to die in or be driven from office by poor health since the election of 1891. Like Abbott, Thompson never fought an election as leader. Queen Victoria returned Thompson to Halifax with full honours aboard the battleship HMS Blenheim and he was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Halifax.
CHAPTER 6
MACKENZIE BOWELL: THE ORANGEMAN
It is such a comfort to shake hands with honest men, after having been in company with traitors for months.
Mackenzie Bowell ranks as one of Canada’s least-respected prime ministers. When Sir John Thompson died suddenly in 1894, the leadership of the Conservative party was thrust upon Bowell by a meddlesome governor general. Prime minister for less than sixteen months, and one of only two to lead from the Senate, Bowell is known chiefly for inspiring a revolt in his caucus and for fumbling the Manitoba School crisis.
Mackenzie Bowell was born in Rickinghall, England on December 27, 1823. When he was nine, his family moved to Canada to join relatives in Belleville, Ontario. As a young man, Mackenzie Bowell worked for the Intelligencer, Belleville’s local newspaper, and later became owner and editor. In 1847 he married Harriett Louisa Moore with whom he had four sons and five daughters. Bowell was a military man whose active duty included responding to Fenian disturbances. He retired from service in 1874 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Bowell was also a proud member of the Orange Order, founded in 1795 in Ireland to commemorate William of Orange’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. In 1870, Bowell rose to the top rank of Grand Master. While the Order was widely subscribed outside Québec, it was not a unifying force in the nation—its members were not sympathetic to either Catholics or French Canadians. Macdonald was once a member of a similar order, although Orangemen took a dim view of his alliances with politicians from Québec. Likewise, Bowell found that his personal views were sometimes in conflict with those of the larger membership. While seeking election to the Upper Canada legislature in 1863, Bowell spoke out against allowing Catholics their own school boards. But once the law was passed he did not speak out or resist its implementation, despite requests from the more out spoken ranks of Orangemen for continued resistance. As far as Bowell was concerned, the bill had passed fairly and he refused further struggle. Dissatisfied, his fellow Orangemen arranged for his defeat at the polls.
Bowell accepted the Conservative nomination again in 1867. His opponent had voted against legislation to connect Belleville with Marmora by rail, causing Belleville Mayor Billa Flint to endorse Bowell. Keeping an eye on local issues helped Bowell to win seven consecutive general elections in Hastings North from 1867 through to 1891.
Bowell was a staunch Conservative, but by no means a blind partisan supporter of Macdonald. In his early days as a parliamentarian, Bowell often voted against government legislation. But Bowell’s habit of speaking out only when voting against the government gave him the reputation of being a grumbler.
In 1874, Bowell was openly critical of his government after Thomas Scott, an Ontario Orangeman, was executed by a Métis firing squad under the leadership of Louis Riel. Bowell petitioned for Riel’s expulsion from Canada and called it a “disgrace” that Macdonald thereafter consulted with Riel’s representatives. Though strongly opposed to Macdonald’s handling of Riel, and disdainful of Catholicism, Bowell was still an essential ally to Macdonald. With one in five voters from Ontario belonging to the Orange Order, Macdonald could not sustain his political coalition and ignore the group Bowell represented. Bowell served in Macdonald’s Cabinet, holding portfolios for railways and canals, and later for trade and commerce.
After Macdonald’s death in 1891, Bowell considered retiring, saying, “I do not care how soon I am relieved of the cares of official life of which I am getting tired.” But he continued in Abbott’s Cabinet, and when Thompson succeeded Abbott, he appointed Bowell government leader in the Senate as a reward for defending Thompson against religious attacks. Such a defence was unexpected from an Orangeman.
As Thompson’s minister of trade and commerce, Bowell travelled to Australia to discuss trade between Canada and the colonies. During the visit, Bowell secured host status for Canada for the next colonial conference.
While Thompson was on his fateful trip to Europe in 1894, the 71year old Bowell was the acting prime minister. Tories debated among themselves who should succeed Thompson. Sir Charles Tupper, the high commissioner to England, was their initial choice, but the governor general, Lord Aberdeen, held Tupper in low regard and rejected him. Lady Aberdeen especially disliked Tupper. She felt he was far too conservative, and disapproved of his reputation as a philanderer. Other potential candidates were also rejected. Then there was Bowell. He had served as acting prime minister, although, by convention, this fact often precludes consideration. His reputation as a fierce Protestant and ardent anti Roman Catholic made him popular within certain segments of party ranks, particularly in Anglo Québec. Officially, Bowell claimed no interest in the leadership, but the events that unfolded indicate otherwise. Lord Aberdeen met with him to discuss the future of the country. Bowell withheld information about the poor regard in which he was held by caucus. Lord Aberdeen then consulted with Sir Frank Smith, a Roman Catholic senator, about Bowell’s capability. Sir Frank approved the choice, and Lord Aberdeen used his constitutional authority to ask Bowell to form a Cabinet.
Though much of the caucus did not want Bowell as leader, Lord Aberdeen made his own decision. By contemporary standards, the authority the governor general had in political affairs seems scandalous. Not so then, given the governor general’s constitutional responsibility to ensure a stable and responsible government. And Lord Aberdeen clearly relied on his wife for advice, if not direction.
Bowell’s appointment met with lukewarm reviews in the press. The Toronto Globe said: “The criticisms upon him must simply be that he is not a broad enough or a strong enough man for the position . . . He has the views and habits of thought of the average party man. Nobody need fear that as Premier he will be the author of any great political crime.”
Bowell attempted to emulate the Old Chieftain. But Bowell was no Macdonald. He lacked Macdonald’s intelligence, insight, wit, charm, and patience. More important, he lacked leadership skills and the respect of his caucus. His term as prime minister was doomed from the beginning.
The Manitoba Schools Question colours Bowell’s entire term as prime minister. The Manitoba Act, passed in 1870, granted equal rights to French Catholic and English Protestant schools. Within a decade, however, the makeup of the province had changed dramatically. Many Métis had left and immigrants from Québec were far outnumbered by English-speaking Protestants from Ontario. In 1890, Manitoba Premier Thomas Greenway passed the controversial Manitoba Schools Act, which eliminated public funding for Catholic schools, effectively ending French as an official language in the province. Catholics wanted the federal government to pass remedial legislation to restore the public funding that Greenway’s government abolished. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Manitoba Schools Act violated the earlier Manitoba Act. But in January 1895, a Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain overruled that decision. At this point, Bowell still had the prerogative to intervene, as provided in the British North America Act.
This political landmine challenged Bowell beyond his ability. Québec strongly supported entrenched Roman Catholic rights. Protestant Ontario supported Manitoba. From the Senate, Bowell could not control the debate in the House of Commons, and the business of the nation ground to a halt. Bowell decided to restore the abridged language rights through remedial legislation, but to delay action for six months, hoping the English-French divisions within his own Cabinet could be overcome. But that delay only inflamed the debate.
Bowell’s minister of justice, H.C. Tupper, insisted that Manitoba pass new legislation restoring language rights and that Parliament should then be dissolved and go to the people over the issue. Bowell hesitated. Tupper resigned. In a stinging resignation letter, he cited Bowell’s poor leadership and cowardice in the face of an election: “I cannot be a party to a course dictated by the dread of the people. . . . We can . . . do nothing effectively or properly without a direct mandate from the people.”
Eventually, Tupper would be brought back into the fold on the