July 1, 1876, Confederation's ninth birthday, saw John A. Macdonald speaking at his first "political picnic" in the park at Uxbridge, Ontario.
The picnic was notable for launching the rebirth of Macdonald's political prospects after he had been been driven from office by the Pacific Scandal in 1873 and humiliated at the polls in 1874. The picnics were also significant as a symptom of the consolidation of national political platforms and campaigns. At picnic after picnic for the rest of the summer, Macdonald hammered away at three themes he was using to differentiate his party from the government: the National Policy, the railroad, and Britain over the US.
The picnics were one of the first signs of our political parties becoming leader-driven, centrally-directed, and message-focussed, rather than loose coalitions of individual MPs. They have a lot to answer for, you might say.
But the picnics were picnics too, and a lot of Uxbridgeans had a fine old Dominion Day, despite the reported prevalence of too much "weak tea and dubious lemonade." I hope we drink better than that on the 139th Canada Day this weekend. Personally I'm anticipating a no-politicians weekend on the Lake Nipissing shore.
