The Origins of Canadian Politics

The conditions of colonial politics in Canada between 1760 and 1848 produced features that became permanent landmarks of post-Confederation Canadian politics -- sharp partisan battles, intense use of patronage, strong one-man dominance in party leadership, and a “statist” orientation not only in government in Ottawa but also in Ontario and Quebec. In this compelling book Gordon Stewart deals with these topics in an original way by placing Canadian politics in a comparative context against the background of political and constitutional developments in England and America between 1688 and the 1820’s.

The distinctive features of Canadian politics which emerged at this early stage were altered and intensified by Canada’s bitter and violent transition to responsible government. In no other British white settlement in the mid-19th century was the transition to responsible government as dramatic as in Canada. It was characterized by extravagant partisan rhetoric, armed rebellions and the razing of the Montreal parliament buildings. Out of these extraordinary colonial conditions there developed, by the time of Confederation, a type of Canadian politics that was quite different from the common background in either England or America.

By examining the crucial ways in which Canadian colonial politics diverged from the American colonial and British patterns, Stewart provides a new interpretation of the origins of Canadian political traditions. He also gives the first comprehensive analysis of the place of patronage in Canadian politics. In many respects the book is the Canadian counterpart of Bernard Bailyn’s influential work The Origins of American Politics. But Stewart also deals with important issues raised by recent Canadian scholars about Canada’s early political development. Because the author casts such familiar topics as the coming of responsible government in a completely different light, the book should promote provocative discussion and controversy.

At the same time, Stewart’s illuminating analysis will prove an essential resource for upper undergraduate and graduate history and political science courses and, because of its chronological breadth, survey courses in Canadian history.

Gordon T. Stewart is a professor in the history department at Michigan State University.

There is always room for a fresh analysis, a new approach to an old problem, especially when it comes from a thoughtful outside observer. This is what Gordon Stewart provides in The Origins of Canadian Politics ... a useful and very readable contribution to Canadian political history. --- Stewart has shown that Canadian politics, from the early European settlements to the present day, have been shaped by some very definite ideas, forces and events.  In his concise, very readable, and thoughtful book he has gone some distance toward explaining these forces.  Anyone interested in understanding some of the unique features of the Canadian system would profit from reading this book. --- Stewart has written a book that is going to make teachers and students of Canadian history -- ultimately that is all of us -- think about Canada, its government and its politics in new and different ways.