Great Coalition
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The Great Coalition was a grand coalition of political parties that brought an end to political deadlock in the Province of Canada. It existed from May 1864 until Confederation in 1867.[1]
Prelude
Four different ministries had failed in the previous six years, when the eight-month-old
It had become clear to most political leaders that continued governance of Canada East and Canada West under the 1840
Establishment
The formation of the Great Coalition did not go smoothly. George Brown demanded a ministry of twelve members that included four Liberals out of six members from Canada West (as Liberals commanded an overwhelming majority of political support in Ontario), and two from Canada East (as they received a significant minority of support in Quebec). Also, Brown himself did not want to serve in the ministry, hoping instead to arrange for his allies to serve in his stead. In the end, he was convinced to accept only three spots on the Canada West side of the ministry, and to accept one of those spot himself, as it was agreed the Great Coalition would only work if George Brown was a member.[4]
In the end, the Great Coalition was really only a modified version of the Taché-Macdonald Ministry of March-May 1864, with two moderate Reformers (Isaac Buchanan of Hamilton and Michael Hamilton Foley of Waterloo) and one Conservative (John Simpson of Niagara) replaced by three robust Liberals, two of whom (Oliver Mowat and William Mcdougall) having sat in the most recent Liberal ministry, that of Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion (the third Liberal being the reluctant George Brown). The Canada East side of the ministry was unchanged.[5]
Reasons
The Great Coalition was created to eradicate the political deadlock between Canada West and Canada East. The government at that time was unable to pass any legislation because of the need for a
Confederation
The Great Coalition arranged three conferences that preceded Confederation. The first was the Charlottetown Conference, which was convened to negotiate Maritime Union. However, the politicians began to discuss the possibility of a larger union that would include all of British North America. This continued at the Quebec Conference where they further discussed the union of British North America and defined the details of the government's shape. They also settled on the division of provincial and federal responsibilities. The London Conference revised the Quebec Resolutions
Members
(Blue = Conservative; Pink = Liberal)
Canada West | Canada East | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attorney General West DEPUTY PREMIER |
John A. Macdonald (Kingston) | ||||
Attorney General East | George-Étienne Cartier (Montreal East) | ||||
President of Executive Council |
George Brown (Oxford South) | ||||
Finance | Alexander Galt (Sherbrooke) | ||||
Postmaster General | Oliver Mowat (Ontario South) | ||||
Receiver-General PREMIER |
Étienne-Paschal Taché (Legislative Council) | ||||
Provincial Secretary | William McDougall (Ontario North) | ||||
Commissioner of Public Works |
Jean-Charles Chapais (Kamouraska) | ||||
Commissioner of Crown Lands |
Alexander Campbell (Legislative Council) | ||||
Agriculture (and Immigration) |
Thomas D'Arcy McGee (Montreal West) | ||||
Solicitor General West | James Cockburn (Northumberland West) | ||||
Solicitor General East | Hector-Louis Langevin (Dorchester) |
There were several changes in the membership of the Great Coalition over its three years of existence:
- Oliver Mowat resigned in November 1864 to take up a position as Vice-Chancellor of Canada West. He was succeeded at Postmaster General by fellow Liberal William Pearce Howland (member for York West). Howland had sat on the Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion Ministry of 1863-1864
- Étienne-Paschal Taché died July 1865. He was succeeded at Receiver General and as Premier by fellow Conservative Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau (of the Legislative Council).
- George Brown resigned in protest of Cabinet policy December 1865. He was succeeded as President of Executive Council by fellow Liberal AJ Fergusson Blair (of Legislative Council). Fergusson Blair had sat on the Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion Ministry of 1863-1864
- Alexander Galt resigned in protest of Cabinet policy August 1866. He was succeeded as Finance Minister by WP Howland; Howland was succeeded as Postmaster general by Hector Langevin. It is not clear that anyone succeeded Langevin as Solicitor General East.
Legacy
All fifteen members of the Great Coalition are remembered as
References
- ^ "The "Great Coalition" in the Province of Canada". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Cornell, Paul (1967). "The Great Coalition". Library and Archives Canada.
- ISBN 0-88798-049-X.
- ISBN 1-55002-051-X.
- ISBN 1442639385.