Great Coalition

The "Great Coalition" refers to the grand coalition of political parties that formed in the Province of Canada in 1864. The previous collapse after only a few months of a coalition government formed by Étienne-Paschal Taché and Conservative John A. Macdonald (the sixth government in six years) had demonstrated that continued governance of Canada East and Canada West under the 1840 Act of Union had become untenable. In order to reform the political system, a coalition was formed between the Clear Grits under George Brown, the Parti bleu under George-Étienne Cartier, and the Liberal-Conservatives under John A Macdonald. The formation of this coalition on 22 June 1864 under Étienne-Paschal Taché and John A. Macdonald as joint premiers led directly to Canadian Confederation in 1867, and the coalition persisted as the government of the Province of Canada until the moment of Confederation.

The Great Coalition was formed to stop the political deadlock between Upper and Lower Canada. The government at that time was unable to pass anything because they had a "double majority". With the "double majority" in order for a bill to pass in the Legislative Assembly, there had to be a vote in both Canada East and Canada West sections of the assembly, rather than just a simple majority. The main problem with this was that the French and English voted against each other on just about everything out of distrust, which meant that nothing was accomplished.

Government of the United Province of Canada formed in June 1864 after the fall of the Taché-Macdonald government and the political deadlock which followed. George Brown's Clear Grits, Macdonald's Conservatives and George-Étienne Cartier's Bleus joined together in a coalition on two conditions: 1) that the Clear Grits receive 2 of the cabinet posts for Upper Canada (Brown, Mowat and McDougall joined the government); 2) that the new government be committed to resolving the constitutional difficulties of the province by supporting a federal union of all the British North American colonies or, failing that, of at least the two Canadas.

It was this government that championed the cause of constitutional reform and piloted the project of Confederation through three constitutional conferences. Although George Brown left the cabinet in December 1865, he continued to support the government and confederation. The nominal head of the government was Etienne-Pascal Taché and, upon his death, Narcisse Belleau.