By Michael Bliss

Jean Chrétien’s career shows how much can be accomplished in Canadian politics by someone who is ambitious, hard-working, and has good luck — even if they speak English with a very thick accent.

Chrétien did not speak English at all when he was elected to Parliament in 1963 from rural Quebec. He was only 29 years old, one of a middle-class family of 19 children. He worked hard, began to learn English, made many Liberal friends, and by 1967 had become a minister in Lester Pearson’s Liberal government. Read the full story

By Michael Bliss

Brian Mulroney came from an Irish-Canadian working class family in the remote Quebec town of Baie-Comeau. He rose to be one of Canada’s most successful Conservative prime ministers, serving for two terms and nine years in the country’s highest office. In retirement Mulroney was proud of his achievements, especially the negotiation of free trade with the United States. But he also had to explain significant failures and defend his reputation for personal integrity. Read the full story

By Michael Bliss

Pierre Trudeau, a Quebecer, went into politics to fight Quebec separatism. As Liberal prime minister from 1968–1979 and 1980 –1984 he kept Canada together and also changed the country forever. Trudeau was the father of a new constitution for Canada that included a Charter of Rights and Freedoms and guarantees of multiculturalism. And his government made Canada officially bilingual. Read the full story

By Michael Bliss

Lester “Mike” Pearson (1897-1972) was Canada’s greatest diplomat and the only Canadian ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Because of these achievements he won the leadership of the Liberal Party and served as prime minister from 1963 to 1968. His government had very important achievements to its credit, but was often in difficulty. Many Canadians loved and admired Prime Minister Pearson. Others thought his best work had been done before he became prime minister. Read the full story

By Michael Bliss

William Lyon Mackenzie King’s grandfather was a rebel, who probably would have been hanged if he had not fled to the United States. King himself became Canada’s longest-serving and one of its best prime ministers. King and the Liberal party governed the country most of the time from 1921 to 1948. During those years King’s greatest achievements were leading Canada through World War II and introducing major social welfare policies. Read the full story

By Michael Bliss

It was not hard to be Prime Minister of Canada 100 years ago.  In 1910 immigrants were pouring into the Canadian west. Canadian trade was booming. New transcontinental railways were being built. Great deposits of gold, silver and other minerals were being discovered all across the north. In 10 years the population of Canada increased by almost 40 percent, and in 1905 two new provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, had been created on the prairies. Read the full story

By Michael Bliss

Canada’s first prime minister, and one of its greatest statesman, was an immigrant.

John Alexander Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1815, and came with his family to the Kingston area of Upper Canada (later Ontario) in 1820. Macdonald’s father was a shopkeeper and miller. Scots were the dominant group of immigrants to Upper and Lower Canada after the conquest of New France and played a key role in shaping the country’s institutions. Read the full story