Clear Grits

Clear Grits

Political movement in Canada West (now Ontario). It developed in 1849 within the Reform Party in opposition to the province's premier, Robert Baldwin, who advocated reforms that included the use of crown lands to support the Protestant churches. It allegedly took its name from the motto “All sand and no dirt, clear grit all the way through.” Its early leader was Peter Perry; after his death in 1851, control gradually passed to George Brown. It eventually joined other groups to form the Liberal Party of Canada; the term “Grit” denotes a member of that party.