Sir Charles Bagot (1781-1843)

He was the Governor General of Canada from 1842-1843. While in office, he discovered that Canada could not be ruled properly without the French, and that the Durham-Sydenham program of anglicization was causing great resentment amongst the French Canadians. To keep everyone happy, he hired Louis H. Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin as his advisers. These two men held a majority in the Assembly which almost amounted to collective responsibility.

Robert Baldwin (1804-1858)

This Canadian lawyer and politician was the leader of Canada West forming a coalition with Louis Lafontaine to establish a reform party, which eventually became the Liberal Party. With his father, William Baldwin, he devised the theory of Responsible Government.

1st Viscount Richard Bedford Bennett (1870-1947)

He was a Canadian lawyer educated in Nova Scotia. In 1897, he entered politics leading him to become leader of the Conservative Party in 1927 and Prime Minister from 1930-1935. He convened the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa in 1932 which resulted in a system of empire trade preference.

Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1963-1971)

In response to the increasing separatist pressure in Quebec, the Pearson administration proposed measures that would lead to a more equitable relationship between the French and English.The final report written by André Laurendeau, editor of Le Devoir newspaper, and Davidson Dunton, President of Carleton University, brought to light the French-Canadian disadvantaged position. This report recommended the adoption of both French and English as official languages. The report did not advocate Quebec as a separate nation, but instead, proposed the concept of a two-nation federation along with the establishment of a ministry for multiculturalism. The latter was enacted in 1972.

Edward Blake (1833-1912)

A Canadian lawyer, he became the Premier of Ontario (Liberal) in 1871 and minister without portfolio in the Mackenzie federal administration in 1873. Uncomfortable with Mackenzie’s policies, he resigned in 1874 and assumed leadership of the Canada First movement. In 1875, he returned to government as Minister of Justice and succeeded in gaining acceptance of the Supreme Court Act and a reduction in powers of the Governor General. He resigned as leader of the Liberal Party in 1887 and moved to Ireland temporarily where he became an Irish nationalist MP in the British parliament.

Bleus

This is a term (in contradistinction to the radical Rouges) referring to the French-Canadian moderate reform followers of Louis Lafontaine. In 1854, they became the French-Canadian wing of the new Conservative Party. In 1862, with the introduction of the Militia Bill, the bloc split into two wings, the Ultra-bleus, led by Sir hector Langevin, on the extreme right and the moderate Bleus, led by Joseph Adolphe Chapleau. The party ran into problems when Canada West and Canada East were united in 1864 because the French Canadians had less representation in the Legislature. However, under the leadership of George Etienne Cartier, the Bleus sought to protect the rights of the French Canadians.

Bloc Populaire

This Quebecoise nationalist party was formed in 1942 by Liberals who opposed Canadian participation in World War II and the introduction of conscription.

Sir Robert Laird Borden (1854-1937)

A Canadian barrister, he became leader of the Conservative Party in 1901. As Conservative Prime Minister (1911-1920), he led Canada through World War I, the Conscription Crisis, and the introduction of income tax. At the Imperial War Conference of 1917, he called for greater recognition of the dominions’ autonomy, a step towards the building of a Commonwealth.

Henri Bourassa (1868-1952)

He was the founder and editor of Le Devoir and a grandson of Louis Joseph Papineau. As a French Canadian nationalist, he consistently opposed French Canada’s forced participation in British wars. He resigned his seat in the federal House of Commons when Laurier sent Canadian troops to the Boer War. Eventually, he was returned by acclamation. The French-Canadians were outraged at the Naval Act of 1910 and Bourassa used Le Devoir to advocate his views.

Robert Bourassa (1933- )

He was the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party when it won an election victory in 1970. This was accomplished by promising to help the unemployment crisis by generating 100,000 jobs and downplaying the constitutional and language controversies. He resigned as party leader when the Liberals lost the 1976 provincial elections to the Péquistes, but he was re-elected in 1983 and led the party to victory in 1986. This time he promised a huge hydro-electric project.

Sir Mackenzie Bowell (1823-1917)

In 1878, he was included in the cabinet of Sir John Macdonald in order to balance the leadership of the Bleus. In 1895, Bowell became the Prime Minister. Not only was it a difficult time because of the Depression, but also with the crisis caused by the Manitoba Schools Act.

Joseph Brant (1742-1807)

AI bow to no man for I am considered a prince among my own people. But I will gladly shake your hand.@ (Brant to King George III)

Joseph Brant was born in 1742 into the Wolf clan of the Mohawk nation. He his also known by his native name Thayendanegea. Brant in most standard histories is confusingly and incorrectly called a Achief@. Brant was never a condoled chief or sachem (roiane in Mohawk), that is, one of the 50 sachems who made up the council of the League of the Six Nations. While women did not serve as councillors, they did have the final choice of selection as to who would fill a vacancy should one of the council seats need to be filled (this group of women were usually called the matrons or clan mothers). This was usually (but not always) the nephew (sister=s son) of the previous holder. The clan mothers also had the right to remove a sachem if he was not fulfilling his duties. Brant=s status among the Mohawk was due largely to two factors. He was a successful and popular war leader (sachems usually did not serve as war leaders, a task considered beneath their dignity, and military leaders were picked as needed from experienced warriors), and eventually won a large following of young warriors from all the member nations of the League. More importantly, however, his sister, Molly Brant, was a clan mother of the Mohawk and also the wife of the highest British officer on the frontier, William Johnson. Joseph was just 13 when he received his first military experience, serving with Johnson during the Seven Year=s War (1756-63). Brant served as military commander for the British during the American Revolution, raising and leading his own small unit called Brant=s Volunteers, including about 100 Europeans as well as natives. Brant is seen as the focal point for the split of the Six Nations during the war. While the council initially sought to maintain neutrality, large numbers of the Mohawk sided openly with the British, followed sometime later by most of the Seneca, Cayuga and Onondaga. The Oneida and Tuscarora fought with the rebels. It was Molly, however, who was most instrumental in getting most the Six Nations on side with the British. After the war, some 2000 members of the Six Nations left their homeland for Canada. Here Brant negotiated for a tract of land, some 675,000 acres, along the Grand River. This land was not owned by the British government, but by the Mississauga nation, who agreed to the resettlement of the refugee Six Nations. Brant was fluent in English and Mohawk, and was a considered a very powerful orator. He was also deeply religious, a member of the Protestant Anglican church. He translated a number of religious works into Mohawk. Joseph Brant did not spend his final years on the Grand River, but lived on his own estate in what is now downtown Burlington, Ontario (his house still stands and is preserved as the Joseph Brant museum). While his day-to-day life was little different from that of any other wealthy English gentleman, for portraits he always insisted on wearing native clothes. He died on November 24, 1807.

Mary Brant Tekonwatonti (1736?-1796)

Born about 1736, in the Mohawk Valley of New York, Mary Brant, known usually as Molly, was of the Mohawk nation. In native society, people usually received a number of names, one at birth and then one or more names during adulthood, to mark changes of status or significant events. Mary Brant is known by at least two native names, Tekonwatonti (also spelled Degonwadonti) and Gonwatsijayenni. About 1760, in a native ceremony, she married 45-year-old William Johnson, and together raised nine children, plus Johnson=s three children from his first marriage. Johnson and Brant formed a cultural bridge between European and native societies. Although history books call her Johnson=s Ahouse keeper@ (white society did not recognize the native marriage as legal), she handled Johnson=s business accounts and also served as translator and diplomat in Johnson=s dealings with the native nations B as a senior clan mother of the Mohawk, she was one of the most important leaders among all the Six Nations (there is no direct translation of the Mohawk term for clan mother, and Europeans at the time often gave such women the title of Aqueen@). During the American Revolution, Brant influenced the Iroquois to side with the British because her husband, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, had always treated the natives with respect. Brant provided food, supplies, and strategic information to the British army. Her younger brother, Joseph Brant and her eldest son, Peter Johnson, were both prominent leaders of loyalist and British-allied native forces during the American Revolution. With other loyalists, Mary Brant left the United States after the British defeat and settled in Upper Canada, founding the town of Kingston. For her services to the crown, Brant received an annual pension, which was bigger than the pension received by her brother Joseph, which gives some idea how muvh the British government valued her work. She died in Kingston, Ontario, on April 16, 1796.

St. Brendan (489-577)

The legend of St. Brendan describes how he left Ireland near the end of his life to bring Christianity to a far western isle. This legend may have been known by the European explorers, including Columbus and Cabot, who followed Brendan westward nine centuries later. Irish monks, able seafarers, had been living on Iceland for some time before the Norseman arrived here in the 10th century. Brendan himself apparently believed he was going to rediscover lands already visited by his predecessors including the early Saint Mernoc. Nobody knows the actual fate of St. Brendan; but near L'Anse aux Meadows a lichen-covered stone with a mysterious type of writing has been found. The etching on this stone resembles an ancient Irish or Celtic style of writing that died out in the fifth or sixth century. The stone's covering of slow growing lichens proves that the etchings are hundreds of years old. Legend suggest that it may have been chiselled by St. Brendan the navigator, the first Irish Saint; but further information is needed before the mystery of this "Ogham" stone is solved.

British North America Act (1857)

This Act passed by the British Government sanctioning the confederation of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, gave rise to the Dominion of Canada. In 1982, it was renamed the Constitution Act (1867).

George Brown (1818-1880)

He was a supporter of Responsible Government and became a member of the Canadian legislative assembly in 1851. As editor of the Toronto Globe, he used his influence to speak for the Clear Grits, pressing the case for representation-by-population. This would give Canada West a majority of seats in the legislature. After the Liberal-Conservatives took over government in 1854, Brown reorganized the party and won the 1857 elections by advocating the acquisition of the North West from the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1858, he formed a government with A.A. Dorion, the leader of the Liberals of Canada East. This new union survived only a few days. He played a major role with Alexander Galt, John A. Macdonald and George Etienne Cartier in a coalition government established to devise the constitutional reforms required for confederation. He resigned in 1865. Brown was also an anti-slavery activist and involved in the settlement of the fugitive slaves in the 1850s. A disgruntled ex-Globe employee shot and killed Brown.

John Burgoyne (1722-1792)

As a British army man, he was sent to America in 1774 and fought at Bunker Hill in 1775. As major general, he led an expedition from Canada and captured Fort Ticonderoga in 1777. He was later forced to surrender to General Gates in Saratoga. He returned to England where he wrote the play, The Heiress in 1786.

Colonel John Butler (1728 - 1796)

John Butler was born in New London, Connecticut, in 1728, the son of Lieutenant Walter Butler and Deborah Dennis. His father, born in Ireland, was an officer in the British Army who had come to North America to participate in the expedition against Quebec in 1711. The family later settled near Fonda, in what is now New York state, in the Mohawk Valley. John followed his older brothers into the British Indian Department of Sir William Johnson. In the wars against New France, he was in action at Ticonderoga, Lake George, and the captures of Fort Frontenac, Niagara and Montreal. In 1752 he married Catherine Bradt of a prominent Dutch family on the Mohawk. They raised a family of five children (two others had died in infancy). During the American Revolution he raised and led a unit of guerrilla fighters called Butler=s Rangers, recruited from loyalist settlers of the Mohawk Valley. With the British defeat, Butler with most of his former soldiers and their families settled at Fort Niagara, on what was now the border between the British colony of Canada and the new United States of America. The Niagara settlement, first called Newark but now called Niagara-on-the-Lake, was the first English speaking settlement in Upper Canada (although the settlement included Dutch, Germans, Irish, Scottish, natives, Africans B both free and slaves B plus many with mixed ethnic backgrounds).