 This election, in which secret ballots were used for the first time, gave Alexander Mackenzie a firm mandate to succeed Macdonald as the new prime minister of Canada.Despite the short-term defeat, the scandal was not a mortal wound to Macdonald, the Conservative Party, or the Canadian Pacific Railway.An economic depression gripped Canada shortly after Macdonald left office, and although the causes of the depression were largely external to Canada many Canadians nevertheless blamed Mackenzie for the ensuing hard times.