In September 1867, months after the formation of the Dominion of Canada, voters went to the polls for the inaugural election that would affirm that the new government was answerable to the people – but no one could foresee the outcome, let alone the chaos in the run-up to the event. In Ballots and Brawls, the first book dedicated solely to the 1867 election, Patrice Dutil offers readers a region-by-region look at the summer of that year, concluding with a close examination of the election results.

Citizens battled over issues of economic progress, taxation, and defence, while fights at the local level pitted English against French, Protestants against Catholics, and regionalists against nationalists. Dutil’s account captures the drama and outright violence at the polls, and provides an engrossing introduction to the shared ideals, disparate interests, and big personalities involved.

Drawing together archival research, newspaper accounts, and a thorough review of the results at the polls, Dutil delivers an engaging and detailed look at the election that started the country.

PATRICE DUTIL is the author or editor of a dozen books, a frequent commentator on political and policy issues, and the host of over 100 podcasts in the Canadian history series “Witness to Yesterday.” He is a professor in the department of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University. He founded and for five years edited the Literary Review of Canada and served as president of the Champlain Society for seven years. He is a senior fellow at the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History at the University of Toronto and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Among his books are Ballots and Brawls: The 1867 Canadian General Election, Prime Ministerial Power in Canada: Its Origins under Macdonald, Laurier and Borden and Macdonald at 200: New Perspectives and Legacies (edited with Roger Hall).

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