Gwyn: "Cometh the right time, cometh the right person. He was John A. Macdonald". Sweeny: "The real driver of Confederation was Macdonald’s colleague, his “Siamese twin,” Sir George-Étienne Cartier."
Maybe if the Reform Act actually does restore the accountabiity of leaders to caucuses, historians will start to remind us that there were 36 fathers of confederation -- that the main requirement for confederation was a big room. But as long as our political culture is so leader-driven, this kind of debate is probably inevitable. Some fun reading, tho'. Sweeny again;
"Why has Macdonald garnered better press, with some even calling him “Father of the Country”? Willful ignorance of the facts and reliance on myth, rather than reality."Update, January 13: A late contender noted by Everyday History: Barbara Messamore makes the case for George Brown.
"Brown held the key to bringing it all about."
