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.
Secessionist movements of Canada
The Métis, under the leadership of Louis Riel staged the Red River Rebellion in Manitoba against Canada in 1870, and the North-West Rebellion in Saskatchewan in 1885. At the time, this part of the West was relatively independent, francophone, culturally distinct, and facing the stress of dealing with aggressive colonization by Anglophones from Ontario.