Shortly after Mackenzie’s death, he was eulogized by future Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier in the House of Commons. You can read Laurier’s tribute to Mackenzie below.

Hon. Wilfrid Laurier: Mr. Speaker, twelve months have not yet elapsed since death removed from among us the great man (Sir John A. Macdonald) who had been for more than a quarter of a century the leader of the Conservative party and the most prominent figure in the national life of Canada. His demise was mourned over by the whole country, friends and foes forgetting the differences of opinion which had divided them only to remember these greater qualities which commanded universal admiration. 

This day we have to deplore the loss of one who was for many years the chief opponent of Sir John Macdonald, and who was in many ways as richly, although differently endowed from himself, and who was undoubtedly in the estimation of all, I believe, the strongest character whom Canada has seen for many a day.  On this occasion again I am glad to know—indeed I knew it even before the Minister of Justice spoke—that all parties, friends and foes alike, unite in a common and very sincere grief. 

Although upon this occasion grief cannot assume the same intensity of expression which it assumed on the other occasion, there are various obvious reasons for that. It was Sir John Macdonald’s good luck that he was struck standing at his post, that he died in harness, that he was removed under the very gaze of the public eye from the field of active strife to eternal rest; whereas it was Mr. Mackenzie’s misfortune that he survived for many years his own self.  For any years he has been prostrated by illness and though his heart continued as warm and his mind as active as ever, his physical frame was fatally shattered.  He was condemned to silence, his services were lost to the country, and the public had long been reconciled to the painful idea of his death.  There can be no doubt whatever that to one of so strong and energetic a nature, these years of inactivity and of prostration must have been years of intense suffering and that death whenever it came was looked upon as a relief. 

At last, in the very hour of Easter day, of that day which in the faith of Christians is the symbol of victory over death, his long-imprisoned soul was released from its shackles, and he now lives forever.  Already the Canadian people appreciate the magnitude of the loss they have suffered; and, indeed, Mr. Mackenzie was a unique man in his day. 

Living in an age which was not particularly distinguished for staunch adherence to principle, he always was the unbending champion of right, as God gave him to see the right.  Living in an age where success was very often held to be the primary consideration success was never with him a primary nor even a secondary consideration.  He strove for the right as he saw the right, and indeed it is a matter of history that when he was in office he could have conciliated public opinion and perhaps continued to enjoy power if he had consented to deviate ever so little from those principles of political economy which alone he held to be true.  But on this occasion his stern character again asserted itself; he risked everything, and he lost all, and he did it cheerfully.  Such examples are rarely met, if ever, in our own day; and to find any parallel you have to go back to the days of Puritan England, when men fought and bled for principle, holding any kind of compromise in scorn. Such were the principal qualities which distinguished, I believe above all others, Mr. Mackenzie’s career. 

Indeed, his strong qualities as a public man are well known.  There was, however, another aspect of his character little known to the public and perhaps entirely misconceived, but well known to those who had the privilege of his friendship.  He was supposed to be stern, cold and ungracious; but the very reverse was the truth.  He was richly endowed with that quaint humour peculiar to his own race, little to be suspected under a somewhat reticent exterior, but to which the unrestraint of intimate life acted as a stimulant, and which then broke forth into copious and rich fancy. 

To those who had the privilege of his hospitality he was one of the most agreeable of men; and with that he had a kind heart, a most kind heart indeed, which always responded generously when properly appealed to.  In many ways Mr. Mackenzie was an exceptional man. I may say—and I am sure that in this all will agree with me—that he united many qualities seldom found together, and which combined made him one of the truest and strongest characters to be met with in Canadian history.