Abbott was actively engaged in good community works, was a founder of the Art Association of Montréal, helped to establish the Protestant Institution for Deaf Mutes and for the Blind, and was a sup porter of public libraries.
In 1891, Macdonald appointed Abbott president of the Privy Council. At the time, Macdonald told Sir John Thompson, “When I am gone, you will have to rally around Abbott; he is your only man.” Powerful words, especially since they were uttered to Thompson, a leading contender to succeed Macdonald. Hours before his death, however, Macdonald is reported to have had a change of heart and to have told Thompson that Abbott could not be the prime minister because he was “too damned selfish.”
Had the Liberal-Conservative party been in opposition, the caucus would likely have determined who was best qualified to succeed Macdonald. But because the party held power, it was the constitutional prerogative of the governor general to invite a member from the Conservative benches to become prime minister. The governor general could consider the views of the past leader and senior Cabinet ministers, but he was not beyond using his own judgment. Indeed, until the mid1920s, Governors General enjoyed a remarkable degree of latitude in choosing the prime minister.
The governor general considered Sir Hector Langevin, Macdonald’s French-Canadian deputy, but rejected him because of a scandal in his ministry. Sir Charles Tupper, then the Canadian High Commissioner to London, was offered the position, but declined. Sir John Thompson was next in line, but he also declined because he did not believe the country was ready for a Catholic prime minister. In fact, Thompson had converted from Methodism, making him even more controversial. Thompson recommended Senator John C. Abbott.
Although Abbott had been elected mayor of Montréal, he was not popular among French Canadians. He understood the party was divided and that the issues of the day would challenge him. Abbott was ready to exit political life, and twelve days before Macdonald’s death he explained why. “I hate politics and what are considered its appropriate methods. I hate notoriety, public meetings, public speeches, caucuses. Why should I go where doing honest work will only make me hated and my ministry unpopular, and where I can only gain reputation and credit by practicing arts that I detest, to acquire popularity?”
Eventually Abbott relented, musing that the reason he was chosen to take over the prime ministership was because he was “not particularly obnoxious to anybody.” He saw himself as the candidate who would least divide the party, taking office in ill health at the age of seventy. He was the first Canadian prime minister born in British North America, and one of only two to lead from the Senate. Other than Brian Mulroney, Abbott is the only Quebecer to lead the Conservative party. Unlike Mulroney, however, Abbott could make no claim to affinity with French Canadians. His initial political assignment was to protect the rights of the English in Québec.
With Abbott leading from the Senate, Thompson held the fort for the government in the House of Commons. In fact, many observers saw Thompson as the de facto prime minister, biding his time to earn the confidence of his countrymen until they could overlook his religious conversion. Leading from the Senate amplified Abbott’s challenge. He was detached from the cut and thrust of the elected House of Commons and too old to invigorate a factionalized party. The caucus—divided on lines of religion, ethnicity, and personal loyalties—could not be bridled by a mere mortal.
In the one year, five months, and ten days he held office, Abbott dealt with much of the government business left over from Macdonald’s tenure. Abbott had no grand vision, but responsibly advanced government business in areas of civil service reform, criminal code amendments, and trade relations with the Americans. He also pressed for an attaché to the British mission in Washington who would be responsible for Canada’s affairs. In short, Abbott was a caretaker prime minister who took on the difficult task of providing stability at the outset of the post-Macdonald era.
Abbott’s most impressive accomplishment in office was the record number of Conservative wins during his time in office. He increased the party’s majority by 13 seats, winning 42 of 52 by-elections. That record of by-election success remains unmatched in Canadian political history. But he was not much of a retail politician. Dignified yet grim, he never made a speech in public while holding office and preferred to play a quiet game of chess rather than attend caucus meetings.
After one year as prime minister, Abbott attempted to hand the reins over to Thompson, but the anti-Catholic faction of the party resisted. The issue of succession became imperative when Abbott fell severely ill with stomach cancer in August 1892, and was told by his doctors that he would die without rest. Abbott went to England to seek medical treatment, then resigned in December, without ever facing the country in a general election. He returned to Canada and died the following year.
Abbott is unknown to most Canadians and is rarely mentioned in the history books. His successor, John Thompson, explained why. “Sir John Abbott’s great qualities of brain and heart, his great qualities of statesman ship, his great abilities and his great desire to serve this country will never be fully understood by the Canadian people because his career as first minister was too short to have made much of a mark on Canadian history. Perhaps Abbott will best be known simply as the prime minister who took on the impossible task of succeeding the Old Chieftain Macdonald.”
CHAPTER 5
SIR JOHN THOMPSON: THE CATHOLIC
We look forward to (women’s suffrage) as one of the aims which are to be accomplished in the public life of Canada, because the Conservative party believes that the influence of women in the politics of the country is always for good.
While Sir John Abbott governed from the Senate, Macdonald’s true successor led the government in the House of Commons. John Sparrow David Thompson was the first of a long string of national politicians to come from Nova Scotia. Like Abbott before him, his time in office was cut short, abruptly so.
Born in Halifax in 1845, Thompson initially shadowed his father’s career, working as a trial reporter before pursuing a career in law. Politics beckoned in 1878, and he won a provincial by-election in the riding of Antigonish. Thompson’s reputation as a hardworking, honest, and fair- minded lawyer earned him a place in the Cabinet of Premier Holmes as attorney general. He had a reputation of being straight with electors and acted responsibly with provincial finances. He was also a loving and dedicated family man who heaped affection on his nine children.
In Ottawa, Thompson made a positive impression on Prime Minister Macdonald because he resisted blaming the federal government for provincial ills. Macdonald appreciated his responsible tone. Then as now in Atlantic Canada, it was difficult to find provincial politicians who would take responsibility for economic malaise rather than blame the federal government.
Premier Holmes was widely regarded as a bully. Thompson wanted out of his Cabinet, and the vacancies in Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court caught his eye. But in 1891, fellow Nova Scotian and Macdonald loyalist Charles Tupper begged Thompson to lead the Nova Scotia Conservatives into the next provincial election. When Holmes resigned, Thompson agreed to assume the provincial leadership on the condition that he be handed the judgeship afterwards.
Macdonald was desperate to keep Nova Scotia’s Conservative government afloat and suggested that he and Thompson go to the polls at the same time to confuse voters into thinking they were supporting the more popular federal Conservatives. The strategy didn’t work. Thompson failed to win a majority of the seats and happily left politics to take up his seat on the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia’s bench. Though not elected premier by the people of Nova Scotia, he briefly held the title after Holmes resigned.
Thompson was more comfortable in law than politics, an environment he called “slime.” The perks and privileges of office were of no appeal to Thompson and unlike many of his colleagues sought no personal enrichment
