Speech to the Workingmen's Liberal Conservative Association, Ottawa, 1886

What it is

This is a printed speech by Sir John A. Macdonald, delivered in Ottawa on 8 October 1886 to the Workingmen's Liberal Conservative Association of Ottawa and Le Cercle Lafontaine. The pamphlet's contents list covers topics such as the National Policy, statistics on Canada's prosperity, the Canadian Pacific Railway, trade union laws, George Brown's treatment of workingmen, and convict labour. The scanned copy is held on the Internet Archive, and the original publication is held by the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto.

Why it matters

The speech is Macdonald's own argument to working people in the year before his death, during a period when his government was defending its trade policy and its record. It shows how a party tried to win workers' votes by pointing to legislation that it said helped them, and by contrasting itself with its Liberal rivals, including George Brown. Reading it alongside opposition pamphlets such as Bellerose's shows how sharply Macdonald's record was contested.

Look closer

• Which groups of voters does Macdonald address directly, and what does he promise or claim to have done for them?
• How does he describe his opponents, and what might a listener on the other side have said in reply?
• Which problems in the lives of workers does the contents list mention, and which does the speech seem to avoid?