The first Canadian red scare came in the 1860s as elites from four British North American colonies pushed ahead with the project of Confederation against widespread popular opposition in the Maritimes and Quebec.
The Quebec Tories, led by George-Étienne Cartier and allied to John A. Macdonald's Upper Canadian Tories, were strong political allies with the Catholic Church, such as Montreal Bishop Ignace Bourget. Together, parliament, the pulpit, the courts and newspapers worked in concert to defeat Les Rouges, a democratic and republican political movement originating out of Montreal's Institut Canadien.
The Quebec Tories, led by George-Étienne Cartier and allied to John A. Macdonald's Upper Canadian Tories, were strong political allies with the Catholic Church, such as Montreal Bishop Ignace Bourget. Together, parliament, the pulpit, the courts and newspapers worked in concert to defeat Les Rouges, a democratic and republican political movement originating out of Montreal's Institut Canadien.