A late author’s story of Belleville’s Prime Minister will finally be told thanks to the efforts of a local publisher.

Besty Dewar Boyce’s book, The Accidental Prime Minister: the biography of Sir Mackenzie Bowell, has been published by Kirby Books, 10 years after the Belleville author died.

Paul Kirby said the book had previously been published in CD format by Ameliasburgh’s 7th Town Historical Society, but he decided the timing was right to publish 300 copies of a print edition.

“I know Betsy had a difficult time finding a publisher for this but we decided with the 100th anniversary of Bowell’s death being tomorrow (Dec. 10) and this being Canada’s 150th birthday year, the timing was perfect to publish it and tell some very important Canadian history,” he said. “A lot of people don’t know who Bowell is – he came to Belleville as a young child, the (Hastings and Prince Edward District) Board of Education’s Educator of the Year Award is named after him, he was the (owner) of The Intelligencer, he was involved in the (Luis) Riel affair. He had a very distinguished career but people only know about his year and a half as Prime Minister and all the negative attention from that.”

Bowell was a well-respected and longest serving cabinet minister for the Conservative Party when he was forced into the Prime Minister’s office following the sudden death of John Thompson.

Kirby said much of Bowell’s problem centred around the funding of Catholic and French speaking schools in Manitoba. An ironic issue, given Canada’s fifth Prime Minister’s role as an Orangeman, who served as Grandmaster of the Orange Order of British North America, 1870–1878.

“Nobody really wanted to be a caretaker prime minister but Bowell was a loyal Canadian and a very loyal Conservative so he took over the job,” Kirby explained. “As Betsy wrote in the book, Bowell was a Victorian gentleman, raised in Victorian times and despite his role as an Orangeman, he dealt with the issues in Manitoba as he thought the government should and that was to force Manitoba to fund the French and Catholic schools. A bunch of cabinet ministers walked out on him and they eventually returned with their tails between their legs but the damage was done and he was forced to step down.”

Kirby said the book and its rich history will be of interest to readers across the country, not just in Belleville.

“Luis Riel snuck into parliament in Ottawa on a weekend and signed in as a new member and when that was discovered there was outrage and Bowell put forward the motion in parliament that he should be kicked out,” he explained. “The man who Riel’s provisional government in Manitoba killed, executed was Thomas Scott from Madoc. Scott was a bit of a hot head and was out there working on the roads and was mouthing off and Riel’s provisional government tried and then executed him and that’s what led to all the trouble for Riel. The fact that Thomas Scott was from Madoc, in Bowell’s riding, he certainly had no love for Riel.”

Kirby said much of the history of Bowell points to him as one of the worst Prime Ministers in Canadian history but his accomplishments far outweigh his 18 months as the helm of the country.

The books sell for $29.95 and to order one of the 300 numbered copies, visit http://kirbybooks.ca/minister.html

bbell@postmedia.com