came into office he was faced with major opposition. Nova Scotia was already threatening to withdraw from the confederation; the Anglo-American relationships were in a poor state. In 1867 the first general elections were held and this is where MacDonald had his first major achievement. He was able to bring together Nova Scotia New Brunswick and the province of lower and Upper Canada to form the state of Canada of which guaranteed him election stress free. MacDonald’s main vision was to enlarge the country and bring it together in unity. Under his rule he rought British Colombia, PIE, and great North West territories into Canada all this for ? 300,000 (about $11,500,000 in modern Canadian dollars). Macdonald’s still biggest achievement as a prime minister was the building of the Trans continental railway which was completed in 1891 (Leonardo 219). He also managed to create a god relationship with the United States rising to the challenge of the Northwest rebellion and his balancing of French and English interests in accept able terms for most. Sir Wilfrid Laurier is known to have had a number of accomplishments as a prime minister. To begin with he was able to establish the department of labour and external affairs, he also managed to recruit immigrants into the west, and in 1905 he oversaw the creation of two provinces Alberta and Saskatchewan into the confederation which saw the creation of the last two provinces in the Northwest Territories (Picknett, Prince, Prior & Brydon 290). He also saw the beginning of the two new transcontinental railways although the project was filled with scandals. He also made a deal with the united state for lower rates on natural products. The two prime ministers are to date considered being the greatest of all time. This Great statesmen had a couple of similarities if we scrutinses them properly. One similarity was that both of them were students of law. MacDonald studied law in Toronto where he traveled by boat whereas sir Wilfrid studied law in New Glasgow. These two men had a vision of the expansion of the country of Canada since both of them contributed to the increase of the confederation. Sir MacDonald helped bring the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick together in 1867 to form Canada while Sir Wilfrid Laurier had the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan created in 1905 which saw the last spit of the Northwest Territories. Sir Macdonald oversaw the establishments of the first transcontinental railway and Sir Wilfred Laurier also oversaw the establishment of tow more transcontinental. Sir MacDonald negotiated the relation ship with the United States and this was also exhibited by sir Wilfrid. The above similarities signify that both of the prime ministers were both devoted and dedicated to the development of Canada. These similarities only signify their similarities in ensuring a proper Canada but these two men had other similarities because they were both the first in whatever they did. MacDonald was the Prime minister of Canada while Sir Wilfrid Laurier was the first francophone prime minister. In the common life Sir MacDonald and sir laurier had a couple of differences . Sir MacDonald came from a family that was not all that well up as compare do to sir Wilfred, he studied law in order to be able to put a meal on his families table since all his fathers ventures were crumbling as compared to Wilfred who studied Law as his passion. Sir Wilfred and Sir MacDonald left a legacy in Canada and are both commemorated in big ways. Both of them have the pleasure of having holidays celebrated in their hournor; they both have avenues named in their respect such as the Laurier Avenue. These two statesmen had very minimal similarities and difference and these was due to their characters but both will live to be legends as far as Canada is concerned. Works Cited Hennessy, Peter. Prime Ministers: The Office and its Holders since 1945. Cambridge: Cambridge Press, 2001. Leonardo, Gordon. Review of Prosperity and Misery in Modern Bengal: The Famine of 1923–1944. American Historical Review, 88. 4 (1983): 218 – 230. Picknett, Lynn, Prince, Clive, Prior, Stephen, and Brydon, Robert. War of the Windsors: A Century of Unconstitutional Monarchy. Chicago: Mainstream Publishing, 2002.