Thompson: A little too much of a Nova Scotian?

A prime minister's final dinner with Queen Victoria
Posted By SEAN CHASE
Posted 3 days ago


President John F. Kennedy shares two things in common with Sir John Sparrow Thompson, Canada's fourth prime minister.

Both men were the first Roman Catholics to occupy the highest political offices in their respective countries. They also died before the end of their single terms-- Kennedy felled by an assassin's bullet, Thompson silenced by a heart attack. Kennedy is still remembered as a much beloved American president, in more mythological terms than substantive policy, who could have achieved so much more had Camelot not ended so suddenly. Thompson is largely forgotten, being one of Sir John A. Macdonald's four successors, but had he lived he may well have ranked as one of our greater prime ministers.

The son of Irish immigrants, John Sparrow David Thompson was born into a family of seven brothers and sisters. He attended the Royal Acadian School and the Free Church Academy in his native Halifax. His early life was marred by tragedy, with most of his siblings dying before he reached the age of 22. By the time he was admitted to the Nova Scotia bar in 1865, Thompson was the sole provider for his surviving family members.

In 1870, he married Annie Affleck, a Roman Catholic girl who had lived just down the street. Although Thompson was a Methodist, he decided to convert to Catholicism shortly after the marriage. Months later his political career began with his election to Halifax city council. Six year later, he was acclaimed to the provincial assembly and served as attorney general in Premier Simon Holmes' cabinet.

In 1882, a caucus revolt over the consolidation of the province's railway companies forced out Holmes ahead of the election. Thompson briefly succeeded him but the Conservatives were defeated at the polls. Unable to form a coalition government, he resigned. As a reward for guiding the party through a difficult patch, Macdonald appointed Thompson to the Nova Scotia supreme court.

One of the youngest judges on the bench, at age 36, Thompson was a courteous, confident and competent man who had little taste for politics. He loved the law and embraced all aspects of the judiciary. After a tour of Harvard and Columbia universities in the U.S., he returned and founded the Dalhousie law school. The Liberal administration even requested Thompson reorganize the supreme court. A happily married family man with nine children, Thompson had no grand ambitions other than to continue on the court.

By 1885 Macdonald was looking for new blood in his tired government and badly wanted Thompson. However, twice the judge politely rebuffed Macdonald's overtures, saying he wanted to stay out of the 'slime' of Ottawa politics. After pressure from members of parliament, newspaper editorials and, even his wife, Thompson accepted the post of justice minister and was elected MP for Antigonish.

He worked hard in his new portfolio and quickly proved to be indispensable. He played a pivotal role in the fisheries negotiations between Canada, Britain and the U.S. As justice minister, he mastered in precise detail every issue put before him from the Alaska boundary to the Manitoba schools question.

Thompson grew to become a close and trusted friend of the prime minister. Macdonald once claimed the recruitment of Thompson was "the greatest discovery of my life," although he found him to be "a little too fond of satire and a little too much of a Nova Scotian."

As Macdonald's health failed, many considered the justice minister to be the natural successor to the prime ministership. Thompson was the last minister to visit Macdonald before he suffered the final stroke which led to his death on June 6, 1891. The government was immediately in crisis because Macdonald had not named a successor in his will. When Governor General Lord Stanley called on Thompson to form a government, he declined (partly because he believed his Catholicism would be unacceptable to Ontario Conservatives). Thompson instead recommended Sir John Abbott, a senator, who accepted the job.

In the period following Macdonald's death, a corruption scandal involving the public works department threatened to bring down the government. However, nervous Conservatives rallied when Thompson promised, as government house leader, to conduct a comprehensive investigation. They past their first electoral test when the Tories picked up most of some 50 byelections, strengthening their majority by 65 seats. The result was Thompson was able to pass legislation enacting the Criminal Code of Canada -his greatest legacy.

Advertisement