After three weeks of voting, the field is down to two: John A. Macdonald and Wilfrid Laurier, Canada’s first two long-serving PMs. While it’s tempting to imagine this vote will break down on Liberal/Conservative lines, these are leaders from a time when the words meant something different. Laurier championed provincial rights and supported free trade. Macdonald believed in government intervention and created the tariff to help Ontario business.
I have no idea which of the two will win, but you can make a good case for either. And that’s exactly what I’ll be trying to do over the next week.
(4) Laurier (def Meighen 76-24, def Chretien 75-25, def King 66-34)
(2) Macdonald (def Campbell 92-8, def Mulroney 73-27, def Trudeau 65-35)
