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Mackenzie end of January gave Mackenzie's government a majority of nearly three to one. On 26 March 1874 the new parliament met. The acts relating to elections were among its chief measures. Acts were also passed providing for the construction of the Pacific railway and the completion of the intercolonial railway to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, under the superintendence of the minister of public works. Mackenzie had while in opposition spoken against the bill for the former railway, and though he now loyally accepted that policy, British Columbia viewed his control of the enterprise with a suspicion which caused his government a good deal of uneasiness. This was, however, allayed by the governor-general, Lord Dufferin, who visited the province in 1878. In 1875 Mackenzie's ministry advised an amnesty to those concerned in the troubles in the north-western territories in 1869-70 (which led to the Red River expedition); took important steps towards consolidating those territories, and established a supreme court of the Dominion. Later in the year Mackenzie revisited Scotland; he was presented with the freedom of Irvine, Dundee, and Perth, and was entertained by the queen at Windsor, but he declined the honour of knighthood. During the sessions of 1876 and 1877 several measures of a liberal character and permanent utility became law, and public works, including sections of the Pacific railway, were vigorously prosecuted. The premier was also successful in obtaining from the home government permission for Canada to nominate a delegate to the International Fishery Commission, which met at Halifax on 15 June 1877. Depression of trade, however, bred difficulties. During the session of 1878 the government successfully repelled the vigorous attacks of Sir John Macdonald, who pressed for 'a judicious readjustment of the tariff' on behalf of 'the agricultural, the mining, the manufacturing, and other interests,' But at the general election, on 17 Sept. 1878, the conservative party were generally victorious, and Mackenzie resigned. His five years' ministry, which was practically contemporaneous with Lord Dufferin's tenure of government at Ottawa, is said to have been 'the purest administration which Canada has experienced.'

During 1879 Mackenzie led the opposition, and challenged unequivocally the protective policy of his opponents, which he regarded as jeopardising the connection with England. In April he had a slight attack of paralysis, and later in the year removed his residence to Toronto. In 1880 he resigned the leadership of his party, but remained in parliament as a private member. In 1881 he made a second journey to Scotland, and was presented with the freedom of Inverness. In July 1882 he was elected for East York, which he represented till his death. Despite failing health, he took an active part in the stirring debates on the Jesuit estates in 1889. He died on 17 April 1892 at St. Albans Street, Toronto. The funeral service was conducted in the Jarvis Street Baptist Church, Toronto, and he was buried in Lake View cemetery, near Sarnia, his old home. The Dominion House of Commons and the Manitoba legislature adjourned over the date of the funeral. Mackenzie in appearance was a typical hard-headed, middle-class Scotsman. He adhered through life to his political principles with unflinching integrity, and earnestly upheld the connection between Canada and the old country (see Canadian Parliamentary Companion, 1891). Although director of the North American Assurance Company, and of other companies, he died poor. He belonged to the baptist connexion. In earlier days he was an enthusiastic volunteer, and a major in the 27th (Lambton) battalion of volunteer infantry till October 1874.

He published in 1882 a well-written biography of his friend and leader, George Brown.

He married twice: first, Helen, daughter of William Neil of Irvine, Scotland, who died in January 1862; secondly, on 17 June 1853, Jane, eldest daughter of Robert Sym of Perth. By his first wife he had an only daughter, who married John Thomson, presbyterian minister at Sarnia.

 MACKENZIE, CHARLES FREDERICK (1825–1862), bishop of Central Africa, born at Portmore on 10 April 1825, was youngest child of Colin Mackenzie of Portmore, Peeblesshire, a clerk of session, and one of Scott's friends and colleagues. His mother was a daughter of Sir William Forbes [q. v.] of Pitsligo. William Forbes Mackenzie [q. v.] was his brother. After his fathers death in 1830 he was brought up by his eldest sister, Elizabeth, going first to a private school and then to the Edinburgh Academy, until in 1840 he was sent to the Grange school, near Sunderland, where he showed himself possessed of a talent for mathematics. He went into residence as a pensioner of St. John's College, Cambridge, in October 1844, but, finding that he would as a Scotsman be disqualified for a fellowship 