Lord Elgin : Voice of the People

Gouverneur général de 1846 à 1854 dans un Canada qui sortait de crises terribles (les Révolutions de 1837), Lord Elgin ne céda ni à la démagogie des foules ni aux séductions du pouvoir personnel. C'est lui qui sanctionna le bill d'indemnité en 1849.

When he opened the way for self-government in Canada he closed the door on his own political success; but in the end, the policies he declared for Canada became the pattern for self-rule in the rest of the Commonwealth.

His heart was with the rebels, but his principles bound him to the cause of constitutional reform. Here, in a stirring reconstruction of the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, you see Robert Baldwin, the reform leader who, in the midst of armed revolt, withdrew to fight a lonely battle with himself.