Canada 150: Top 10 Canadian Prime Ministers

Presented by The Lauentian History Clan

J. Bennett, G. Copeland, A. Gallagher, A. Dezeure, B. Kinsey, and C. Bolak

The title of the Prime Minister is a person who is first among equals, this meaning that the Prime Minister is merely a minister in a cabinet that oversees that the affairs of Government.  In the 150 years since Confederation, Canada has had twenty-three; this list is of the top ten Canadian Prime Ministers.

10. Kim Campbell,1993

                Kim Campbell is Canada’s first female Prime Minister. Appointed after Brian Mulroney resigned in 1993, Campbell only served a few months. Campbell has jokingly said that she never had the chance to use the stationary made for her and is probably being stored for the next woman to become Prime Minister. Under her administration, measures were made to make the cabinet more efficient, such as combining some ministries like the Ministry of Heritage. Her plans for further reform was cut short when the Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the 1993 election to Jean Chrétien’s Liberal Party.  Because of holding so much promise but being given the time to fulfil, Campbell makes our list at number 10.

9. Sir Robert Borden, 1911-1920

               There are many reasons why Sir Robert Bordon made the list.  Under his government, Canada came of age during the First World War as a separate force from the British Empire.  Canada went on to participate in the negotiations of the Treaty of Paris and even received a seat in the League of Nations (precursor to the United Nations).  A major milestone in Bordon’s time as Prime Minister was introducing the franchise to all women with relations to someone serving in the Canadian military during the First World War, setting the stage for universal suffrage in Canada.

                While Borden’s portfolio shows him as a good Prime Minister, he ranks 9^th on the list for the divisive policies introduced throughout the First World War.  During the election of 1917, Bordon’s government introduced policy that disenfranchised anyone from an enemy country, especially if they arrived during the previous Liberal government of Wilfred Laurier.  At the same time, the government heavily gerrymandered the ridings to decrease the influence of Quebec in the election.  This, coupled with the controversial decision to institute conscription, led to the Easter Riots in Quebec.  While allowing Canada to mature and develop more autonomy from Britain, Bordon divided the nation and for that reason, only reaches number 9 on the list.

8. John Diefenbaker, 1957-1963

 A controversial figure in Canadian history.  Most Canadians remember “Dief the Chief” as the man who ended the Avro Arrow Project, a plane that would have been 20 years ahead of its time, due to pressure from the United States.  A strong opponent of the changing the flag from the Red Ensign to its current form also makes Diefenbaker a figure of old Canada, a Canada that was loyal to the British Empire and its interests.  The redeeming quality that makes Diefenbaker worthy of the list - and the rank of number 8 - is his introduction of the Canadian Bill of Rights in 1960, a precursor to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Diefenbaker even stood against South African Apartheid and was critical of the Mackenzie-King government’s decision to intern Japanese Canadian.  A man who was the last of British Canada and thus viewed as backward by his contemporaries in the 1960s and 70s, Diefenbaker still believed in the idea of a free Canada, where its citizens could flourish and grow for something better.

7. Sir John A. Macdonald, 1867-1873
    and 1878-1891

                As Canada’s first Prime Minister, it’s no surprise Sir John A. Macdonald would find a home on the our list.  Macdonald served in the legislature of the United Province of Canada and worked with his political enemy George Brown to negotiate a union with the Atlantic colonies, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick initially with Prince Edward joining in 1870.  He began Canada’s expansion into the west with securing Rupert’s land from the Hudson’s Bay Company and the addition of the colony British Columbia.

                However, a highly appreciated man for leading Canada at the beginning, Macdonald is not a man without his controversies.  Macdonald’s expansion into the west led to a clash with the Metis in Red River and their leader, Louis Riel, though this is one example of the Canadian’s infamous treatment of aboriginal Canadians.  At the same time, Macdonald only viewed confederation as a way unite the colonies under British rule.  Because these instances the “Old Chieftain” only gets 7^th on our list.

6. Alexander Mackenzie, 1873-1878

               Alexander Mackenzie: a sober, logical, Baptist, stonemason, the antithesis of Sir John A. Macdonald. The second Prime Minister of Canada made his post due to the Pacific Scandal, where Macdonald’s Conservatives accepted political funds in exchange for the contract for the transcontinental railway. Mackenzie was a man of integrity and strove to insure this carried all policies, especially in public works (the ministry he over saw during his administration). During his time in office, Mackenzie laid the groundwork for modern Canada with the introduction of Supreme Court, the Office of the Auditor General, and the secret ballot (the Liberals ironically losing power in the first secret ballot election in 1878). While a successful Prime Minister, Mackenzie lacked the imagination and energy Macdonald had to attract the population to leave the Liberals in the following election but still had enough success to rise to number on the list.

5. Louis St. Laurent, 1948-1957

               Louis St. Laurent, a man of humble beginnings who rose to Prime Minister after the Second World War. St. Laurent ran a government of decisiveness and logic, traits that became well known during his time as Minister of Justice and later as secretary of state for external affairs under the Mackenzie King government. During his time as Prime Minister, Newfoundland formally joined Confederation, Canada joined NATO, and fought in the Korean War. Because of his role in leading Canada in the post war era, Louis St. Laurent makes the half-way mark on our list at number 5.

4. Sir Wilfred Laurier, 1896-1911

                Sir Wilfred Laurier, Canada’s first French Canadian Prime Minister who saw the twentieth century and the century of Canada.  Laurier aimed to have a government that would be able to appeal to both French and English sides of Canada, the “Sunny Ways” as Laurier called it.  Under his government, Canada introduced the Royal Canadian Navy (also known as “The Tin-Pot Navy” at the time of its creation), the addition of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905, and the construction of a second transcendental railway (Canadian National Railway).  For those reasons, he makes it high on the list, but at the same time, Laurier’s strategy of always compromising eventually led to his defeat in 1911 when his party attempted to introduce Free Trade with the United States – something that was seen as a threat to Canadian industrialists.

3. Lester Pearson, 1963-1968

                Lester Pearson was a Prime Minister who made Canada a symbol of peacekeepers under his government. Even before becoming Prime Minister, Pearson represented Canada on the world stage as first secretary in the Canadian High Commission in London, England, and later in Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent’s governments. During the Suez Crisis, he proposed to make the United Nations a separate peacekeeping force as to prevent Britain from using it as a means of reclaiming control for the Egyptian government (an effort that secured Pearson a Nobel Prize in Peace). As Prime Minister, he introduced Canada’s famous health care system, a new Canadian flag, and a unified armed force. Pearson even famously denounced entering Vietnam with the United States, an action that infamously sparked the wrath of American President Lyndon B. Johnson. For marking the start of modern Canada, Pearson gets 3rd on the list.

2. William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1921–1926, 
    1926–1930 and 1935–1948

                William Lyon Mackenzie King earns the title of Canada’s longest serving Prime Minister, serving on and off through the 1920s, the Great Depression, and the Second World War.  Under his administration, Canada declared war of Nazi Germany independently, was able to keep Canada united when the need conscription arose (something Borden was not successful in), introduced the unemployment insurance, created the Baby Bonus, and introduced Canada to Keynesian economics.

1. Pierre Trudeau, 1968-1979 and 1980-1984

                The number one spot.  Who deserves this I wonder… Well, none other than Pierre Trudeau, this is a man who deserves this spot.  Trudeau is not a man without his controversy, such as using the War Measures Act in reaction to the FLQ crisis.  Trudeau served in Lester Pearson’s cabinet and went on to make a spot of his own in modern Canada with the introduction of the Official Languages Act in 1969, an omnibus bill that introduced sweeping reforms for marriage and decriminalizing homosexuality, and patriating the British North America Act into the Constitution Act in 1982.  Yes, whether you love him or loathe him, Trudeau is number 1 on our list.

All portraits can be seen at the Canadian Parliament or online on the House of Commons Heritage Collection Website: http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/House/collections/fine_arts/prime_ministers/pm_thumbs-e.htm