At the beginning of the movie, in the Legislative Assembly, there were two parties: John MacDonald and George Brown against George Cartier and A. Dorian. Since Upper and Lower Canada had an equal representation of seats, they would bribe and threaten people to cross the floor. The French and English could not agree to anything as this led up to political deadlock, many meaningless elections and the changes of government. Many things could not get done, for example: needing funds to build railroads, unable to pick a capital for Canada, the Hudson Bay leases, and the Red River territories being open for settlement. In the film, the governor general suggests the capital be in Bytown also known as Ottawa. Bytown is not a place everyone desires