John Abbott becomes Canada's third prime minister,…
June 1891 CE
When Prime Minister Macdonald died in office, Abbott had supported John Thompson to succeed him, but reluctantly accepted the plea of the divided Conservative party that he should lead the government.
Abbott has been involved in the promotion of several railway projects, including the Canadian Pacific Railway (of which he has served as President).
He had worked to incorporate and arrange financing for the first Canada Pacific Railway syndicate
As legal advisor to its main financier, Sir Hugh Allan, Abbott was the recipient of the infamous telegram from Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald during the 1872 Canadian federal election campaign which read "I must have another ten thousand; will be the last time of calling; do not fail me; answer today."
This telegram had been stolen from Abbott's office and published, breaking the 1873 Pacific Scandal which brought down Macdonald's government.
Abbott was subsequently a key organizer of a second syndicate which eventually completed the construction of Canada's first transcontinental railway in 1885, serving as its solicitor from 1880 to 1887 and as a director from 1885 to 1891.
Soon after Abbott assumes office in 1891, Canada will be plunged into an economic recession; later that same year he will face another challenge as the McGreevy-Langevin scandal comes to light, revealing that Hector-Louis Langevin, former Minister of Public Works in the Conservative government, had conspired with politician and contractor Thomas McGreevy to defraud the government.
Langevin had been promised the post of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec by the new Prime Minister if he resigned as Minister of Public Works.
Langevin had stepped down in 1891 but Abbott had appointed Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau instead.
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