Alexander_Mackenzie

{{otherpeople|Alexander Mackenzie}}
{{Infobox Prime Minister
| name=[[The Right Honourable]] Alexander Mackenzie
| smallimage=Alexander Mackenzie portrait.jpg
| order =2nd
| office =Prime Minister of Canada
| term_start =[[November 7]], [[1873]]
| term_end =[[October 9]], [[1878]]
| predecessor =[[John A. Macdonald]]
| successor =[[John A. Macdonald]]
| birth_date ={{birth date|1822|1|28|mf=y}}
| birth_place =[[Logierait]], [[Scotland]]
| death_date ={{death date and age |1892|4|17|1822|1|28}}
| death_place =[[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]
| party =[[Liberal Party of Canada]]
| religion =[[Presbyterian]], then [[Baptist]]
}}
'''Alexander Mackenzie''', [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada|PC]] ([[January 28]], [[1822]] – [[April 17]], [[1892]]), a building contractor and writer, was the second [[Prime Minister of Canada]] from [[November 7]], [[1873]] to [[October 9]], [[1878]].

He was born in [[Logierait]], [[Perth and Kinross]], [[Scotland]] to Alexander Mackenzie, Sr. and Mary Stewart Fleming. He was the third of four children. Mackenzie [[immigrate]]d to [[Canada]] in [[1842]] after completing an education in [[public schools]] at [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]], [[Moulin]], and [[Dunkeld]], Scotland. Shortly thereafter, he converted from [[Church of Scotland|Presbyterianism]] to the [[Baptist church|Baptist faith]]. Mackenzie's faith was to link him to the increasingly influential [[Temperance]] cause, particularly strong in [[Ontario]], where he lived, a constituency of which he was to represent in the [[Parliament of Canada]].

Mackenzie married Helen Neil ([[1826]]-[[1852]]) in [[1845]] and with her had three children, with only one girl surviving infancy. In [[1853]], he married [[Jane Sym]] ([[1825]]-[[1893]]).

When the [[John A. Macdonald|Macdonald]] government fell due to the [[Pacific scandal]] in 1873, the [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]], [[Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava|Lord Dufferin]], had to call on someone to form a government. There was no clear leader of the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]]. Mackenzie was the fourth person called upon, and the first to accept the post of Prime Minister. Mackenzie formed a government and then asked the Governor General to call an [[Canadian federal election, 1874|election for January 1874]]. The Liberals won, and Mackenzie remained prime minister until the [[Canadian federal election, 1878|1878 election]] when Macdonald's [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservatives]] returned to power with a [[majority government]].

As Prime Minister, Alexander Mackenzie strove to reform and simplify the machinery of government. He introduced the [[secret ballot]]; created the [[Supreme Court of Canada]]; established the [[Royal Military College of Canada]] in [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]] in [[1874]]; created the Office of the [[Auditor General of Canada|Auditor General]] in 1878; and struggled to launch the [[Canadian Pacific Railway|national railway]]. After his government's defeat, Mackenzie remained [[Leader of the Opposition (Canada)|Leader of the Opposition]] until [[1880]], when he relinquished the party leadership to [[Edward Blake]]. However, he remained as a Member of Parliament until his death in 1892 from a stroke that resulted from hitting his head during a fall. He died in [[Toronto]] and is buried in the Lakeview Cemetery, [[Sarnia, Ontario|Sarnia]].

== Legacy ==
The Mackenzie building at the [[Royal Military College of Canada]] in [[Kingston, Ontario]] was named in his honour. [[Image:RMC 1880.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Mackenzie Building at RMC]]

At the time, it was customary for the [[Canadian monarchy|monarch]] to [[knight]] all Canadian Prime Ministers but Mackenzie declined all offers of a knighthood. He was the only Canadian Prime Minister not to be knighted until [[Arthur Meighen]] took office in 1920.

There is an Alexander Mackenzie High School in both [[Richmond Hill, Ontario|Richmond Hill]] and [[Sarnia, Ontario|Sarnia]] named after him.

== Supreme Court appointments ==
Mackenzie chose the following jurists to sit as justices of the [[Supreme Court of Canada]]:
* Sir [[William Buell Richards]] (as Chief Justice, [[September 30]], [[1875]] – [[January 10]], [[1879]])
* [[Telesphore Fournier]] ([[September 30]], [[1875]] – [[September 12]], [[1895]])
* [[William Alexander Henry]] ([[September 30]], [[1875]] – [[May 3]], [[1888]])
* Sir [[William Johnstone Ritchie]] ([[September 30]], [[1875]] – [[September 25]], [[1892]])
* Sir [[Samuel Henry Strong]] ([[September 30]], [[1875]] – [[November 18]], [[1902]])
* [[Jean-Thomas Taschereau]] ([[September 30]], [[1875]] – [[October 6]], [[1878]])
* Sir [[Henri Elzear Taschereau]] ([[October 7]], [[1878]] – [[May 2]], [[1906]])

== Helen Neil Mackenzie ==
Helen Neil Mackenzie ([[October 21]], [[1826]]-[[January 4]], [[1852]]) was the first wife of Alexander Mackenzie. She had three children, and died after being married to Mackenzie for seven years. Only one of their children survived infancy, a girl, named Mary Mackenzie. Her other two children were named Mary Mackenzie (same as her sister's) and a son whose name is unknown. It was because of Helen, who previously emigrated to Canada with her family, that Alexander also came to Canada.

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{Canadabio|ID=40374}}
*{{Parlbio|ID=1871}}

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{{succession box|
before=None|
title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Lambton (electoral district)|Lambton]]|
after=Abolished|
years=1867–1882
}}
{{succession box|
before=[[Alfred Boultbee]]|
title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[York East]]|
after=[[William F. McLean]]|
years=1882–1892
}}
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{{succession box|
before=''vacant''|
title=[[Leader of the Opposition (Canada)|Leader of the Opposition]]|
after=[[John A. Macdonald|Sir John A. Macdonald]]|
years=1873
}}
{{succession box|
before=[[John A. Macdonald|Sir John A. Macdonald]]|
title=[[Leader of the Opposition (Canada)|Leader of the Opposition]]|
after=[[Edward Blake]]|
years=1878–1880
}}
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{{canPM}}
{{Liberal Leaders}}
{{CA-Ministers of Public Works}}



{{Persondata
|NAME=Mackenzie, Alexander
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=2nd Prime Minister of Canada ([[1873]]-[[1878]])
|DATE OF BIRTH={{birth date|1822|1|28|mf=y}}
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Logierait]], [[Perthshire]], [[Scotland]]
|DATE OF DEATH={{death date|1892|4|17|mf=y}}
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Toronto]]
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Alexander}}
[[Category:Prime Ministers of Canada]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Liberal Party of Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Ministry in Canada]]
[[Category:Provincial Secretaries of Ontario]]
[[Category:Canadian businesspeople]]
[[Category:Scottish businesspeople]]
[[Category:Canadian journalists]]
[[Category:Scottish writers]]
[[Category:Pre-Confederation Ontario people]]
[[Category:Canadian Baptists]]
[[Category:People from Sarnia]]
[[Category:People from Perth and Kinross]]
[[Category:Scottish immigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario]]
[[Category:Scottish Gaelic-speaking people]]
[[Category:1822 births]]
[[Category:1892 deaths]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons]]

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