The Old Chieftain’s New Image: Shaping the Public Memory of Sir John A. Macdonald in Ontario and Quebec, 1891-1967 by Yves Y. Pelletier A thesis submitted to the Department of History in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada December 2010 Copyright © Yves Y. Pelletier, 2010 Abstract Sir John A. Macdonald has been a political figure frequently referenced in Canadian history. Yet no study has explored the evolution of his public memory. This study provides a focused examination of the attempts by Canada’s federal political parties to shape Macdonald’s public memory. The period of study began immediately following the death of Sir John A. Macdonald on June 6, 1891 and continued until the Centennial Celebrations of Confederation in 1967. The study first aims to identify and analyze events and activities organized or supported by Canada’s federal political class which provide opportunities to shape Macdonald’s public memory. The study then explores through the lens of official memory their motivation to engage in his commemoration and to shape his memory in specific ways. The objective of this study is to answer two specific research questions. The first asks if Canada’ federal political leaders were interested and successful in shaping Macdonald’s public memory during the period of study to allow the emergence of a seemingly national hegemonic figure acceptable to both political parties. The second asks if the federal political parties’ attempts to depict Macdonald as a unifying national symbol were picked up in the media in Ontario and Quebec and in both official languages, thereby reinforcing his hegemonic status for the federal political class. This study is divided into seven chapters, each exploring the efforts of various federal political leaders to shape the public memory of Sir John A. Macdonald. Chapter One provides an introductory overview. Chapter Two focuses on the role of the governing Liberal-Conservative Party in shaping Macdonald’s public memory through the unveiling of Macdonald memorials in four Canadian cities in the 1890s. Chapter Three explores the efforts of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberal Party to offer a different interpretation of Macdonald’s public memory. Chapter Four explores the public memory of Sir John A. ii Macdonald which emerged from the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation celebrations. Chapter Five focuses on the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Macdonald’s death in 1941. Chapter Six explores the efforts of Prime Ministers Lester B. Pearson and John Diefenbaker in shaping Macdonald’s public memory in the 1960s. Finally, chapter Seven offers a summary of the conclusions reached by this thesis. The study argues that Macdonald became on a single occasion a seemingly national hegemonic figure acceptable to both political parties and to the media in both official language communities in Ontario and Quebec. iii Acknowledgements The writing of a doctoral thesis is a lengthy and solitary process. Its completion, however, rests on a number of interactions with key individuals and institutions. First and foremost, I want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Caroline-Isabelle Caron, who helped me refine what started off as a broad and unending project. She provided me with the freedom to explore the topic, the wisdom to guide my thoughts, the tools to ensure its development and the time to find my own voice. Je vous serais toujours très reconnaissant. Merci mille fois. I also wanted to acknowledge the other members of my thesis committee – Queen’s University Professors Ian McKay, Peter Campbell and Brian Osborne and University of Toronto’s Cecilia Morgan – for their interest in my work and the incredible value of their feedback. Their comments helped refine many arguments. I am very grateful to them all. Many friends stood by me as I embarked on the writing of this thesis. I thank them all. Among them, a few deserve particular recognition. Boris Stipernitz, PhD, was my source of confidence, my sounding board and my motivator during this long process, made longer by embarking on the PhD as a part-time student. James (Jamie) Trepanier helped to refine my thinking, my argumentation and my writing. I hope to be able to provide him the same level of support and encouragement as he embarks on his own PhD thesis in history at York University. Boris and Jamie filled the gap of the traditional peers within the PhD program, an opportunity I did not get by living hundreds of kilometres away from campus. Beyond the Queen’s University faculty, my main attachment to Queen’s came through my colleague Kathryn (Kate) Muller, PhD, whose friendship I will always cherish. The completion of this thesis required countless visits to many research centres and libraries. I appreciated the high level of professionalism and assistance I received from the iv staff of the following organizations: Library and Archives Canada, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Diefenbaker Canada Centre, Queen’s University Archives, Queen’s University Library, Hamilton Public Library, McGill University Library, Archives of Ontario, Houghton Library at Harvard University, Napanee Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. I am also indebted to the now dissolved Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation for its financial support in furthering my education during my six-year period of employment. A special acknowledgement is due to my then colleagues Norman Riddell, Jocelyn Charron, Anne Motte, Joseph Berger, Andrew Parkin and John Stubbs for their interest in my academic success and for listening to my research findings and my never- ending Sir John A. Macdonald stories. In addition, Margie Layden-Oreto and Fiona Bain- Greenwood were constant sources of encouragement and motivation. They were always eager to read the final draft of each chapter, and to share their thoughts of my work. I am glad to call all these individuals friends. L’appui de ma famille au cours de mes nombreuses années d’études universitaires doit également être souligné. À mon père, feu Yvon Pelletier, pour son désir de me voir réussir. À ma mère, Nicole Leclair, et à son conjoint, Ronald Leclair, pour leurs mots d’encouragement afin que je puisse réaliser ce projet d’envergure. À mes sœurs, Michelle Pelletier-Proulx et Ginette Matthews, qui ont reconnu l’importance de ce projet pour moi et qui m’ont aussi accompagné durant ce long cheminement. Elles ont reconnues la raison que j’ai dû m’isoler plutôt que passer plus de temps avec eux, leurs conjoints Denis Proulx et Kevin Matthews, et mes neveux et mes nièces – Myriam, Justin, Zachary et Danika – que j’aimerais toujours inconditionnellement. Finalement, je veux souligner deux enseignants qui ont su développer mon intérêt pour l’histoire politique canadienne à un jeune âge. François Tregonning m’a enseigné plusieurs cours d’histoire à l’École v secondaire catholique l’Héritage. Il m’a permis de découvrir ma passion pour l’histoire par l’entremise de la sienne. Rand Dyck, politicologue à l’Université Laurentienne m’a enseigné mon premier cours universitaire en sciences politiques et m’a encouragé à poursuivre des études dans ce domaine. Ces deux hommes ont influencés mon parcours universitaire et professionnel. Merci. vi Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv List of Tables viii List of Figures xi Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: A Monument(al) Movement, 1891 – 1895 33 Chapter Three: The Liberal Party’s Response, 1891-1911 85 Chapter Four: The Diamond Jubilee of Confederation, 1927 120 Chapter Five: The Image of Sir John A. Macdonald during the Second World War, 1941 166 Chapter Six: The Macdonald of the 1960s 222 Chapter Seven: Conclusion 282 Bibliography 299 vii List of Tables Table 2.1. List of speakers and their political affiliation during the unveiling of the Macdonald memorial in Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal and Kingston. 53-4 Table 2.2: Number of attendees at the unveiling of each city’s Macdonald memorial in comparison to total population. 75 Table 4.1: List of ‘Confederation Commemorative Issue of 1927’ stamps 137 Table 4.2: List of the enumerated Fathers of Confederation deemed as the “governing minds.” 145 Table 5.1. Participation of MPs at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Death of Sir John A. Macdonald in Kingston on June 7, 1941 203 Table 5.2. Participation of Senators at the sesquicentennial anniversary of the death of Sir John A. Macdonald in Kingston on June 7, 1941. 204 viii List of Figures Figure 2.1: Macdonald Memorial in Hamilton. 41 Figure 2.2: Macdonald Memorial in Toronto. 44 Figure 2.3: Macdonald Memorial in Montreal. 49 Figure 2.4: Macdonald Memorial in Kingston. 52 Figure 4.1. Images used on the special edition of stamps to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation 133 Figure 4.2. Photograph of the plaque erected by the National Committee for the Celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation 154 Figure 5.1. Photograph of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King laying a wreath at the base of the Sir John A. Macdonald statue in Kingston’s City Park on June 7, 1941. 187 Figure 6.1. Photograph of the official opening of Bellevue House on May 24, 1967 234 Figure 6.2. Photograph of former Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker, Ontario Premier John Robarts after placing a wreath on the grave of Sir John A. Macdonald in Kingston’s Cataraqui Cemetery, on his birthday (January 11) the year of Canada’s Centennial. 244 ix Chapter One: Introduction The strength and the vitality of nations ultimately lie in the ability to advance and sustain unifying national memories. Historian Daniel J. Sherman has argued: “the inability to confront or master certain kinds of memory can haunt nation-states, exposing the fragility of their construction, crippling their politics, even destroying them entirely.”1 The efforts of creating unifying national memories are both increasingly important and complicated in culturally diverse nations due to their evolving political arrangements.