Prime Minister Stephen Harper has marked the 200th anniversary of Canada’s founding father — Sir John A. Macdonald — at a modest but glittering ceremony at Kingston City Hall. Macdonald lived in Kingston and represented it in the Commons. Harper’s praise of his famous predecessor took a wide turn, entering through a back door in a sense. He said so much good came from what he called an ordinary man of whom little was expected. “Without Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada — the best country in the world — simply would not exist,” Harper told a crowd of dignitaries under tight security. Comments on the occasion contain resentment from some that he was in Canada and not in Paris, at the unity parade. It is easy to see, however that Harper could easily be criticised for abandoning a planned event to seek greater limelight in the French capital.
