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Clear Grit Party. The name “Clear Grit” was applied in 1849 to a group, or wing, of the Reform party which was dissatisfied with the moderate policies followed by the Baldwin-Lafontaine administration, and particularly with its failure to deal with the questions of the Clergy Reserves, judicial reform, and financial retrenchment. The origin of the name is attributed to David Christie, who is reported to have said that only those were wanted in the party who were “all sand and no dirt, clear grit all the way through”. The chief figure in the group was Peter Perry; and in the spring of 1850 it was estimated that the number of Clear Grit members in the House of Assembly was 22, or two-fifths of the total number of Reformers. The opposition of the Clear Grit group brought about in 1851 the resignation of Robert Baldwin, and in the reorganization of the government under Francis Hincks the division in the Reform party was partially healed. When the Hincks-Morin government was defeated, however, in 1854, and the MacNab-Morin administration was formed, the Baldwin Liberals were persuaded to support the new government, and the Clear Grits of Upper Canada and the parti rouge of Lower Canada remained alone in opposition. The Clear Grits became supporters of George Brown, and were the nucleus of the Liberal party in Ontario in later times. Thence comes the common use of the term “Grit” as a colloquial synonym for “Liberal”.

The platform of the Clear Grit party was first enunciated at a convention of the most advanced Reformers, held at Markham, C.W., on March 12, 1850, and included the following planks:

1. The abrogation of the rectories, and the secularization of the Clergy Reserves.

2. Retrenchment in provincial expenditure.

3. Abolition of the pensioning system.

4. The appointment of all local officials by local municipal councils.

5. Thorough judicial reform, especially the abolition of the court of chancery.

6. A great extension of the elective franchise, and vote by ballot.

7. Repeal of the law of primogeniture.

8. Abolition of copyright.

9. The right of the people to discuss peacefully any question affecting the government or constitution of the colony.

10. Election of the three branches of the legislature by the people.

The Province Of Canada until 1867 was led by a government that had a leader from both Upper Canada (present day Ontario) and Lower Canada (present day Quebec). Upper Canada gained a clear majority of population around 1850 but the constitutional settlement imposed by the British following the quashing of Canadian independence uprisings in the late 1830s meant both West and East Canada had equal representation in Parliament. The West wanted rep by pop; the East wanted guarantees of language and religion and this led to the federal compromise that created the Dominion Of Canada following a series of constitutional conferences in the 1860s.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

Thanks

The "Clear Grits" still sound like mud to me.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)