A Reformer and advocate of responsible government, Macdonald served in all eight Assemblies of the Province of Canada prior to Confederation. He also served in several pre-confederation administrations, including a period as co-premier of the Province of Canada from 1862 to 1864. It was this time when Macdonald suffered a collapsed lung from chronic tuberculosis. Macdonald was initially an opponent of confederation, but came to accept it and became an ally of Sir John A. Macdonald. John A. Macdonald helped manoeuvre Sandfield Macdonald into the position of first Premier of Ontario.
Premier and Attorney-General of Ontario
Macdonald instituted several notable achievements, in addition to setting up the initial machinery of government for the new Province: His government was moderate and initially a coalition of liberals and conservatives, but suffered from defections by more radical Reformers. This group joined with the Clear Grits to form the opposition Liberal Party led by Edward Blake and Oliver Mowat. In December 1871, Macdonald's government was defeated by Edward Blake's Liberals. Macdonald resigned, and died several months later. In the early years of confederation, politicians were allowed to serve simultaneously in the House of Commons and in a provincial legislature. From 1867 to 1872, Macdonald was also a Liberal MP in the House of Commons of Canada.
Family
Macdonald's brothers, Donald Alexander Macdonald and Alexander Francis Macdonald, were also politicians, and served as federal Members of Parliament. Donald, who served as an MP the longest of the three brothers, was in the House of Commons concurrently with both Sandfield and Alexander, although Sandfield and Alexander did not serve concurrently with each other.
Legacy
Sandfield Macdonald would be the last Roman Catholic Premier of Ontario for 132 years; not until Dalton McGuinty became premier in 2003 would another Roman Catholic assume the office. After Macdonald's tenure, sectarian tensions in the province rose, and the Conservative Party increasingly became identified with the Orange Order and sectarian Protestantism. Even though most of the party's leaders were not sectarian themselves, Orange Ontarians became a core constituency of the party that leaders were loath to neglect. Catholics, meanwhile, increasingly voted for the Liberal Party. While the Liberals could never be called a Catholic party, the Catholic vote became as important a constituency to the Liberals as the Orange vote became to the Conservatives. Nineteenth century religious tensions aside, Macdonald's election as Ontario's first Premier makes his Catholicity an important historic symbol. Similarly the election of John Thompson, Canada's first Roman Catholic Prime Minister only twenty five years after Confederation, was indicative of the ambitions of Roman Catholics to be full and equal participants in the newly created country. Macdonald is buried in historic St. Andrews Cemetery in St. Andrews West, Ontario. The gravesite is marked by a bronze plaque, the first under a new program to honour Ontario premiers at their burial sites. The Ontario Heritage Trust plans to commemorate each of the province's 18 deceased premiers in a similar way, styled after a national program to mark the graves of prime ministers. The Macdonald Block Complex is named after Macdonald. A statue of Macdonald stands in front of the east side of the Ontario Legislative Building in Toronto. The monument, unveiled in 1909, was sculpted by Walter Allward. He was portrayed by Aidan Devine in the 2011 CBC Television film .
