© David Watts
Stephen is a siding on the CPR mainline
George Stephen was its president before 1889
Sir George Stephen, financier, who showed the world “we can”
And Stephen is a mountain: a mountain of a man.
Stephen is a siding above a mountain town
Where uphill trains can take the main over others coming down
George Stephen took the side when the finance work was done:
“We need an operations man; it’s your turn now, Van Horne”
George Stephen held the chair of the Bank of Montreal
A vantage point from which he watched the markets rise and fall
In CP’s darkest hour laid all his assets on the line
Saying “when the creditors come for us, they musn’t find a dime.”
Sir George built the syndicate that built the CPR
With money-wise experience connections near and far
Couldn’t fathom politics or understand the games
But stands beside Sir John in our pantheon of names.
Stephen took as title a Yoho peak that presides
Above the Town of Field beyond the Great Divide
Beside Cathedral Mountain looks down on the flats below
We’re through the tunnels, past Big Hill, now home to the sea we go…
Stephen is a siding on the CPR mainline
George Stephen was its president before 1889
Sir George Stephen, financier, who showed the world “we can”
Lord Mount Stephen standing true: a mountain of a man.
Note on “Lord Mount Stephen”
With his cousin Donald Smith, Stephen was one of The Scots who built Canada. A trader with the Hudson’s Bay Company, a banker and financier, his presidency of Canadian Pacific Railway was the third role in which he served Canada. Had we named our own governors general then, he would have been an ideal candidate: a man of commitment, integrity and stature.