Reform movement (pre-Confederation Canada)
In Upper Canada (Ontario), the Reform movement was formed in opposition to the Family Compact. It was led initially by William Lyon Mackenzie, who became the principal figure in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. Mackenzie went into exile as a result of the failed rebellion. The uprising led to the 1839 Durham Report, which recommended responsible government and the union of Upper and Lower Canada as a means of assimilating Francophones. Only the union of the Canadas was to be immediately implemented.
Robert de La Berge
Jean Baptiste LaBerge (1804–1883) - Leader of Rebellion of 1838, also called Lower Canada Rebellion in Beauharnois, Quebec. For his part in the uprising, Jean-Baptiste Laberge was imprisoned in Montreal on November 16, 1838 and received the death sentence on January 26, 1839. The sentence was changed to deportation and he was exiled to Australia, arriving in February 1840. Laberge and his fellow prisoners were later pardoned and Laberge was back with his family by the spring of 1844 and was regarded as a hero in his local community.