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In an address made to the Empire Club of Canada in 1915, the orator expressed that “to read the biography of Sir John Alexander Macdonald is, essentially, to read a new world biography”.

Born in Scotland, the Macdonald family emigrated to Kingston, Ontario in 1820, where they lived a sparse and meager life. After joining a law firm at an early age, Macdonald quickly found himself involved in politics, where it became clear that he had considerable skill at negotiation and public relations.

A founding father in every sense of the word, Macdonald was responsible for joining the provinces in confederacy in 1867, a feat that relied on a three-part plan, known today as his ‘National Policy’: building the transcontinental railroad; increasing immigration to settle the western provinces; and implementing tariffs on American made goods and services, thereby fostering the growth of farms and food production in the West. While Macdonald suffered personal hardships, he is regarded as an adept and charismatic leader who repeatedly stood in defiance against the “Manifest Destiny” philosophy of the neighbouring United States, settling the Northwest rebellion in 1885 and for creating a workable balance between French and English interests in Upper and Lower Canada.

Similar in appearance to one held at the Canadian Museum of History, Macdonald was presented with this engraved silver trowel which he used to lay cement at the United Empire Club on King Street in Toronto, Ontario. A ceremonial tool to mark the beginning of a new civic chapter, this trowel evidences Macdonald’s literal and figurative role in laying the foundation of Canada as a unified nation.