Antoine-Aimé Dorion and His Parti Rouge Believe Confederation Will Harm French Canada

Led by Antoine-Aimé Dorion, the Parti rouge challenged the idea proposed by the likes of John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier that the only way Canada could prosper was through integration with other British North American provinces. The fear was that French Canada would lose clout in a Confederation arrangement, overwhelmed by an intolerant English majority that would undoubtedly engineer every possible scheme to ensure the assimilation of francophones.

--Patrice Dutil and David MacKenzie, Canada 1911: The Decisive Election That Shaped the Country (Toronto: Dundurn, 2011), ??.

Laurier's Radical Rouge Philosophy Opposes the Macdonald-Cartier-Brown Idea of Confederation

Laurier was sympathetic to the rouge cause, and imbibed it while clerking with Rodolphe Laflamme, one of its most ardent proponents and one of Montreal’s leading lawyers.... there was a certain ethos about rouge thinking that he liked to defend, and when asked to lead a newspaper dedicated to the cause of fighting the Macdonald-Cartier-Brown idea of Confederation, Laurier gave himself entirely to the task. Rouge philosophy was an odd blend of ideas, reflexes, and attitudes. In part, it was a clear statement that authority had to be challenged, and that government belonged rightfully to the people. It was against privilege, against received wisdom, and it was in favour of what was modern. Its program was vague at best, but it had the merit of attracting various shades of romantics, free thinkers, annexationists, and establishment figures that had no patience for the Macdonald Conservatives.

--Patrice Dutil and David MacKenzie, Canada 1911: The Decisive Election That Shaped the Country (Toronto: Dundurn, 2011), ??.