Who is Leonard Tilley?

It would be a most useful exercise for Canadians to review our rich history and beginnings to make a proper evaluation of where we are now headed. Our native peoples, Vikings from Scandinavia, missionaries in the new colony of New France founded by French explorer Jacques Cartier and the early inhabitants of Newfoundland founded by English explorer John Cabot were some of the pillars in our early beginnings. One of our forgotten heroes was a man called Leonard Tilley, then Premier of New Brunswick and one of the true Fathers of Confederation. He attended all three Confederation conferences and was one of the architects of our early national policy. Tilley was a member of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly almost continuously between 1850 and 1867. The noble title of “Dominion of Canada” can be attributed to Tilley who in 1866 suggested that magnificent word "Dominion" be the key word for the new country which was accepted by the early fathers and endorsed by Canada's first Prime Minister John A. MacDonald who explained to Queen Victoria that the term "Dominion" (from Psalm 72 in the bible) was “a tribute to the principles they earnestly desired to uphold.” It is most unfortunate that on the whole modern educators have chosen to either ignore or deny the rich contributions Judaeo-Christian values have made in the heritage of this great nation and almost everything good in our entire western culture. By doing so they have robbed our children of an important part of our history. The vast majority of Canadians today still believe in a personal God and the concept is enshrined in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The spirit of our charter is tolerance, not selective tolerance. The intransigence of the majority of Canadians may be perplexing to the current government of Canada but the value of religious conscience cannot be overstated.