Names And Canadian Politics

This is observations about how important names have been in Canadian politics, and other general observations about national-level Canadian politics.

Here is a list of the Canadian prime ministers to refer to, since Canada became an independent nation in 1867. The designation of "liberal" or "conservative" does not necessarily refer to political party, just to whether that prime minister was generally liberal or conservative. Canada uses the parliamentary system of democracy.

1) John A. Macdonald served 1867-1873 and 1878-1891 conservative.

2) Alexander Mackenzie 1873-1878 liberal.

3) John Abbott 1891-1892 conservative.

4) John Thompson 1892-1894 conservative.

5) Mackenzie Bowell 1894-1896 conservative

6) Charles Tupper 1896 conservative

7) Wilfrid Laurier 1896-1911 liberal

8) Robert Borden 1911-1920 conservative

9) Arthur Meighen 1920-21 and 1926 conservative

10) William Lyon Mackenzie King 1921-1926 and 1926-1930 and 1935-1948 liberal.

11) R.B. Bennett 1930-1935 conservative.

12) Louis St. Laurent 1948-1957 liberal.

13) John Diefenbaker 1957-1963 conservative.

14) Lester Pearson 1963-1968 liberal.

15) Pierre Trudeau 1968-1979 and 1980-1984 liberal.

16) Joe Clark 1979-1980 conservative.

17) John Turner 1984 liberal.

18) Brian Mulroney 1984-1993 conservative.

19) Kim Campbell 1993 conservative.

20) Jean Chretien 1993-2003 liberal.

21) Paul Martin 2003-2006 liberal.

22) Stephen Harper 2006-2015 conservative.

23) Justin Trudeau 2015-present liberal.

The most intriguing thing about Canadian politics is a name. The name is Mackenzie. Even though Mackenzie is not a common name three of Canada's twenty-three prime ministers have had the name of Mackenzie, either as a first or a last name, and none of them were related to the others. In addition an important pre-independence figure, and the first mayor of Toronto, was William Lyon Mackenzie. The name of Mackenzie is so important in Canada, what if someone opening a business called it "Mackenzie's".

In terms of geography Canada relates to the U.S. much as Scotland relates to England, and this shows up in early Canadian politics. The first two prime ministers were both born in Scotland. Three of the first eight prime ministers were from the province of Nova Scotia, which means "New Scotland". America's New England states are south of Nova Scotia, just as England is south of Scotland. As we might expect, Mackenzie is a Scottish name.

Two Canadian prime ministers were born in Scotland and two in England. Three others were born in Canada but died in England. Born in England were Mackenzie Bowell and John Turner. Died in England were John Thompson, Charles Tupper and, R.B. Bennett.

The longest-reigning Canadian prime ministers tend to have terms that are broken-up or non-contiguous. What I find interesting is that there has been only one U.S. president that has had two non-contiguous terms. It was Grover Cleveland. What is interesting is that Grover Cleveland was a product of Buffalo, which is right on the border with Canada. He wasn't born in Buffalo but he stopped there when going west and ended up staying. He became the sheriff of Erie County, then Mayor of Buffalo, then Governor of New York State, and finally President of the United States.

The right has an innate advantage in Canadian politics in that there were two rightward parties, the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance, and two leftward parties, the Liberals and the New Democratic Party (NDP). But in 2003 the two rightward parties merged to form the Conservative Party of Canada. This means that, since Canada does not do runoff elections, the left risks splitting the vote while the right doesn't. Suppose that 60% of voters vote to the left while 40% vote to the right. If there were no vote splitting then the left would win. But the right would win if the left vote was fairly evenly split between the two leftward parties.

I landed in Canada as an immigrant just before I turned five years old. The first name of a Canadian I remember seeing is that of Louis Riel. We stayed in a motel on the Louis Riel Trail in Saskatoon. Louis Riel was a rebel in early Canadian history that was ultimately executed. But he founded the province of Manitoba. What is interesting is that Manitoba, even though it has one of Canada's major cities in Winnipeg, is the only province that has never produced a prime minister, other than the smallest province of Prince Edward Island. John Diefenbaker was born in Ontario but is more associated with Saskatchewan. Joe Clark was from Alberta and Stephen Harper is more associated with Alberta, even though born in Toronto. Kim Campbell was from British Columbia. Canada's northern lands of Yukon, Northwest Territories and, Nunavut are territories, rather than provinces.

Canada's two great universities for educating prime ministers are McGill, in Montreal, which has produced John Abbott, Wilfrid Laurier and, Justin Trudeau. The University of Toronto has produced Arthur Meighen, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Paul Martin and, Stephen Harper.

There have been four great French-Canadian prime ministers since Canada became an independent nation in 1967. Wilfred Laurier was known as the "Great Concilitator". Louis St. Laurent was so popular with the public that he was known as "Uncle Louis". The advent of Pierre Trudeau was described as "Trudeaumania". Jean Chretien led Canada to first place among nations in the Human Development Index for seven years in a row. The next French-Canadian prime minister is the son of Pierre Trudeau, but his term isn't over yet. All were liberals. Brian Mulroney was from Quebec but has an Irish name and was a conservative.

Canada's socialist party, the NDP for "New Democrat Party, has never had a prime minister although it has had premiers of Canadian provinces. But it accomplishes it's mission not by actually winning leadership of the country but by pulling the entire system in it's direction. In order to keep voters away from the NDP the main parties have to address the issues that it raises and so it accomplishes it's mission by pulling the entire system to the left.

I lived on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls as a boy. I was there for Canada's Centennial and it was just after the introduction of the maple leaf flag. The prime minister of the time was Lester Pearson, for whom Toronto Pearson Airport is named. Aside from Canada's universal health care he is known internationally for nearly becoming U.N. Secretary General and helping to end the 1956 Suez Crisis.

From the city of Kitchener, Ontario came the longest-serving prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King. There, of course, is the name of Mackenzie again. I presume that he was named for William Lyon Mackenzie, the first mayor of Toronto who led the unsuccessful Upper Canada Rebellion before Canada became an independent nation in 1867. His name is like a reconciliation between William Lyon Mackenzie and the King, as he led Canada in alliance with Britain in the Second World War.

U.S. states tend to be less historically flexible than Canadian provinces. Most recently the eastern part of the Northwest Territories was separated as the territory of Nunavut. "Canada" was once actually a province itself, consisting of the former "Upper Canada" and "Lower Canada". "Canada" was then divided. What had once been "Lower Canada", referring to the flow of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, became Quebec, and what had once been "Upper Canada" became Ontario. Have any Canadians used "Keewatin" as a password? It is a former province that no longer exists.

There were Canadian parallels with the U.S. Louis St. Laurent was having the Trans-Canada Highway built at the same time as Dwight Eisenhower was building the Interstate Highway system in the U.S. R.B. Bennett, although a conservative, had Depression-era social programs that mirrored those of Franklin Roosevelt in the U.S. In the rightward 1980s, Brian Mulroney was Canada's version of Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher.

Would the St. Lawrence Seaway have been completed as it was if it hadn't been done by a prime minister with the same name? The name of Louis St. Laurent means "St. Lawrence" in French.

The name of "Hudson" is all over eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. "The Bay" was originally the Hudson Bay Company. But where the name came from doesn't get much attention. Henry Hudson was an English explorer that tried to find a route through North America to China first for the Netherlands and then for England. He sailed up the Hudson River, which is named for him. This is what got a settlement started at what is now New York City, which also might have been named for him. He later tried to find a way through the far north of Canada. He got the vast bay there named for him. But his crew got tired of endless searching for a supposed passage. They mutinied, putting Hudson and a few others in a small boat and sailing away. No trace of Hudson has ever been found.

There were two referendums on Quebec sovereignty, in 1980 and 1995, both resulted in a vote to stay in Canada, the 1995 vote was much closer. But what about the importance of names? On both occasions the prime minister was from Quebec. But at the first referendum the prime minister had a French name, Pierre Trudeau, while at the second referendum he didn't, Brian Mulroney.

The most spectacular beginning and end to a prime minister was Brian Mulroney. He won in a landslide but also lost in a landslide. Replacing Mulroney with Kim Campbell before calling an election didn't help.

There were two really pro British prime ministers, Robert Borden and John Diefenbaker. There were two really pro American prime ministers, Lester Pearson and Brian Mulroney.

Quebec was formed before the French Revolution and is like a museum of France before the Revolution. The French Revolution was against both royalty and Catholicism. Montreal is built around Mount Royal, and that is what it's name means in French. The blue on the Quebec flag was the heraldic color of royal France. The fleur-de-lis on the Quebec flag was the symbol of the French monarchy. The cross on the Quebec flag represents Catholicism. The original settlement was called "Ville Marie", the City of Mary, and the tall building, "Place Ville Marie", is built in the form of a cross. There is the famous lighted cross atop Mount Royal and so many of the streets are named for Catholic saints. The French Revolution finally reached Quebec in the form of the "Quiet Revolution" of the 1960s, with it's emphasis on secularism.

Am I the first person to think that the spacing of major Canadian cities resembles that of the planets? Halifax is Mercury. Quebec City is Venus. Montreal is earth. Ottawa is Mars. Toronto is Jupiter, the largest city and the largest planet. Winnipeg is Saturn. Calgary and Edmonton are the twin planets Uranus and Neptune. Vancouver is Pluto.