Everyone in Canada knows the name of our current Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but he has done nothing compared to our very first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald. Macdonald did many things for our country, including making it a country, and it all started from his vision. He had a vision to unite all of Canada as one through a transcontinental railway, which went on to be known as the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The CPR cost a ton of money though, and the Canadian government just didn’t have enough money to keep pouring it into the CPR. Macdonald needed money, and he decided to get it from Hugh Allen, which led to the Pacific Scandal. Due to the Pacific Scandal, Macdonald was kicked out of office, and by the time the next election came around, he knew that he needed a political platform to win the election. In 1876 he created the National Policy, which became the basis of the Conservative election platform during the 1878 election. This National Policy had three initiatives to it; to create a system of protective tariffs against foreign goods; to encourage greater immigration to the west; the cornerstone of the national policy was to finish off the CPR. The National Policy got Macdonald back in power, more importantly though, Macdonald’s National Policy hugely impacted Canada economically, politically, and socially.…