Canada’s greatest Prime Minister (equaled only by Sir Wilfrid Laurier) wrote the last letter of his life on this date in 1891. His final written communication was sent to British Columbia Premier John Robson.
“It has occurred to me that the present would be an opportune season for your government to discuss with ours the various questions still unsettled between them,” Macdonald wrote. “You, I presume, can get away from Victoria with little or no inconvenience, and you will find us here in Parliamentary session until the 1st of July or later. We will then scatter until October, and at that season you, I suppose, will be wanted at home. Besides it will be a pleasant season for your journey. Give yourself leave of absence, and you and I can take up …. any other unsolved questions that may remain. Herein fail not.”
Two weeks later the Father of Confederation would pass into history, dying at home at Earnscliffe in Ottawa.
