It is not long since guns were discharged from a window in this town at the successful candidates in an election, and the coachman of one of them was actually shot in the body, though not dangerously wounded.

Most early members were from Ireland, but later many Scots, English and other Protestant Europeans joined the Order, in addition to Amerindians, such as those in the Mohawk Orange Lodge which survives into the present day.

The Order was the chief social institution in Upper Canada, organizing many community and benevolent activities, and helping Protestant immigrants to settle.

Besides sentimental patriotic or imperialist motivations, many Orangemen joined because the benefits of mutual aid, security, and health supports made it easier to survive the difficulties of working-class life.

[clarification needed] Above all, it meant the ability to exert pressure on magistrates and juries, which gave Orangemen a degree of immunity from the law.

[5] The Orange Order became a central facet of life in many parts of Canada, especially in the business centre of Toronto where many deals and relationships were forged at the lodge.

An influential weekly newspaper, The Sentinel, promoted Protestant social and political views and was widely circulated throughout North America.

[12] Historian William Baergen notes that White Anglo Saxon Protestantism (WASP) was a foundational feature of the early settlement in Alberta.

[13] Baergen says that "the more radical white Anglo-Saxon Protestants were represented by the Orange Order, and formed the essence of the anti-Catholic and anti-foreigner agenda that emerged in Alberta during the period from 1929–1933.

"[15][check quotation syntax] In a letter to Alberta Premier John Edward Brownlee on December 13, 1927, the Hesketh Loyal Orange Lodge, No.

I have been instructed to write and congratulate you on your stand re THE EMIGRATION POLICY and its ADMINISTRATION [sic]"[16] Orangemen played a big part in suppressing the Upper Canada Rebellion of William Lyon Mackenzie in 1837.

Though the rebellion was short-lived, 317 Orangemen were sworn into the local militia by the Mayor of Toronto and then resisted Mackenzie's march down Yonge Street in 1837.

An obelisk there marks the spot where Orangemen died in defending the colony against an attack by members of Clan na Gael (commonly known as Fenians).

The killing of abducted Orangeman Thomas Scott was a turning point in the 1870 Red River Rebellion which caused the Dominion government to launch the Wolseley expedition to restore order.

[6] Orangeman[citation needed] Alexander James Muir (Ontario) wrote both the music and lyrics to the Canadian patriotic song "The Maple Leaf Forever" in 1867.

[citation needed] Hockey Hall of Fame inductee George Dudley was an Orangeman, and served 43 years as Midland, Ontario's town solicitor.