The verdict on Sir John A. Macdonald: Guilty or innocent?

Canada's first prime minister is either a hero, or a man ultimately responsible for mass murder.

In this second part of the Trial of Sir John A. Macdonald, prosecutor Jean Teillet makes her case on the second count against Macdonald for crimes against humanity intentional starvation and deaths of thousands of Indigenous people on the plains.

**This episode originally aired April 12, 2018.

Transcript:

Prosecutor Jean Teillet:
He knew there was sufficient food to feed First Nations. And he knew it was being deliberately withheld, and that people were dying because of that. He knew the food was being withheld until it's spoiled, and that when rotten food was eventually distributed that killed people he dismissed the cries of starving people as grumbling. He cut rations to keep expenses down. He continued his policy of starvation because it furthered his goals to free land for white settlers and because it furthered the railroad.

Forced starvation is the intentional deprivation of food necessary for survival. And we say it's a crime against humanity for a government to carry out a policy of forced starvation against its own people. The rations policy was a systematic attack against these First Nations. Forced starvation is another method of democide. We say the facts here provide evidence of democide against these First Nations by forced starvation arising from an intentional and knowingly reckless disregard for life. And, finally, we say further that Sir John A. Macdonald was responsible for these acts, [and] that he must personally account for them.

During the on-stage trial, Teillet presented comments John A. Macdonald made in the House of Commons on April 27, 1885 as evidence:

Excerpt from Sir John John A. Macdonald's speech at the House of Commons on April 27, 1885

6 years ago

Duration 1:11

Excerpt from Sir John John A. Macdonald's speech at the House of Commons on April 27, 1885

Transcript:

Defence Frank Addario:
There were other factors that led to the mass starvation on the plains and many of them were out of the Prime Minister's control. The decline of the buffalo population was obviously not Macdonald's fault.

In October 1978, Macdonald returned to government, replacing Alexander Mackenzie. And he immediately acknowledged the tragedy by boosting spending in what was called the Indian Department and rolling out a [food aid] program in time for the spring of 1879. The government agreed to fund a new program of agricultural instructors to advise Indigenous people on how to farm. This is the first such program of its type. The federal government doubled its spending on what was called Indian Affairs from 1879 to 1881. And by 1885 it had almost tripled.

He was admittedly overfocused on the railway and nation-building, and preoccupied with the reservation system in the treaties. But there is no evidence he was interested in slaughter or killing. The failures of the numbered treaty food programs were not the work of a genocidal maniac.

As evidence of Macdonald's compassion towards Indigenous people, Addario pointed to this excerpt from Macdonald's speech to Parliament on May 5, 1880.

Excerpt from Sir John John A. Macdonald's speech at the House of Commons on May 5, 1880.

6 years ago

Duration 0:51

Excerpt from Sir John John A. Macdonald's speech at the House of Commons on May 5, 1880.

The Verdict

Former Supreme Court Justice, the Hon. Ian Binnie issued his verdict at the end of the trial. You can listen to it here:

Sir John A. Macdonald on trial: Rt. Hon. Ian Binnie delivers his verdict

6 years ago

Duration 3:50

Former Supreme Court Justice, Rt. Hon. Ian Binnie presents his verdict during a simulated trial that charges Canada's first prime minister of 'crimes against humanity.'

This special is based on a recording at theIsabel Bader Centre for the Performing Artsat Queen's University.

Guests in this episode:

The HonourableIanBinnie, C.C., Q.C., is one of Canada's most respected arbitrators and advocates, the Honourable IanBinnieserved for nearly 14 years as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. When he retired in 2011, he was described byThe Globe and Mailas "arguably the country's premier judge" and by La Presse as "peut-tre le juge le plus influent au Canada dans la dernire dcennie" (perhaps the most influential judge in Canada over the last decade). During his time on the country's top court (as only the fourth modern Justice appointed directly from the bar), Ian authored more than 170 opinions, including in landmark cases involving corporate and commercial disputes, issues of contractual interpretation and torts, patent interpretation and validity, Indigenous rights, copyright and protection of trademarks, media law, punitive damages, expert evidence and many other aspects of constitutional, criminal, and administrative law.

FrankAddarioleadsAddarioLaw Group's criminal, quasi-criminal, white-collar criminal defence and investigations practice. He is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer, regularly appearing at all levels of court in Ontario and at the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2016, he was awarded the G. Arthur Martin Criminal Justice Medal for his lifelong commitment to the criminal law. He is a vice president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. He is a pastpresident of the Criminal Lawyers' Association.

JeanTeilletis senior counsel with Pape SalterTeilletLLP and specializes in Indigenous rights law.Teillethas long been engaged in negotiations and litigation with provincial and federal governments concerningMtisand First Nation land rights, harvesting rights, commercial harvesting and self-government. She has served as counsel before all levels of court, including lead counsel for the landmark case R. v. Powley in which the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed constitutional protection ofMtisharvesting rights.Teilletwas a founder of theMtisNation of Ontario and the National Aboriginal Moot. She sits on the Canadian Judicial Council Chairperson's Advisory Group and the Indigenous Bar Association Ethics Committee. She is vice chair of Indspire (formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation) and past-vice-president and treasurer of the Indigenous Bar Association of Canada.

Patrice Dutilis a professor of politics and administration at Ryerson University. He has written a number of books on Canada's early prime ministers, includingPrime Ministerial Power in Canada: Its Origins under Macdonald, Laurier and Borden(2017). He was instrumental in providing the defence with research and provides expert testimony for both episodes of The Trial of Sir John A. Macdonald.

Further reading:

• Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life. James Daschuck, University of Regina Press, 2013.
• Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography. Chester Brown, Drawn & Quarterly,2006.
• John A.: The Man Who Made Us.Richard Gwyn, Penguin Random House, 2007.
• Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times. Richard Gwyn, Random House, 2011.
• Macdonald at 200: New Reflections and Legacies. Eds Patrice Dutil and Roger Hall, Dundurn Press,2014

This series was produced by Nicola Luksicandmade possible with thanks toQueen's UniversityThe video evidence for this trial was produced byBellows Media.The words of John A. Macdonald were narrated by John Gilbert.