January 11th marks the 199th anniversary of the birth of Sir John A Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister.
He’s known as the “father of Confederation” having convinced the various provinces to join in a federation to form the country of Canada in 1867, He’s also known for being the driving force to build a trans-continental railway, which led to a huge political scandal over questions of bribery.
He was also known for his enjoyment of alcohol.
Speaking of a political rival to a heckler during a speech, he once shot back, “voters prefer a John A drunk to a George Brown sober”
Celebrations and dinners have been organized across the country to denote the occasion.
It also marks a new “heritage minute”. These are popular brief vignettes of various moments in Canadian history broadcast as public service announcements on television since 1991
Making the return will be a look at Sir John, and another will look at his Quebec lieutenant, Sir George Etienne Cartier.
There are currently 85 heritage minutes.Two more are in the planning to mark the 100th anniversaries of the start and end of the First World War in 2014 and 2018.
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