George Brown (Canadian politician)
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada | |
---|---|
In office 1867–1867 | |
Preceded by | Office Established |
Succeeded by | Edward Blake |
Senator for Lambton, Ontario | |
In office December 16, 1873 – May 9, 1880 | |
Appointed by | Alexander Mackenzie |
Personal details | |
Born | Canadian | November 29, 1818
Political party | Clear Grit Party |
Profession | Journalist, publisher, politician |
Signature | |
George Brown (November 29, 1818 – May 9, 1880) was a British-Canadian journalist, politician and one of the
Early life
Scotland
George Brown was born in
Upon graduation his father wanted George to attend university but George convinced his father to let him work in the family's business. He briefly lived in London to be taught by agents of the business before returning to Edinburgh.[5] He joined the Philo-Lectic Society of Edinburgh, where young men would meet and discuss topics in a parliamentary debate.[6] Brown's father also worked as a collector of assessments. Some of the funds he collected for the municipality were mixed with his business bank accounts, and in 1836 some of the funds in these accounts were lost in business speculations. Peter was not accused of corruption, but he sought to repair his reputation and recoup the lost funds. He attempted to collect from people he lent money to but was unable to after the onset of the economic depression in 1837. Peter decided to emigrate to New York City to seek business opportunities and rebuild his reputation.[7] George accompanied his father to North America, and they left Europe in May 1837.[8]
New York City
The Browns landed in New York in June 1837.
Peter Brown supported the evangelical faction during the Disruption of 1843 within the Church of Scotland.[2] These members separated from the Church of Scotland in May 1843 and formed the Free Church of Scotland. While George was touring Canada, they asked him to present an offer to his father: to move publication of the British Chronicle to Upper Canada in exchange for a bond of $2500.[14] George supported the proposal, as he felt there were more opportunities to succeed in Canada.[2] He thought that there was hostility towards the paper in New York because of the paper's focus on Britain. Upon meeting Reform politicians in his travels through Canada, George felt that they would support his paper should it relocate to the province. George convinced his father to move to Canada and they published the last issue of the British Chronicle on July 22, 1843.[15]
Canada
George and Peter rented a storefront in Toronto and on August 18, 1843, they published the first edition a new paper called Banner. George managed the secular department of the newspaper, commenting on non-religious issues.[16] Banner initially did not commit to any political causes, although it supported many policies advocated by Reformers. This changed when the governor-general of the province, Charles Metcalfe, prorogued the Reform-dominated Canadian assembly when several Reform politicians resigned from the government. George published an editorial on December 15 that was critical of the governor-general's actions.[17] In the subsequent weeks, Banner published editorials that disputed political accusations against Reformers and called for unity behind Liberal candidates in future elections.[18]
In 1844, Reformers were concerned that Tories, in the upcoming election for the legislature of the Province of Canada, would appeal to the citizen's sense of loyalty to the British monarch and thus not vote for Reformers. They wanted to establish newspapers that would publish their ideas and offered Brown £250 (equivalent to £27,000 in 2021) to begin a new paper. In March, Brown published the first issue of
In the summer of 1845, Brown put his father in charge of The Globe and travelled to Southwestern Ontario to increase subscriptions to his paper.[26] He discovered that a rival Reform newspaper called Pilot was selling copies at a lower rate and people did not want to subscribe to more than one paper. Brown appealed to Reform leaders, who convinced Francis Hincks, the editor of Pilot, to raise the cost of his paper.[27] In October, Brown published the first edition of Western Globe in London, Canada West, which combined editorials from The Globe with local stories from the southwestern region.[28] In 1846, Brown began publishing the Globe semi-weekly, proclaiming that he was the first Reform-newspaper in Toronto to do so.[29]
During the 1848 Province of Canada legislative election, Hincks was in Montreal attending to business concerns and did not go to Oxford county to campaign for his re-election as the constituency's representative.[30] Brown spoke at the nomination meeting on Hincks's behalf and Hincks was successfully reelected.[31] Reformers won the majority of seats in the election to form an administration led by Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine.[32] In July 1848 Brown and his father closed the Banner to focus on expanding The Globe and their publishing business.[33]
In the summer of 1848, Brown was appointed by the administration to lead a
Early political career
Election win and opposition member
In 1848, Reformers won the majority of seats in the Province of Canada legislature and an administration was formed with
In April 1851, Brown ran in a
Brown supported an administration led by Hincks and Augustin-Norbert Morin as successors to the Baldin-Lafontaine government,[2] though he criticised the government for abandoning liberal ideals.[51] Brown worked to end state support for religious institutions, opposed government funding for a religious separate school system and endorsed representation by population in the legislature.[2] His newspaper, the Globe, still had widespread circulation and on October 1 started publishing every day as the Daily Globe to compete with other newspapers who had previously started to publish daily.[52] Brown's support deteriorated when scandals against Hincks were reported in the fall of 1853 and Brown toured Canada West, demanding new leadership for the Reform party.[53] For the 1854 general election, the constituency he represented was split into two and he decided to run in Lambton, as he was not confident that he could win the other Kent constitutency.[54] At the election's conclusion, Hincks formed a new Liberal-Conservative administration with Allan MacNab, causing Brown to become a member of the opposition.[2]
Brown worked with his opposition colleagues, including former Clear Grit rivals, Reformers who abandoned Hincks, and the
In 1855, Brown organised and provided the credit for the development of the town of Bothwell, in his constituency of Lambton, and set aside farmland for his own use.[61] In 1856, John A. Macdonald accused Brown of falsifying evidence and coercing witnesses in the Royal Commission on the Kingston Provincial Penitentiary in 1848.[62] A committee of inquiry produced a report that was non-committal of Brown's guilt.[63] Macdonald's accusations and subsequent investigation caused a political rivalry to deepen between Brown and Macdonald.[64]
1857 election and subsequent legislature
Brown helped organize a political convention on January 8, 1857, to unite his followers with Clear Grits and Liberals who left the Hincks administration.
An election for the Parliament of the Province of Canada was held in November 1857.[2] Brown did not want to run for the seat in Lambton because its constituency concerns took up much of his time and he wanted to focus on Reform party matters. Brown accepted the candidacy nomination for North Oxford because it would have fewer constituency affairs and, since it often elected Liberal candidates, he could campaign for other Liberal candidates elsewhere in the province.[67] In Toronto, a petition circulated for Brown to run for one of its two seats. It was signed by groups that traditionally did not support Reform candidates, such as Orangemen, who felt that Conservative candidates were cooperating too much with French Canadians. Brown decided to run in both constituencies, focusing his attention on the Toronto campaign.[68] Brown was elected in both constituencies, and his Reformers won the majority of seats in Canada West.[69] His allies in the Parti Rouge were unsuccessful in Canada East and Brown returned to the legislature as an opposition member.[2]
In the legislative session after the election, Brown served as the de facto leader of the opposition.[70] On July 28, 1858, the cabinet of the Macdonald-Cartier administration resigned when the legislature rejected Ottawa as the new permanent capital of the province.[71] Edmund Walker Head, the governor-general of Canada, asked Brown to form a new administration. Brown did not have a majority of support in the legislature, and he negotiated a cabinet under a co-premiership with Antoine-Aimé Dorion.[72] Brown and the other members of his cabinet resigned their seats in parliament to run in a by-election, as was required by law.[73] On August 2, the parliament passed an amendment stating that they did not approve of the administration, and Brown asked Head to call a general election.[74] Head declined Brown's request, and on August 4 Brown resigned as co-Premier.[75] Macdonald and Cartier were able to form a new ministry with Alexander Tilloch Galt.[76]
On August 28, Brown won the by-election that was called because of his short appointment to the cabinet during the Brown-Dorion administration.[77] Brown toured the province, giving speeches at various Reform gatherings that denounced the Cartier-Macdonald administration.[78] In the 1859 Toronto mayoral election, the first where the electorate would directly vote for mayor, Brown organised the Municipal Reform Association to nominate Adam Wilson as the Reformer candidate; Wilson won the election over Conservative opponents.[79]
In 1859 Brown and other Upper Canadian Reformers organised a convention in Toronto to discuss the governance of the province, in the hopes that agreeing to a unified policy would prevent divisions within the movement on the issue. Brown favoured creating a federalist system with the province obtaining more control over its governance, as he felt this system would repel American encroachment into British North American territory west of Upper Canada and restrain his perceived Conservative corruption exampled by the administration.[80] Brown's speech at the convention supporting a federal government was positively received by the delegates, who passed resolutions supporting Brown's favoured policy positions.[81] On April 30, 1860, Brown proposed a bill in the Province of Canada's legislature to form a convention that would discuss federalism. The bill was defeated, but the Reformer's support for federalism was documented in the vote.[2]
Brown continued operating and investing in business ventures throughout Upper Canada. In the Globe he announced a new layout for the paper that allowed more text to be printed on each page; this was made possible by investments into new, copper-faced type.[82] In Kent he sold some of the acres of land at his property and a cabinet factory to recover from financial difficulties,[83] but gained a profit from his mills which sold hardwood to American lumber-dealers.[84]
Election defeat and marriage
Brown's health deteriorated and in the winter of 1861, he stayed in his bed for two months to recover. He did not attend the 1861 parliamentary session and lost his re-election campaign in the constituency of Toronto in the June 1861 general election. His newspaper supported the union in the American Civil War and opposed the influence of the Grand Trunk Railway in Canadian politics.[2]
In 1862 Brown's illness was still affecting him and he decided to recover in Great Britain. He spent a month in London before moving to Edinburgh. He met Anne Nelson, the sister of his friends from the High School, and they wed on November 27 at the Nelson's home. The couple returned to Toronto the following month.[2]
Return to legislature
With his health recovered, Brown won a by-election for the constituency of South Oxford in March 1863 and returned to a leadership position within the Reform party. He won re-election during the July 1863 general election, and Reformers won the majority of seats in Canada West while Conservatives won the majority of seats in Canada East. This created a deadlock in the legislature that made governing the province difficult.[2]
Brown proposed a select committee to investigate the sectional problems in Canada and try to find a solution, and the bill for this committee's creation passed in spring 1864. Under his chairmanship, the committee reported on June 14 a strong preference for a new federal system of government. That same day, the MacDonald-Taché administration was dissolved. Brown stated that he would support any administration that committed to solving the deadlock in the legislature. Brown, MacDonald, Taché, and George-Étienne Cartier agreed to form an administration later called the Great Coalition to seek a federal union with the Atlantic provinces. Brown became the president of the council, a cabinet-level position, under the premiership of Taché.[2]
Confederation
Brown attended the Charlottetown Conference where Canadian delegates outlined their proposal for Canadian Confederation with the Atlantic provinces. On September 5, 1864, Brown outlined the proposed constitutional structure for the union. The conference accepted the proposal in principle and Brown attended subsequent meetings in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick to determine the details of the union.[2]
During the
Brown realized that satisfaction for Canada West could only be achieved with the support of the French-speaking majority of Canada East. In his speech in support of Confederation in the Legislature of the Province of Canada on February 8, 1865, he spoke glowingly of the prospects for Canada's future,[86] and he insisted that "whether we ask for parliamentary reform for Canada alone or in union with the Maritime Provinces, the views of French Canadians must be consulted as well as ours. This scheme can be carried, and no scheme can be that has not the support of both sections of the province."[87] Although he supported the idea of a legislative union at the Quebec Conference,[88] Brown was eventually persuaded to favour the federal view of Confederation, which was closer to that supported by Cartier and the Bleus of Canada East, as it was the structure that would ensure that the provinces retained sufficient control over local matters to satisfy the need of the French-speaking population in Canada East for jurisdiction over matters that it considered to be essential to its survival. Brown remained a proponent of a stronger central government, with weaker constituent provincial governments.[89]
In May and June, Brown was part of a delegation sent to London to continue discussions about confederation with British officials. The British government agreed to support Canadian confederation, defend Canada if attacked by the US, and help with establishing a new trade agreement with the US. In September, Galt and Brown represented the Province of Canada at the Confederate Trade Council, a meeting of Canadian colonies to negotiate common trade policies after the colonies' reciprocity trade agreement with the United States was terminated. During the meeting, Brown spoke with Maritime delegates to gather support for the Canadian confederation, as support for the project was decreasing in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. He supported the council's resolution to pursue trade policies that reduced tariffs with the US. The administration for the Province of Canada disagreed and sought to increase tariffs on American goods. Brown, frustrated with his cabinet colleagues over this issue, resigned from the Great Coalition on December 19.[2]
Brown renewed relationships with Rouge colleagues to strengthen the Reform party's political prospects in Canada West. He lost an election in Southern Ontario for a seat in the new legislature. He determined that too many Reformers joined Macdonald and the Conservatives during the Great Coalition, and the public supported this non-partisan administration. He declined to run in safer constituencies and went on a holiday to Scotland.[2]
Post-parliamentary career and death
In 1866, Brown bought an estate near Brantford, Upper Canada, and herded shorthorn cattle. He continued writing and editing the Globe and was consulted by Grit officials in issues concerning provincial and Canadian politics. Brown fought numerous battles with the typographical union from 1843 to 1872. He was forced to pay union wages after tense negotiations and strikes.[90]
In 1874, Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie asked Brown to negotiate a new reciprocity treaty with the US. He negotiated with the United States Secretary of State Hamilton Fish from February until June 18, when a draft of their treaty was proposed in the US Congress. The Congress did not pass the bill into law and it was set aside when Congress adjourned four days after the treaty was proposed.[2]
Brown was appointed to the Canadian senate in 1874 and attended his first session the following year. He supported Mackenzie when Edward Blake and the Canada First movement expressed their frustrations with Mackenzie's leadership. His attendance in the senate was sporadic as he focused on the business affairs at his ranch. He travelled to England in February 1876 to raise capital to create a new company based on raising cattle, and obtained a charter for the new company upon his return to Canada in May. His company struggled to be financially successful and two fires in December 1879 destroyed many of the buildings on the property.[2]
In 1880 the Globe was also struggling financially as Brown paid for updating the newspaper's printing press in order to produce multi-page and machine-folded papers. On March 25, 1880, a former Globe employee, George Bennett, burst into Brown's office; he was recently fired by a foreman and wanted a certificate that showed he had worked for the paper for five years. Brown did not recognise the man, so asked him to speak with the foreman. The two men argued and Bennett pulled out a gun. Brown grabbed for the gun, but it fired a bullet into Brown's thigh. Bennett was secured by other men and the wound was deemed minor. Brown left the office and stayed in his Toronto home to recover. His leg became infected and he obtained a fever and delirium. On May 9, 1880, Brown died in his Toronto home.[2] Brown was buried at Toronto Necropolis.[91] Bennett was subsequently charged and hanged.
His wife, Anne Nelson, returned to Scotland thereafter where she died in 1906. She is buried on the southern terrace of Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. The grave also commemorates George Brown. In 1885 his daughters Margaret and Catherine were two of the first women to graduate from the University of Toronto.
Political philosophy and views
Brown was raised as a member of the
Brown was against slavery and believed that the largest fault of the United States was the enslavement of people in American southern states. He was part of the Elgin Association, a group of mostly Free Kirk people that purchased land in Kent county for escaped slaves to live on. He also wrote editorials in The Globe defending a settlement of escaped slaves in Buxton from hostile white inhabitants in Kent.[94] He was also an executive member of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada.[95]
Throughout the Province of Canada's existence, Brown advocated against dissolving the union. In the 1850s he was worried that a dissolved union would cause the St Lawrence River, a major thorough way for trade, to be hampered by the two jurisdictions imposing different rules on their section of the river. When choosing how to transport their goods, farmers to the west of Upper Canada might use the Erie Canal in the United States instead (as this route would have one set of rules) and potentially setting up American annexation of those lands.[60] Brown advocated for representation by population as a way to ensure the French population did not have out-sized power. He wanted to maintain the defensive and trade advantages that a unified province would have and looked to incorporate the Maritime provinces into the union.[96]
Legacy
Brown's residence, formerly called Lambton Lodge and now called
Brown also maintained an estate, Bow Park, near
Toronto's George Brown College (founded 1967) is named after him.[99] A statue of Brown can be found on the front west lawn of Queen's Park[100] and another on Parliament Hill in Ottawa (sculpted by George William Hill in 1913).[101]
He was portrayed by Peter Outerbridge in the 2011 CBC Television film John A.: Birth of a Country.[102]
George Brown appears on a Canadian postage stamp issued on August 21, 1968.[103]
Electoral record
1867 Canadian federal election: South riding of Ontario | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | ||||
Liberal-Conservative | Thomas Nicholson Gibbs | 1,292 | ||||
Liberal | George Brown | 1,223 |
References
Citations
- ^ "BROWN, The Hon. George". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Careless, J.M.S. (1972). "Brown, George". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. X (1871–1880) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ a b Careless 1959, p. 4.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 5.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 6.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 9.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 1, 3.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 12.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 14–15.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 16.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 18–19.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 19–20.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 21–22.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 33–34.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 35–36.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 37.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 46.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 59.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 60.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 56–57.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 57.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 61–62.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 65.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 47.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 74.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 75.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 77.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 77–78.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 78.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 84–85.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 101.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 106.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 107.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 108.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 109.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 109–111.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 117.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 129, 132.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 134.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 135.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 144–145.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 145.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 146–147.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 150.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 152–153.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 158.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 176–177.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 182.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 187.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 196–197.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 201.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 203–204.
- ^ Waite, P. B. (2001). The Life and Times of Confederation 1864-1867 (2nd ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 98–99.
- ISBN 978-0-3073-7135-5. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
What has French-Canadianism been denied? Nothing. It bars all it dislikes – it extorts all its demands – and it grows insolent over its victories. Letter from George Brown
- ^ a b Careless 1959, p. 205.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 211.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 218.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 225–226.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 227.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 233.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 235.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 243.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 244.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 246.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 255.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 263–264.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 265.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 272.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 273.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 275–276.
- ISBN 9780771019128.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 282.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 285–288.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 291.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 310.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 321.
- ^ Careless 1996, p. 5.
- ^ Careless 1996, p. 6.
- ^ Careless 1996, p. 7.
- ISBN 978-1-5519-9483-3.
- ^ Waite (2001), p. 139
- ^ "George Brown on Confederation". The Quebec History Encyclopedia. Marianopolis College. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
- ^ Gwyn (2009), p. 330
- ^ Waite (2001), p. 140
- ^ Sally Zerker, "George Brown and the Printers Union," Journal of Canadian Studies (1975) 10#1 pp 42-48.
- ^ "Historicist: The Assassination of George Brown". Torontoist. May 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2009..
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 8.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 125.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 102.
- ^ Careless 1959, p. 103.
- ^ Careless 1959, pp. 204–205.
- ^ "George Brown House (Toronto)". Ontario Heritage Trust. Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
- ^ Bow Farms Archived January 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "History". George Brown College. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
- ^ "George Brown Statue, 1884". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
- ^ "Explore the statues, monuments and memorials of the Hill". Public Works and Government Services Canada. Government of Canada. July 31, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
- ^ Weekes, Renee (September 15, 2011). "John A: Birth of a Country – Two-Hour Political Thriller Airs on CBC Television Monday, September 19 at 8:00 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT)" (Press release). Veritas Canada. Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018 – via Cision.
- ^ "OTD: George Brown co-founds Anti-Slavery Society of Canada". Canadian Stamp News. February 26, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
Works cited
- ISBN 978-0-7705-0935-4.
- Careless, J. M. S. (1996) [1963]. Brown of the Globe: Volume Two: Statesman of Confederation 1860-1880. Dundurn Press. ISBN 155002051X.
Further reading
- Bélanger, Claude. "George Brown", in L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia. (Marianopolis College, March 2006) online
- Careless, J.M.S. "George Brown and Confederation," Manitoba Historical Society Transactions, Series 3, Number 26, 1969-70 online
- Caron, Jean-François. George Brown: la Confédération et la dualité nationale, Québec: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 2017.
- Creighton, Donald G. "George Brown, Sir John Macdonald, and the "Workingman"." Canadian Historical Review (1943) 24#4 pp: 362-376.
- Gauvreau, Michael. "Reluctant Voluntaries: Peter and George Brown: The Scottish Disruption and the Politics of Church and State in Canada." Journal of religious history 25.2 (2001): 134–157.
- Mackenzie, Alexander. The life and speeches of Hon. George Brown (Toronto, Globe, 1882)
External links
- Meet the Browns: A Confederation Family Archives of Ontario online exhibit
- George Brown family fonds Archives of Ontario
- George Brown – Parliament of Canada biography
- A website for an upcoming documentary film on George Brown