CNHS - Thomas D'Arcy McGee 1825-1868 - Ottawa
Posted by: 
JDandDD
N 45° 25.353 W 075° 41.892
18T E 445377 N 5030129
Thomas D'arcy McGee was assassinated near this spot in 1868.
Waymark Code: WMNM6
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 08/27/2006
Views: 153
McGee remains the only Canadian politician to be assassinated. Born in Claringford Ireland he was involved in a failed Irish Rebellion of 1848. Because of that he was forced to flee to the United States where he was a strong supporter of Irish Independence and the annexation of Canada by the United States.
In 1857 he was invited by Montreal's Irish population to move there and by this time he was no longer a supporter of Annexation. He was involved with government almost from the moment he arrived in Canada. He was elected to the Legislature of the Province of Canada in December 1857 and by 1863 had become the Minister of Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics.
He was a true visionary of Confederation and a founding father of the country. He attended the crucial Charlottetown conference that set the stage for confederation. He was elected to Pariliament in 1867.
However, by 1868 he was starting to look to leaving politics and return to his poetry. But he was gunned down on a very cold April evening near this spot. It was thought the he was killed by Irish loyalists because he had reversed his support of Irish Independence but that was not proven.
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