Rick Muldoon, age 15, of Keen,  N.H., for his question:

WHO WAS CANADA'S FIRST PRIME MINISTER?

First Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada was Sir John Alexander Macdonald. He is often called the father of present day Canada becuse he played the leading role in establishing the dominion in 1867.

Macdonald served as prime minister from 1867 until 1873 and again from 1878 until his death in 1891. He held the office for nearly 19 years, longer than any other Canadian prime minister except W.L. Mackenzie King, who served for 21 years.

Macdonald was a Conservative. He entered politics when he was 28 years old and during his long public career, Canada grew from a group of colonies into a self governing, united dominion extending across North America.

Without a doubt, Macdonald stood out as the greatest political figure of Canada's early years. A man of great personal charm, he also knew how to make people like him.

In 1843, when he was 28, Macdonald was elected an alderman in Kingston and the next year he easily won election to the legislative assembly of the Province of Canada.

For the next few years, Macdonald worked to rebuild his Conservative party. He wanted to include men of liberal and conservative views, French Canadians and English Canadians, Catholics and Protestants and rich and poor. A Liberal Conservative coalition party was formed and it came to power in 1854 under Sir Allan McNab. Macdonald served as attorney general.

In 1856, Macdonald and Sir Etienne Tache became associate prime ministers.

In the early 1860, the northern half of North America was called British North America. Many leaders, including Macdonald, worked for the idea of confederation. This dream came to reality when in 1876 the British parliament passed the British North American Act which brought the Dominion of Canada into being.

Confederation was largely Macdonald's achievement and Queen Victoria knighted him for it.

When the Dominion of Canada was established in 1867, the new nation had four provinces: Ontario (previously Upper Canada), Quebec (previously Lower Canada), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Governor General Charles Monck asked Macdonald to lead the first dominion government as prime minister.

Macdonald's goal was to enlarge the dominion into a unified nation extending across the continent.

In 1869, the Canadian and British governments agreed with the Hudson's Bay Company to purchase the company's land. Many Canadians thought the United States might annex this land. Parliament passed the Manitoba Act in 1870 and the lands became the fifth Canadian province.

British Columbia became the sixth province in 1871 and Prince Edward Island the seventh in 1873.

Macdonald's party lost power in 1873 but won the election in 1878, bringing back Macdonald for his second term as Prime minister.