Stamp honours Sir John A bicentennial

The first day cover commemorates Canada’s first Prime Minister with text expressing his accomplishments, set on an outlined image of Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald, known as “Canada’s Patriot Statesman” played a lead role the creation of the Dominion of Canada.

On the 200th anniversary of Sir John A. Macdonald’s birth, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015, Canada Post issued a stamp to celebrate the country’s first prime minister.

“Sir John A. Macdonald not only led negotiations that created our country, but he also guided a growing and maturing Canada,” said Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport, responsible for Canada Post Corporation, in a press release. “On the 200th anniversary of his birth, we remember that enduring legacy.”

Macdonald began his career in Upper Canada in 1835 as an attorney in Picton at the age of 20 before moving to Kingston to become a barrister. At age 19, he won his first trial in the Picton Courthouse in 1834. He called the Quinte region his home for 11 years.  He lived in Hay Bay, Napanee, Glenora and Picton before moving finally to Kingston in 1835.

Working with the Prince Edward County’s Sir John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Project, the celebration of his bicentennial continues in 2015.

A Macdonald Heritage Trail is also in development. It would link key sites of historical significance to Macdonald’s life from Bellevue House, his home in Kingston and now a national historic site, to Napanee and along the Loyalist Parkway to Bath where he was a frequent speaker during election campaigns. The trail would continue into Prince Edward County for significant stops including the Grist Mill at Glenora, where he lived with his parents, and The Armoury, downtown Picton, where The Macdonald Project on Canada Day, 2015 is to officially unveil the bronze work of a young John A practising law for the first time here. It is titled ‘Holding Court’ and includes a prisoner’s dock and chair. The work, by internationally recognized sculptor Ruth Abernethy, commemorates Macdonald winning his first trial in Picton in 1834 and marks his “coming of age” and the beginning of his career.
The trail is to continue to Glenwood Cemetery and on to Belleville, a major political base for his Conservative Party and Glanmore House, home to many of the effects of his close ally, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, and to the Murray Canal that he opened at Trenton.

His death in office in 1891 was marked by tributes from political allies and opponents alike. Thousands of people paid their respects when he lay in state in Parliament, and mourners lined the tracks as a train carried him to his resting place in his hometown of Kingston.

“Our stamps have captured the story of Canada ever since Confederation and today we celebrate one of its key architects,” said Deepak Chopra, President and CEO of Canada Post. “Two hundred years after his birth, Sir John A. Macdonald remains a towering figure and this stamp celebrates his legacy.”

Huff Estates sparking wine honours Sir John

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