Mr. Speaker, perhaps the Bloc member does not understand French from Nova Scotia. I am sorry, but I tried.
As I was saying, Bill S-14 does not just set aside time for a national holiday. This is not about expanding time off for schools or businesses. This is very much about recognizing in a formal way the birthdays of two great Canadians, Sir John. A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the birthdate being January 11 in the case of Sir John A. Macdonald.
As an interesting footnote, the birth records of Sir John A. Macdonald, who was born in Scotland, indicate that he was born on January 10. When he and his family emigrated to Canada his father, Hugh, recorded his birthdate as January 11, so there was some dispute. On the other hand, I suppose the record keepers are more precise in the province of Quebec and they indicate quite clearly that November 20 was the day on which Sir Wilfrid Laurier came into the world naked and screaming and, from that point on, went on to become one the country's leading francophone politicians.
This bill to honour Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier arguably sets aside time to reflect on two of Canada's most important politicians and certainly prime ministers. Sir John A. Macdonald was obviously the prime minister during Confederation. In 1867 he led the country into a new federal state. Though he was defeated in 1873, he was re-elected four times subsequent to that: in 1878, 1882, 1887 and again in 1891. He was elected five times as prime minister of the country. He died in office in June 1891. More than any single individual in our entire country's history, we have to give him credit for bringing this great nation together. His efforts and leadership created the country, gave birth to a nation. One cannot emphasize enough the magnitude and the majesty of that accomplishment.
What accomplishment can compare in any way to what Sir John A. really did? It was a tremendous act of will to bring together this vast, diverse and enormous land. He united the country not only through his political efforts but arguably he united the country physically, through the construction of the railway, and philosophically, by having like-minded people pull in the same direction. Through his long range vision, foresight, perseverance and certainly unquestionable inner fortitude, Sir John A. is very worthy of the bill that is before us.
His professional life included his time as a lawyer and a businessman. He worked in a bank and entered politics as an alderman for Kingston, Ontario. He died, as I mentioned, on June 6, 1891, while still in office and is buried in the Cataraqui cemetery near Kingston, Ontario.
His party, quite apropos and relevant in today's political environment, was one of the liberal Conservatives. One can imagine how incongruous. In the current context, it was a coalition that he led. He was the party leader from 1867 to 1891 and was able to bring together like-minded Conservatives with a social conscience.
He represented the constituencies of Kingston and Victoria, British Columbia. Many Canadians are probably not aware that Sir John A. represented the constituency of Victoria from 1878 to 1882 and then returned to Ontario between 1882 and 1887 to represent Carleton, Ontario. His ministries included receiver general, militia affairs, justice, attorney general for Canada, minister of the interior, superintendent general of Indian affairs, railways and canals. He obviously had a diverse interest that he brought to public life.
I want to touch for a moment on Sir Wilfrid Laurier and his accomplishments. He was the seventh prime minister of the country serving from 1896 to 1911. He was the first elected French Canadian prime minister. He drafted John Abbott, who became the first prime minister from Quebec, into the job. When he left after one year, Mr. Laurier, who was seen by many as a young radical, and by some standards today may have been called a separatist, came into an age of wisdom and became the first elected prime minister from Quebec.
He was key to promoting national unity from that moment onward, and like Sir John A., came from a professional life of the practice of law. He was called to the bar in eastern Canada in 1864. He was the editor of a paper and an ensign in the Arthabaskaville Infantry. He served as an MLA in the provincial legislature of Quebec. He died in February of 1919 in Ottawa and was buried at the Notre Dame Cemetery.
His political record, like Sir John A.'s, is stellar and is one that displays an incredible ability and degree of leadership. Although Macdonald was a Conservative and Laurier a Liberal and they were opponents in and out of the House, they had a common belief in a strong and united country where everyone, regardless of religion, race or language lived and worked for the benefit of one nation.
Throughout our remarks we have avoided the degree of partisanship that sometimes slips in. It is an effort for us to ban together to present a bill that would benefit Canadians in the sense that they could recognize, in an official way, the history and the cohesiveness that these two men represent to us. I encourage all members to support this important initiative.