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.
Nationalisms in Canada
The influx of British settlers into Canada helped to prompt the development of French-Canadian nationalism which was quite evident during the 1837 rebellion against British rule in Lower Canada. At the same time a few English-speakers in Upper Canada were switching from a British to a Canadian form of identity, as evidenced in the contemporaneous Upper Canada Rebellion, although this was a minority position.