1/24/2013 7:38:29 PM

January 11, 2013
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the occasion of Sir John A. Macdonald Day:

"Today, we honour a founding father of our country - our very first Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Sir John Alexander Macdonald.

"Sir John A. Macdonald, in partnership with George-Étienne Cartier, George Brown, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Sir Charles Tupper and other great Canadians, provided the vision and drive that created a trans-continental country. As a child immigrant, he arrived in a Canada that was largely confined to the territories that bordered the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. As a result of his efforts by the time he died in 1891, Canada extended across the entire North American continent and included the Atlantic provinces, the prairies as well as British Columbia.

"'A great nation-great in thought, great in action, great in hope, and great in position,' was how he described Canada's future. Canadians give thanks today that his dream has largely been accomplished.

"He achieved this vision of creating a trans-continental country by binding it together through shared national institutions such as our federal Parliament, through the trans-continental railroad linking eastern and central Canada with British Columbia and the Pacific Ocean and through the Northwest Mounted Police (later the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) which brought law and order to the Canadian prairies and earned a reputation for treating all Canadians fairly and equally under the law. Our first Prime Minister was also involved in preserving our natural heritage through the establishment of Canada's first national park in Banff, Alberta.

"I encourage all Canadians across Canada to take time today to reflect upon the life and legacy of this remarkable Canadian leader."