Alexander Mackenzie
Kirsten Clark
Who is he?
Alexander Mackenzie was the second prime minister of Canada. He was born on January 28, 1822 in Logierait, Scotland and passed away on april 17th, 1892 being 70. He actually passed away in Toronto Ontario which is pretty cool to know that someone important in history passed away in a place very close to us. He had two wives in his lifetime, Helen Neil Mackenzie was first then it was Jane Mackenzie. He had his three children with his first wife whose names were Mary, Mary and William.
His time as the second prime minister of Canada
During Mackenzie's time as prime minister, he did many things that helped and improved Canada. He created the secret ballet, helped pay for the creation of the royal Military Collage of Canada located in Kingston during 1874, built the office of the Attorney General in 1878, encouraged the creation of the supreme court of Canada in 1875 , made a new fur trade with USA, and tried to continue the creation of the national railway. After he lost the spot as the second prime minister of Canada he was the leader of the Opposition until 1880, then was a MP until he passed away twelve years later.
How he became the second prime minister of Canada
Mackenzie was the second prime minister of Canada from 1873-1878. he first became prime minister for the reason that when the MacDonald government started to fall apart their governor general lord Dufferin wanted to create a new government so he asked Mackenzie to join them. Before this happened he had been chosen to be the leader of the liberal party so he asked Dufferin to take all of this to court. The liberals won so Mackenzie staid prime minister and Dufferin and Mackenzie formed a new government. it wasn't until 1878 when he lost his spot as prime minister in the 1878 election and MacDonald became prime minister.
Life and career
Alexander was born in Logierait, Perthshire, Scotland and was the third of ten children. When he was thirteen Mackenzie's father died and he was forced to leave school to support his family. When he was sixteen he had a career of a stonemason and later grew to a higher status in this workforce. In 1842 he moved to Canada and became a Canadian citizen to have a better life. He lived in north west Canada and still continued his career creating building that still exist today.
Things named and made after him
Statue of him
This statue located on the parliament hill, Canada was created on 1901 and was built by Louis-Philippe Hebert. It is located north of the statue of George etienne Cartier.
Mackenzie building
The Mackenzie building located at Royal Military College in Kingston was built in 1878 and it took two years to build. It is a three storied building with lots of character that helped train military and civil engineers.
Mackenzie hall
This building located in Windsor was built in 1856 and Mackenzie himself actually built it. it was built in the first place to become a courthouse and jail, but then later transformed into cultural center for the City of Windsor. it now has a theatre for perfoming, art galleries, meeting facilities and a ballroom for private rentals and special events.