The Past Speaks

Sir John A. Macdonald:

Son of Glasgow, Father of Canada

City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow,

Saturday 10 January 2015

1.00pm-6.00pm, followed by reception and banquet

Keynote speakers: Professor Ged Martin and Professor Sir Tom Devine

The historical connections between Scotland and Canada have long been celebrated. This conference brings together a diversity of perspectives for an evaluation of the life and legacy of Sir John A. Macdonald who was born in January 1815 in Glasgow.

12.00-1.00pm – Lunch

1.00pm – Welcome

1.15pm-2.30pm – Professor Ged Martin on Macdonald, Glasgow and Canada

2.30-4.00pm – Panel 1 – Macdonald as Politician, Businessman and Statesman

Randy Boswell (Carleton University) – ‘Macdonald’s Mouthpiece’ – Glasgow-born David Creighton and The Empire newspaper

Andrew Smith (Liverpool University) and Laurence Mussio (McMaster University) Sir John A Macdonald, the Canadian Military-Commercial Complex and the Preservation of the Capitalist Peace in the Civil War era, 1861-1871

Ed Whitcomb (independent scholar) – Macdonald and federal-provincial relations

4.00-4.30pm refreshments break

4.30-6.00pm – Panel 2 – Macdonald as Emigrant, Favourite Son and Contested Icon

Stephen Mullen (University of Glasgow) – Macdonald’s Glasgow

Rosie Spooner (University of Glasgow) – The Glasgow Exhibition of 1888 and the Canadian Dimension

Dawn Westwater (Brock University, Ontario) – Commemorating Macdonald

6.30pm – reception and banquet with after-dinner speech by Sir Tom Devine on the Scottish factor in Canadian history.

Registration for the conference is free: to register please contact Stephen Mullen, s.mullen.1@research.gla.ac.uk  by 10 December 2014 stating whether you would also like to attend the reception and banquet.

This event is organised under the auspices of the British Association for Canadian Studies (BACS) and with the support of the Canadian High Commission and Glasgow City Council.