George Brown

George Brown was born in Scotland and emigrated to Toronto in 1843, where in 1844 he founded The Globe newspaper (now The Globe and Mail), turning it into the most influential daily in Upper Canada. Elected to parliament as leader of the reform 'Clear Grits', he championed representation by population and westward expansion into the prairies.

In 1864, Brown took the historic, selfless step of reaching across the aisle to form the Great Coalition with his bitter political rival John A. Macdonald, breaking legislative gridlock to achieve Canadian Confederation in 1867. A passionate abolitionist who assisted the Underground Railroad, he died tragically after being shot in his newspaper office in 1880.