Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin were extremely admirable leaders because they fought against the executive council in order to achieve responsible government, but they should not be considered the founders of what was to become Canada. Responsible government was not Lafontaine and Baldwin's own idea, it was first suggested by Lord Durham. Lafontaine and Baldwin were also not the first colony in British North America to achieve responsible government. Nova Scotia adopted it under the leadership of Joseph Howe before Lafontaine and Baldwin. There were also more important reasons Canada became a country than responsible government being achieved. Britain felt threatened by the United States and the Fenian Brotherhood, therefore making them in favor of confederation. Canada East and Canada West were also in a political deadlock, and nothing was advancing in the legislation, even though they had responsible government at this time.