The electoral victory of the Reform Party in 1848 was perhaps the most significant turning point in Canadian history. Led by Robert Baldwin and Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine, the Reformers succeeded in peacefully bringing representative government to Canada and thus paved the way for Confederation and a fully independent country. Contrary to popular opinion, the English did not bestow democracy on us. All the English politicians, Whig or Tory, were against democracy in the colonies, even if they were for it at home. John Ralston Saul (a national treasure, by the way) summed it up perfectly: "The idea of non-violently talking your way out of an empire, which Gandhi is famous for, happened first in Canada."
At the time, Canada was run by an appointed British governor and his non-elected Executive Council, which was populated almost entirely by local moneyed elites. There were elected legislatures in both Upper (predecessor of Ontario) and Lower (predecessor of Quebec) Canada but their powers were very limited. Frustration with this arrangement built until it exploded into the Rebellion of 1837-38, which was short, violent and badly organized. The rebels, lead by the extremist William Lyon Mackenzie and the French-Canadian nationalist Louis-Joseph Papineau, were easily defeated and the reform movement fell into disarray.
While Baldwin and LaFontaine supported the aims of the rebellion, neither believed in violence, so they didn't participate. Instead they built the Reform Party as a moderate political movement and they took a longer term view. When Loyalists (aka Tories, those who were loyal to the English crown and opposed democratic measures) blocked Baldwin's supporters from voting, he withdrew before things became violent. It looked like weakness and defeat, but he took up his pen and attacked the Loyalist's thuggery with words and in the long term this was the right move. Meanwhile, Lafontaine was the first to understand that the British Constitution held the keys that could be used to ensure the survival of French-speaking Canadians. He argued that instead of embracing nationalism, the French should be part of a united, democratic Canada which would entrench their equality under the law. He proclaimed that French democrats were allied with English democrats, and that this would overcome ethnic differences.
In the tribal purity tests of the time, Lafontaine was branded a sell-out by many of his fellow French Canadians. They blocked him from getting a seat in the Lower Canada assembly, so Baldwin - in an act of supreme generosity and strategic brilliance - gave up his own seat in York so Lafontaine could run in the riding. Baldwin campaigned for Lafontaine and he was duly elected. In 1843, when Baldwin lost his seat, Lafontaine returned the favour and gave up his seat in Rimouski in Lower Canada. Baldwin also won, and together they formed the government, with Baldwin insisting that Lafontaine become Prime Minister. It was our first democratic government, but it only lasted until 1844, when they resigned after a dispute with the Governor General over patronage.
In 1848, they tried again. The British decided to treat Canada as a dumping ground for Irish refugees during the Potato Famine. Canada had no say as some 200,000 people were sent here, crammed onto ships with only meagre rations to ward off the rampant diseases on board. One-fifth of them died, and the Canadian government almost went bankrupt trying to look after the influx. When the election of 1848 came, the anger against the British and their colonial lackeys helped give the Reformers an easy victory, with Baldwin and Lafontaine governing as co-leaders.
But there would still be more trouble. Loyalist mobs ran wild after the Reformers passed the Rebellion Losses Bill, which simply sought to compensate Lower Canada bystanders for damages suffered in 1837-38. This was done in Upper Canada years before, but this bill was painted as rewarding French traitors. Parliament was attacked and was burned to the ground. Later, some 200 men attacked Lafontaine's home, which was protected by only by a handful of armed men. The assault was repulsed after his guards fired on the mob, killing one man. At the ensuing inquest into the violence, Lafontaine was called to testify and Loyalist thugs again tried to kill him by setting that building on fire. In a final indignity, the leading Tories wrote the Montreal Annexation Manifesto, which advocated for the annexation of Canada into the US. It was an incredible betrayal by people who loudly claimed to be loyal to England and it showed their true motivation, which was nothing more than the protection of their own power and wealth. This loathsome act was thankfully the end of the Tory movement in Canada.
Baldwin and Lafontaine shared a deep friendship and this relationship represented a bridge over the ethnic animosity of the English and French factions. They didn't succumb to Mackenzie's extremism, nor did they ever let their own egos derail them from their shared goal. Because Baldwin and Lafontaine refused to resort to violence, only a dozen or so people died in the fight for democracy, compared with the hundreds or thousands it could have been. They epitomized the qualities of true leadership: courage, integrity, modesty and the desire to serve the greater good.
You hear the echoes of the Tories in the 'Wexiters' crawling around Alberta and Saskatchewan right now. I'd bet anything these would-be separatists would sell out in a New York minute and join the US if they thought that would protect their own political power and economic interests. Just like the Tories, that is the only thing they care about; the rest is just propaganda and manipulation. The same goes for the Bloc Quebecois, which is completely contra to what Lafontaine stood for. Instead of working for a better Canada and by extension a better Quebec, the Bloc cynically pushes only Quebec's interests and panders to the grievances (some legit, many not) of those who see themselves as perpetual victims.
History shows that us-versus-them tribalism has never worked, other than as a political ploy to gain power. It's a knee-jerk reaction based upon ignorance, stereotypes and perceived victimhood. There will always be politicians who trot out these kinds of scapegoats in an effort to divide people; it's a strategy as old as Athens. We have such politicians in Alberta and Quebec right now. If you fall for their lies, understand that you will never win in the long run, you will only lose.
In 1848, Canada was very lucky that it had Lafontaine and Baldwin. We'll probably need people like them again.
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