Alexander Mackenzie PC (January 28, 1822 – April 17, 1892) was a Canadian politician who served as the second prime minister of Canada, in office from 1873 to 1878.

His masonry business prospered, allowing him to pursue other interests – such as the editorship of a pro-Reformist newspaper called the Lambton Shield.

He remained leader of the Liberal Party for another two years, and continued on as a Member of Parliament (MP) until his death, due to a stroke.

[2] The site of his birthplace is known as Clais-'n-deoir (the Hollow of the Weeping), where families said their goodbyes as the convicted were led to nearby Gallows Hill.

Mackenzie's faith was to link him to the increasingly influential temperance cause, particularly strong in Canada West (Ontario) where he lived, a constituency of which he later represented in the House of Commons.

Helen died in 1852, finally succumbing to the effects of excessive doses of mercury-based calomel used to treat a fever while in Kingston.

Because a key witness claimed Cabinet Confidence and would not testify, the paper lost the suit and was forced to fold due to financial hardship.

When Brown resigned from the Great Coalition in 1865 over negotiations of a reciprocity trade treaty with the United States, Mackenzie was invited to replace him as president of the council.

No cohesive national Liberal Party of Canada existed at the time, and with Brown not winning his seat, no official leader emerged.

For a man of Mackenzie's humble origins to attain such a position was unusual in an age which generally offered such opportunity only to the privileged.

Lord Dufferin expressed early misgivings about a stonemason taking over government, but on meeting Mackenzie, Dufferin revised his opinions: However narrow and inexperienced Mackenzie may be, I imagine he is a thoroughly upright, well-principled, and well-meaning man.Mackenzie served concurrently as Minister of Public Works and oversaw the completion of the Parliament buildings.

While drawing up the plans for the West Block, he included a circular staircase leading directly from his office to the outside of the building, which allowed him to escape the patronage-seekers waiting for him in his ante-chamber.

In keeping with his democratic ideals, Mackenzie refused the offer of a knighthood three times,[5] and was thus the only one of Canada's first eight Prime Ministers not to be knighted.

In 1874, Mackenzie negotiated a new free trade agreement with the United States, eliminating the high protective tariffs in place on Canadian goods in US markets.

Mackenzie chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada by the Governor General:[7] Despite his government's defeat, he retained the East York seat and remained Leader of the Opposition for another two years, until 1880.

[12] He was the soul of honour and integrity,[13] a proud man who sought no recognition or personal enrichment and accepted gifts reluctantly.

[14] He preferred to follow than to lead (many times he refused leadership offers) and he said he found that duty outweighed the heavy burden of office.

[18] The Upper Canada rebellion leader William Lyon Mackenzie said of him, "He is every whit a self-made, self-educated man.

[19] Canada's Governor General, Lord Dufferin, said he was "as pure as crystal, and as true as steel, with lots of common sense.

"[21] Sir Wilfrid Laurier, a friend, colleague in cabinet and later prime minister of Canada, said Mackenzie was "one of the truest and strongest characters to be met within Canadian history.

He was endowed with a warm heart and a copious and rich fancy, though veiled by a somewhat reticent exterior, and he was of friends the most tender and true.

The London Times – the untiring energy, the business-like accuracy, the keen perception and reliable judgment, and above all the inflexible integrity, which marked his private life, he carried without abatement of one jot into his public career.

Possessed of a clear intellect, a retentive memory, and a ready command of appropriate words, he was one of the most logical and powerful speakers we have ever heard.

In the dark days of ’73, Canadians were in a state of panic, distrusting the stability of their newly-built Dominion; no one can tell what would have happened had not the stalwart form of Alexander Mackenzie lifted itself above the screaming, vociferating and denying mass of politicians, and all Canada felt at once, there was a man who could be trusted.

[29] In their 1999 study of the Prime Ministers of Canada, which included the results of a survey of Canadian historians, J. L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer found that Mackenzie was in 11th place just after John Sparrow David Thompson.