Robert Gourlay

St. James Park, Toronto. The bust is by Adrienne Alison.

The inscription on the right reads:

Robert Gourlay
1778-1863
Banished from Upper Canada in 1819 on false charges of sedition brought by the Family Compact. His writing had an impact on events leading to the 1837 rebellion.

The plaque reads:

Robert Gourlay championed reforms ahead of his time.
In Scotland -- a vote for every man who could read and write.
In England -- a living wage for workers.
In Canada -- fair land distribution.

The Family Compact was a caste established in Upper Canada by Lt.-Gov. John Graves Simcoe with the intent of establishing a Canadian aristocracy. The Rebellion of 1837 was provoked by Lord John Russell, whose Ten Resolutions removed any trace of responsible government in the British North American colonies.

The aristocracy never took root, the rebellion failed (Gourlay didn't support it, by the way), and the British North American colonies started winning responsible government in 1848. Full independence for their federation -- Canada -- came in 1931.

All of this explains, by the way, why Canada is the only one of the former Dominions not to play cricket. Cricket was the game of the Family Compact and the other colonial oligarchies in British North America, so the people played baseball instead.