Historical
Canadian Political Party, forerunner of today's
Liberal Party.
The Clear Grit party was formed by
William MacDougall as an
Upper Canada reform movement against special privilege and aristocracy (Canada was not a country until 1867). It could not be described as fully egalitarian, however, since it reflected the
Orange prejudices of 1850s Toronto--Anti-
Catholic, Anti-French. The Grits were absorbed by the more moderate
Reform Party, under newspaperman
George Brown. The political tradition would form the eventual basis of the Liberal Party of Canada.