John A. Macdonald in many ways distinguished himself as a virtuous Canadian and a character that was better than Louis Riel. Born on January 11, 1815 in Scotland, he later moved to Kingston of Upper Canada where he became a very well-known lawyer involved in many high-profile cases. This newfound fame Macdonald quickly led to his rise through the Conservative Party, where he was eventually elected to the office of Prime Minister. In this position of leadership, he would convince the small colonies of Britain North America in what would become Canada to unite in Confederation. This would allow the colonies to stand up against the USA as well as to improve their economies. Later, he would also draft the National Policy that formed the basis of the Conservative platform in the elections of 1878 that he won. This program reformed the economic system with its protective tariffs, increased immigration, and construction of the CPR railway. This new coast to coast railway would help efficiently move troops across Canada during times of war. It would also transport goods that were now part of the new tariffs system that protected Canadian manufacturing from imported goods by making them cost less. This shows that Macdonald always had Canada in mind and tried his best to shape Canada into his vision of a great nation. If it was not for Macdonald, Canada could have been annexed by the US and we today would be part of the USA.
Despite being a great Canadian, John A. Macdonald also made a lot of mistakes. He had a mindset that was willing to do anything to make his vision a reality, this caused him to make many nefarious decisions in office. One infamous mistake involved the elections of 1872. At the time, Macdonald and his party were short on money for their election campaign and they knew that without enough they would have a hard time fighting the election. To deal with this Macdonald looked to the wealthy Hugh Allan to help fund his campaign. In return for over $350,000, Macdonald promised Allan that he would have a guaranteed railway contract. This deal would be immoral and illegal, as Macdonald was using his position as Prime Minister to get money. The uproar created when MacDonald was exposed lead to his resignation in what would become known as the Pacific Scandal. After MacDonald’s re-election, he was pitted up against Louis Riel in a battle for Metis rights, this event would be known as the Northwest Rebellion. In response to this resistance, MacDonald did not hesitate in letting blood spill to defend his vision. After Riel was caught, MacDonald had him executed so that he would never cause trouble again. This shows that Macdonald valued his vision more than anything and tried very hard to see it happen. However, in doing so, he committed many immoral actions that affected many Canadians.
