The “Great Coalition” (1864)

To overcome the political logjam in the Province of Canada, the “Great Coalition” of June 1864 brought together disparate and previously bitter opponents in the common cause of union.

Up to then, party leaders such as George Brown and George-Étienne Cartier had been unyielding adversaries, but they agreed to unite in order to bring about the federation of Upper and Lower Canada, or, if possible, the confederation of all the colonies of British North America.