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Secondary sourceSculpturec. 1895

Statue of Sir John A. Macdonald, Parliament Hill

Louis-Philippe Hébert · c. 1895

A bronze statue of Macdonald erected on Parliament Hill in Ottawa soon after his death, showing how he was remembered as a founder of Canada.

This statue commemorates Macdonald on Parliament Hill, showing how he was enshrined as Canada's founding prime minister soon after his death.

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Bronze statue of a standing man in a long coat on a tall grey stone pedestal, with a seated female bronze figure holding a flag and a plaque reading 'Sir John A. Macdonald'. Trees and blue sky behind, with a metal fence and parked cars.
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (11 January 1815 – 6 June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada (1867–1873, 1878–1891). The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career which spanned almost half a century. Macdonald was born in Scotland; when he was a boy his family immigrated to Kingston in the Province of Upper Canada (today in eastern Ontario). As a lawyer he was involved in several high-profile cases and quickly became prominent in Kingston, which elected him in 1

About this source

What it is

This bronze statue of Sir John A. Macdonald stands on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. It was made by sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert around 1895, a few years after Macdonald's death.

Why it matters

Macdonald was Canada's first prime minister and a leading figure in Confederation. This statue, raised by the generation that knew him, shows how he was quickly honoured as the country's founder. Monuments like this tell us as much about how people wanted to remember Macdonald as about Macdonald himself.

Look closer

  • Why might Macdonald's contemporaries have wanted to put up a statue so soon after his death?
  • What does placing it on Parliament Hill suggest about his role in Canadian government?
  • What parts of his life and policies does a statue like this leave out?

This sculpture is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sir John A. Macdonald on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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