George Brown and the Dream of a New Canada
Few men in Canadian history were as principled, stubborn, and essential to the nation’s birth as George Brown. He was a fighter, a journalist, and a statesman, but above all, he was a reformer. As founder of The Globe, Brown shaped public opinion with a conviction that bordered on zealotry. He despised corruption, detested sectarianism, and viewed the Union of the Canadas as an unworkable disaster that needed radical reform.
Yet, history has often overlooked Brown’s role in Canadian Confederation. While John A. Macdonald, with his political cunning, is remembered as the “Father of Confederation,” it was Brown’s Great Coalition of 1864 that made Confederation possible. As historian Peter Dunkley notes, “Macdonald may have built the house, but it was Brown who laid the foundation” (George Brown: Firebrand of Reform, p. 263).
His political career was driven by one unshakable principle—that Canada West (Ontario) deserved fair representation. The Union of the Canadas, established in 1841, had forced English-speaking Ontario and French-speaking Quebec into a marriage of inconvenience, shackled together in a legislative deadlock.
Brown believed that Canada West was being governed unfairly, its growing population denied the voice it deserved. He championed the cause of “representation by population” (or “rep by pop”)—a policy that would allow English Canada to dominate the legislature based on its larger numbers.
But Brown was no simple nationalist. He was, at his core, a believer in federalism. Though he initially proposed a federation of Canada West and Canada East, he was willing to consider a larger Confederation with the Atlantic colonies as a means of breaking the impasse. He also envisioned expanding into the Hudson’s Bay territories, ensuring that the vast western lands would be settled by English-speaking Ontarians rather than American expansionists.
For Brown, the path to Confederation was not easy. He loathed John A. Macdonald, saw Cartier as a defender of French privilege, and was an uncompromising moralist in a world that demanded compromise. Without his unexpected willingness to set aside personal grievances, Confederation may not have happened at all.
The Union of the Canadas: A Failed Experiment
The Act of Union (1841) was intended to solve the problems that had plagued Upper and Lower Canada, but it only made things worse. Designed by Britain, the Act forced the two Canadas into a single legislature, with equal representation despite demographic shifts. By the 1860s, Canada West outnumbered Canada East in population, yet political deadlock meant neither side could govern effectively.
Brown saw this injustice as intolerable. He railed against French influence, accusing the Catholic hierarchy of blocking reform and demanding that Ontario be freed from what he saw as a minority veto. In one of his most famous editorials in The Globe, he thundered:
“Shall the people of Canada West forever be bound to the will of a French Catholic oligarchy? The answer must be no!” (Careless, Brown of the Globe, p. 214).
Brown’s unyielding demand for “rep by pop” made him a hero to Reformers in Ontario but a villain in Quebec. His refusal to compromise made him an ineffective leader, and his government fell quickly when he briefly held power in 1858. Yet, as Ged Martin argues, “though Brown was not a successful politician, he was the most consequential opposition leader Canada ever had” (Confederation Debates: The Vision of George Brown, p. 103).
The Great Coalition: Brown and Macdonald’s Unlikely Alliance
By 1864, Canada was ungovernable. Governments rose and fell in rapid succession, unable to pass legislation. Some began to whisper about annexation by the United States, a terrifying prospect in the wake of the American Civil War.
It was then that Brown did the unthinkable—he met with his greatest political enemy, John A. Macdonald. Their hatred of each other was legendary. Macdonald viewed Brown as a sanctimonious windbag, while Brown saw Macdonald as a corrupt opportunist, willing to deal with Catholic and French interests for political gain. Yet, as W.L. Morton writes, “politics often makes strange bedfellows, and nowhere was this more true than in Brown’s reluctant decision to work with Macdonald” (The Critical Years, p. 146).
It was Brown’s wife, Anne Nelson Brown, who pushed him toward compromise. She saw that his crusade for representation by population would never succeed unless he was willing to negotiate. In a letter to her husband, she wrote:
“George, it is time. If you do not act now, you may never see the Canada you wish to build.” (Dunkley, Firebrand of Reform, p. 287).
In June 1864, Brown agreed to join Macdonald and Cartier in what became the Great Coalition. This unprecedented alliance paved the way for Confederation by uniting Reformers and Conservatives in a shared goal—a new constitutional framework that could solve Canada’s crisis.
The Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences: Brown’s Federal Vision
Charlottetown (September 1864)
Originally, the Charlottetown Conference was meant to discuss a Maritime Union between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. However, Brown and the Canadian delegation seized the moment, arguing for a wider Confederation.
Brown was among the most forceful speakers, insisting that only a federal structure could ensure stability. As historian Christopher Moore describes, “Brown was at his most persuasive in Charlottetown, hammering home the necessity of federalism as a solution to Canada’s dysfunction” (1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal, p. 93).
Quebec (October 1864): The Birth of the 72 Resolutions
The Quebec Conference solidified the foundations of Confederation. Brown was instrumental in drafting the 72 Resolutions, the framework that defined Canada’s federal system. His key demands were:
- A strong central government to oversee national affairs.
- Autonomy for provinces, ensuring Ontario and Quebec could govern themselves separately.
- Expansion into the West, securing Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Brown recognized that the future of Canada lay westward. He saw the Hudson Bay territories as an integral part of Confederation, arguing that they should be settled by Ontarians rather than annexed by the United States (Morton, The Critical Years, p. 241).
The Forgotten Father of Confederation
Would Confederation have happened without George Brown? Most historians agree that the answer is no. As J.M.S. Careless asserts:
“Brown was the crucial catalyst. His entry into the Great Coalition, his leadership at Quebec, and his vision for westward expansion all made Confederation possible. Without him, there is no Canada.” (Brown of the Globe, p. 398).
Yet Brown did not live to see his vision fully realized. He resigned from politics in 1867, content that his work was done. Three years later, in 1880, he was shot by a disgruntled employee, a tragic and ironic end for a man who had fought his battles with words rather than weapons.
Brown was, in many ways, the architect of Confederation who never claimed his place in the building. His unwillingness to compromise for most of his career made him a lesser politician than Macdonald, but his vision, determination, and courage ensured Canada’s birth.
Though Macdonald built the country, it was Brown who saw its necessity first. And for that, he deserves his place as one of Canada’s greatest, yet most overlooked, founding fathers.
References
- Dunkley, Peter. George Brown: Firebrand of Reform. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1983.
- Martin, Ged. Confederation Debates: The Vision of George Brown. University of Toronto Press, 1998.
- Morton, W. L. The Critical Years: Confederation and its Leaders. Oxford University Press, 1964.
- Careless, J.M.S. Brown of the Globe: Volume 2, Statesman of Confederation, 1860–1880. Macmillan, 1963.
- Moore, Christopher. 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal. McClelland & Stewart, 1997.
- Gwyn, Richard. John A.: The Man Who Made Us. Vintage Canada, 2007.
