The Canadian Party was a group founded by

John Christian Schultz Sir John Christian Schultz (January 1, 1840 – April 13, 1896) was a Manitoba politician and businessman.Richard Gwyn, Nation Maker, Vol. II: pg. 100. Vintage Canada, 2012. Print. He was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1871 t ...

in 1869, in the

Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay ...

(which later became the Canadian province of

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

). It was not a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the modern sense but was rather a forum for local ultra-

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

agitators. The Canadian Party promoted the annexation of the Red River Colony by the

Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...

. It also encouraged settlement by

anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

s from the province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. Schultz's goal was to reconstruct the Red River Colony in the image of Protestant Ontario. To this end, his followers were engaged in extensive land speculation in the region. They were regarded with suspicion by most of the established settlers, and particularly by the local Métis population led by

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...

. Members of the Canadian Party engaged in military skirmishes with Riel's

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...

during the

Red River Rebellion The Red River Rebellion (french: Rébellion de la rivière Rouge), also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by ...

of 1869-70. After fleeing to Ontario, Schultz, assisted by supporters of the Canada First movement, was instrumental in exploiting the

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

of Thomas Scott to inflame Protestant opinion in Ontario against Riel. Following the

Manitoba Act The ''Manitoba Act, 1870'' (french: link=no, Loi de 1870 sur le Manitoba)Originally entitled (until renamed in 1982) ''An Act to amend and continue the Act 32 and 33 Victoria, chapter 3; and to establish and provide for the Government of the Pro ...

of 1870, the Canadian government "pacified" the Red River Colony through the use of Canadian militia soldiers in mid-1870. The Canadian Party, however, was not accepted into the new governing structure of the age. The federal government of

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

favoured a policy of conciliation among the province's ethnic, linguistic and religious groups, and

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

Adams George Archibald Sir Riley Robert Archibald , more commonly known as Sir Adams George Archibald (May 3, 1814 – December 14, 1892) was a Canadian lawyer and politician, and a Father of Confederation. He was based in Nova Scotia for most of his career, though ...

kept Schultz's followers out of his first cabinet. In Manitoba's first general election (December 30, 1870), Schultz's followers were the only real opposition to the governing alliance. They won only five seats, one of which was overturned on appeal. Schultz was personally defeated in Winnipeg and St. John. The Canadian Party continued to exist as a loose alliance after the election. At one stage, Lt. Governor Archibald warned Macdonald that its members were plotting the "extermination" of the Métis. The party did not long survive as a coherent organization, but Edward Hay appears to have turned against Schultz in 1872, and later joined the government of francophone Premier

Marc-Amable Girard Marc-Amable Girard (April 25, 1822 – September 12, 1892) was the second premier of Manitoba, and the first Franco-Manitoban to hold that post. The ''Canadian Parliamentary Guide'' lists Girard as having been Premier (or ''Chief Minister'' ...

. Some members of the Canadian Party would later resurface as Liberals, others as

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

References

{{Reflist Provincial political parties in Manitoba Defunct political parties in Canada 1869 establishments in Canada 1872 disestablishments in Manitoba Political parties established in 1869 Political parties disestablished in 1872 Nationalist parties in Canada

See also

References