Canada's Prime Ministers, Governors General and Fathers of Confederation

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University. He
is the author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable
Kingdom and The History of Fort St. Joseph, and the co-author of
Invisible and Inaudible in Washington: American

For those busy Canadians whose knowledge of their country’s past is
less than it should be, this book provides history-at-a-glance. A spread
is devoted to each of Canada’s 20 prime ministers, 25 governors
general, and 36 Fathers of Confederation. A beautiful portrait drawn by
the author occupies one of the pages. On the other page, a profile
provides basic biographical information, including the person’s
achievements (before, during, and after public service).

In the biographies, there are some striking anomalies in the amount of
material accorded each figure. For example, Arthur Meighen, who served
as prime minister in 1920–21 and again briefly in 1926, receives
several more lines than does his predecessor, Sir Robert Borden, whose
term extended from 1911 to 1920 and encompassed such critical events as
World War I and the conscription debate. Even more inexplicable is the
fact that Kim Campbell, who served as prime minister for only a few
months in 1993, receives more space than Brian Mulroney (1984–93),
John Diefenbaker (1957–63), Louis St. Laurent (1948–57), and even
Mackenzie King (1921–26, 1926–30, 1935–48).

Canada’s second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie (1873–78),
admittedly is better remembered for what he opposed—the Canadian
Pacific Railway, an all-Canadian police force for the Prairies,
government action to stimulate the depressed economy—than for what he
favored. Nevertheless, in devoting a mere sentence to his prime
ministership and 21 lines to his entire life, this book does him, and
the reader, a disservice.

As a basic introduction to major figures in Canadian political history,
Canada’s Prime Ministers, Governors General and Fathers of
Confederation serves a purpose. For analysis, one must look elsewhere.