It was on this date in 1818 that a key figure in bringing Canada together as one nation was born. I speak, of course, of George Brown, who put his own views to the side to join with John A. Macdonald and others to march forward on the road to Confederation in 1867.Brown was born in Scotland but like our first two Prime Ministers, Macdonald and Alexander Mackenzie, emigrated to British North America.  He would go on to found perhaps Canada’s greatest newspaper, the Globe.In pre-Confederation Ontario, Brown often clashed with his rival John Macdonald and developed a dislike – bordering on hatred – of John A.No friend of French-Canadian Catholics during this period, his views were perhaps best captured when he described Canada West (Ontario) as "a base vassalage to French-Canadian Priestcraft."Still, when the future Dominion of Canada needed it most, Brown joined with Macdonald and the path to Confederation was clear. His leading position in Canadian politics waned after 1867 but there is no denying that it is likely no deal would have been reached forming the new nation without him.Readers can learn more about George Brown at his entry at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography on-line.[caption id="attachment_595538" align="alignleft" width="560"] Portrait of George Brown[/caption]Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist.  He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy.  A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.