Unlikely allies led way to a new nation
Coalition key to modern Canada
In the summer of 1864, three men held the future of a backwoods colony in their hands. Fortunately, they put aside their political, religious and ethnic differences and joined hands to create what was then called a “Great Coalition” in Central Canada.
Within a few weeks, these three political rivals had begun a historic effort with their British colonial compatriots in the Maritimes to build a new nation that would eventually stretch to the Pacific Ocean.
Within four months, after meeting with others in Charlottetown and Quebec City, they had drafted the outlines of a constitution for the Confederation — later to be called the British North America Act.
Within three years, they achieved their goal on March 29, 1867 — royal assent of the BNA Act, which defined federal and provincial powers of a new nation that promised “peace, order and good government.”
And then, under sunny skies that shone throughout the colony on July 1, 1867, they celebrated the birth of the Dominion of Canada.
This is all thanks to the wisdom of two Scottish immigrants to Ontario, John A. Macdonald and George Brown, and a French-Canadian from Quebec, GeorgeÉtienne Cartier.
Nearly 150 years later, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper campaigned vociferously in a recent election against the dangers of a Liberal-NDP coalition, the irony of how Canada was born is striking.
Back then, political co-operation through a coalition was born of pure necessity — to break a deadlock in the fledgling colonial province that spanned what is now Ontario and Quebec.
There had been six elections in six years. No progress could be found in this “province of Canada,” where legislation required passage of a “double majority” in both Canada East (Quebec) and Canada West (Ontario).
Moreover, the threat of annexation by the United States, then in the grip of the Civil War, loomed large.
And so politicians did the right thing for once. They cooperated.
The story of how all this happened in the 1860s is both fascinating and inspirational. It’s also a story that most likely Canadians know little, or nothing, about.
By comparison, thousands of people flocked into movie theatres recently to watch Hollywood’s depiction of how U.S. president Abraham Lincoln ended slavery in 1865.
Just as interesting a tale is the one of how Macdonald, Brown and Cartier provided the seed for the birth of Canada.
The turning point in the history of this country occurred on June 14, 1864, when a government led by Macdonald’s Conservatives was defeated.
He had been governing shakily, with the support of Cartier’s “bleus.” But yet again, it appeared the dysfunctional province was headed toward another election.
However, into the mix came Brown — leader of the Reform party and editor of the Globe newspaper.
He had long been a bitter rival of Macdonald’s, and he used his newspaper to criticize French Canada and its seemingly unfair influence on the young colony of Canada.
But instead of capitalizing on Macdonald’s weakness and plight, Brown stunned the political world by deciding to work with him and Cartier in a new coalition government.
Together, the three would try to end the deadlock through a restructured nation and — if possible — persuade their fellow colonials in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to come on board.
Much of the historical drama is splendidly recounted in author Richard Gwyn’s two-volume biography of Macdonald.
Gwyn describes Brown’s move as “the most dramatic instance of political reconciliation in Canada’s parliamentary history” since the governor general read the Throne Speech in both English and French nearly two decades earlier.
“The Canadian political system had become stale and sterile,” writes Gwyn in John A.: The Man Who Made Us. “The Conservatives and the Reformers were like punchdrunk fighters, still upright only because they each propped the other up, too depleted now to take more than the occasional swipe at each other over stale quarrels.”
Macdonald and Brown had fought over everything, from the choice of Canada’s capital to how both Ontario and Quebec had veto power through the “double majority” for legislation.
“Besides their multiple combats, they shared a mutual animosity, thickening towards contempt, matched only a century later by that between prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson,” observes Gwyn.
“Yet here they were, doing what they had promised never to do — joining hands with each other.”
Brown had toned down, if not abandoned, his habit of being anti-French — often seen through the pages of his newspaper, the Globe.
“It will be a tremendous thing if we accomplish it,” he wrote his wife as Canada’s Fathers of Confederation began their talks.
“There is no other instance of a colony peacefully remodelling its own constitution — such changes have always been the work of the parent state.”
Cartier displayed the political courage necessary to make the dream happen. As Gwyn notes, Cartier was making the boldest move of the three politicians by risking the “effective veto on national affairs” his Quebecers had through the double majority.
Cartier took this action, writes Gwyn, “on a good-faith assumption that Quebec’s distinctiveness would continue to be respected even when it was surrounded by an entire transcontinental flock of English-speaking fowl.”
Great leaders recognize when history is calling, and when to put down their political arms in favour of unity.
When Canada was formed in 1867, its 3.5 million citizens could thank three men for their vision.
Nearly 150 years later, more than 34 million Canadians owe the same debt of gratitude.