John Diefenbaker

FRSA
Diefenbaker in 1957
13th Prime Minister of Canada
In office June 21, 1957 – April 22, 1963
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governors General	Vincent Massey Georges Vanier
Preceded by	Secretary of State for External Affairs
In office June 21, 1957 – September 12, 1957
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Lester B. Pearson
Succeeded by	Sidney Earle Smith
Member of Parliament for Prince Albert
In office August 10, 1953 – August 16, 1979
Preceded by	Francis Helme
Succeeded by	Stan Hovdebo
Member of Parliament for Lake Centre
In office March 26, 1940 – August 10, 1953
Preceded by	John Frederick Johnston
Succeeded by	Riding abolished
Personal details
Born	John George Diefenbaker (1895-09-18)September 18, 1895 Neustadt, Ontario, Canada
Died	August 16, 1979(1979-08-16) (aged 83) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Resting place	Outside Diefenbaker Canada Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouses	Edna Brower ​ ​ (m. 1929; died 1951)​ Olive Palmer ​ ​ (m. 1953; died 1976)​
Alma mater	University of Saskatchewan (BA, MA, LLB)
Occupation	Politician lawyer
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Canada
Branch/service	Canadian Expeditionary Force
Years of service	1916–1917
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	196th Battalion
Battles/wars	World War I

John George Diefenbaker

Diefenbaker was born in the small town of Neustadt in Southwestern Ontario. In 1903, his family migrated west to the portion of the North-West Territories that would soon become the province of Saskatchewan. He grew up in the province and was interested in politics from a young age. After service in World War I, Diefenbaker became a noted criminal defence lawyer. He contested elections through the 1920s and 1930s with little success until he was finally elected to the House of Commons in 1940.

Diefenbaker was repeatedly a candidate for the party leadership. He gained that position in

In the

Diefenbaker was born on September 18, 1895, in Neustadt, Ontario, to William Thomas Diefenbaker and Mary Florence Diefenbaker, née Bannerman.^[1] His father was the son of German immigrants from Adersbach (near Sinsheim) in Baden; Mary Diefenbaker was of Scottish descent and Diefenbaker was Baptist.^[b] The family moved to several locations in Ontario in John's early years.^[1] William Diefenbaker was a teacher, and had deep interests in history and politics, which he sought to inculcate in his students. He had remarkable success doing so; of the 28 students at his school near Toronto in 1903, four, including his son, John, served as Conservative MPs in the 19th Canadian Parliament beginning in 1940^[2] (the others were Robert Henry McGregor, Joseph Henry Harris, and George Tustin).

The Diefenbaker family moved west in 1903, for William Diefenbaker to accept a position near Fort Carlton, then in the Northwest Territories (now in Saskatchewan).^[3] In 1906, William claimed a quarter-section, 160 acres (0.65 km²) of undeveloped land near Borden, Saskatchewan.^[4] In February 1910, the Diefenbaker family moved to Saskatoon, the site of the University of Saskatchewan. William and Mary Diefenbaker felt that John and his brother Elmer would have greater educational opportunities in Saskatoon.^[5]

John Diefenbaker had been interested in politics from an early age and told his mother at the age of eight or nine that he would some day be prime minister. She told him that it was an impossible ambition, especially for a boy living on the prairies.^[c] She would live to be proved wrong.^[c] John claimed that his first contact with politics came in 1910, when he sold a newspaper to Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, in Saskatoon to lay the cornerstone for the university's first building. The present and future prime ministers conversed, and when giving his speech that afternoon, Laurier mentioned the newsboy, who had ended their conversation by saying, "I can't waste any more time on you, Prime Minister. I must get about my work."^[5][d] The authenticity of the meeting was questioned in the 21st century, with an author suggesting that it was invented by Diefenbaker during an election campaign.^[6][7]

In a 1977 interview with the

After graduating from high school in Saskatoon in 1912, Diefenbaker entered the University of Saskatchewan.^[10] He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1915, and his Master of Arts the following year.^[11]

Diefenbaker was commissioned a lieutenant into the

Although Wakaw had a population of only 400, it sat at the heart of a densely populated area of rural

Diefenbaker won the local people over through his success; in his first year in practice, he tried 62 jury trials, winning approximately half of his cases. He rarely called defence witnesses, thereby avoiding the possibility of rebuttal witnesses for the Crown, and securing the last word for himself.[18] In late 1920, he was elected to the village council to serve a three-year term.^[19]

Diefenbaker would often spend weekends with his parents in Saskatoon. While there, he began to woo

After four years in Wakaw, Diefenbaker so dominated the local legal practice that his competitor left town. On May 1, 1924, Diefenbaker moved to Prince Albert, leaving a law partner in charge of the Wakaw office.[21]

Since 1905, when Saskatchewan entered

The winning candidate,

Diefenbaker stood for the Legislative Assembly in the

Diefenbaker chose not to stand for the House of Commons in the 1930 federal election, citing health reasons. The Conservatives gained a majority in the election, and party leader R. B. Bennett became prime minister.^[29] Diefenbaker continued a high-profile legal practice, and in 1933, ran for mayor of Prince Albert. He was defeated by 48 votes in an election in which over 2,000 ballots were cast.^[e]

In 1934, when the Crown prosecutor for Prince Albert resigned to become the Conservative Party's legislative candidate, Diefenbaker took his place as prosecutor. Diefenbaker did not stand in the

Saskatchewan Conservatives eventually arranged a leadership convention for October 28, 1936. Eleven people were nominated, including Diefenbaker. The other ten candidates withdrew, and Diefenbaker won the position by default. Diefenbaker asked the federal party for $10,000 in financial support, but the funds were refused, and the Conservatives were shut out of the legislature in

Bracken was elected to the Commons in the 1945 general election, and for the first time in five years the Tories had their party leader in the House of Commons. The Progressive Conservatives won 67 seats to the Liberals' 125, with smaller parties and independents winning 52 seats. Diefenbaker increased his majority to over 1,000 votes, and had the satisfaction of seeing Mackenzie King defeated in Prince Albert—albeit by a CCF candidate. The Prime Minister was returned in an Ontario by-election within months.^[48]

Diefenbaker staked out a position on the populist left of the PC party. Though most Canadians were content to look to Parliament for protection of civil liberties, Diefenbaker called for a Bill of Rights, calling it "the only way to stop the march on the part of the government towards arbitrary power".^[41] He objected to the great powers used by the Mackenzie King government to attempt to root out Soviet spies after the war, such as imprisonment without trial, and complained about the government's proclivity for letting its wartime powers become permanent.^[41]

In early 1948, Mackenzie King, now aged 73, announced his retirement; later that year

If, as a neophyte lawyer, he had succeeded in winning the Prince Albert seat in the federal elections of 1925 or 1926, ... Diefenbaker would probably have been remembered only as an obscure minister in Bennett's Depression cabinet ... If he had carried his home-town mayoralty in 1933, ... he'd probably not be remembered at all ... If he had succeeded in his bid for the national leadership in 1942, he might have taken the place of John Bracken on his six-year march to oblivion as leader of a party that had not changed itself enough to follow a Prairie radical ... [If he had defeated Drew in 1948, he] would have been free to flounder before the political strength of Louis St. Laurent in the 1949 and 1953 campaigns.[53]

The governing Liberals repeatedly attempted to draw Diefenbaker's seat out from under him. In 1948, Lake Centre was redistricted to remove areas which strongly supported Diefenbaker. In spite of that, he was returned in the 1949 election, the only PC member from Saskatchewan. In 1952, a redistricting committee dominated by Liberals abolished Lake Centre entirely, dividing its voters among three other ridings.^[51] Diefenbaker stated in his memoirs that he had considered retiring from the House; with Drew only a year older than he was, the Westerner saw little prospect of advancement and had received tempting offers from Ontario law firms. However, the gerrymandering so angered him that he decided to fight for a seat.^[54] Diefenbaker's party had taken Prince Albert only once, in 1911, but he decided to stand in that riding for the 1953 election and was successful.^[51] He would hold that seat for the rest of his life.^[55] Even though Diefenbaker campaigned nationally for party candidates, the Progressive Conservatives gained little, rising to 51 seats as St. Laurent led the Liberals to a fifth successive majority.^[56] In addition to trying to secure his departure from Parliament, the government opened a home for unwed Indian mothers next door to Diefenbaker's home in Prince Albert.^[51]

Diefenbaker continued practising law. In 1951, he gained national attention by accepting the Atherton case, in which a young telegraph operator had been accused of negligently causing

Diefenbaker won Prince Albert in 1953, even as the Tories suffered a second consecutive disastrous defeat under Drew. Speculation arose in the press that the leader might be pressured to step aside. Drew was determined to remain, however, and Diefenbaker was careful to avoid any action that might be seen as disloyal. However, Diefenbaker was never a member of the "Five O'clock Club" of Drew intimates who met the leader in his office for a drink and gossip each day.[60]^[f] By 1955, there was a widespread feeling among Tories that Drew was not capable of leading the party to a victory. At the same time, the Liberals were in flux as the aging St. Laurent tired of politics.^[61] Drew was able to damage the government in a weeks-long battle over the TransCanada pipeline in 1956—the so-called Pipeline Debate—in which the government, in a hurry to obtain financing for the pipeline, imposed closure before the debate even began. The Tories and the CCF combined to obstruct business in the House for weeks before the Liberals were finally able to pass the measure. Diefenbaker played a relatively minor role in the Pipeline Debate, speaking only once.^[62]

By 1956, the Social Credit Party was becoming a potential rival to the Tories as Canada's main right-wing party.^[63] Canadian journalist and author Bruce Hutchison discussed the state of the Tories in 1956:

When a party calling itself Conservative can think of nothing better than to outbid the Government's election promises; when it demands economy in one breath and increased spending in the next; when it proposes an immediate tax cut regardless of inflationary results ... when in short, the Conservative party no longer gives us a conservative alternative after twenty-one years ... then our political system desperately requires an opposition prepared to stand for something more than the improbable chance of quick victory.^[64]

In August 1956, Drew fell ill and many within the party urged him to step aside, feeling that the Progressive Conservatives needed vigorous leadership with an election likely within a year. He resigned in late September, and Diefenbaker immediately announced his candidacy for the leadership.

In January 1957, Diefenbaker took his place as Leader of the Official Opposition. In February, St. Laurent informed him that Parliament would be dissolved in April for an election on June 10. The Liberals submitted a budget in March; Diefenbaker attacked it for overly high taxes, failure to assist pensioners, and a lack of aid for the poorer provinces.^[67] Parliament was dissolved on April 12.^[68] St. Laurent was so confident of victory that he did not even bother to make recommendations to the Governor General to fill the 16 vacancies in the Senate.^[69][70]

Diefenbaker ran on a platform which concentrated on changes in domestic policies. He pledged to work with the provinces to reform the Senate. He proposed a vigorous new agricultural policy, seeking to stabilize income for farmers. He sought to reduce dependence on trade with the United States, and to seek closer ties with the United Kingdom.^[71] St. Laurent called the Tory platform "a mere cream-puff of a thing—with more air than substance".^[72] Diefenbaker and the PC party used television adroitly, whereas St. Laurent stated that he was more interested in seeing people than in talking to cameras.^[73] Though the Liberals outspent the Progressive Conservatives three to one, according to Newman, their campaign had little imagination, and was based on telling voters that their only real option was to re-elect St. Laurent.^[70]

Diefenbaker characterized the Tory program in a nationwide telecast on April 30:

It is a program ... for a united Canada, for one Canada, for Canada first, in every aspect of our political and public life, for the welfare of the average man and woman. That is my approach to public affairs and has been throughout my life ... A Canada, united from Coast to Coast, wherein there will be freedom for the individual, freedom of enterprise and where there will be a Government which, in all its actions, will remain the servant and not the master of the people.^[74]

The final Gallup poll before the election showed the Liberals ahead, 48% to 34%.^[75] Just before the election, Maclean's magazine printed its regular weekly issue, to go on sale the morning after the vote, editorializing that democracy in Canada was still strong despite a sixth consecutive Liberal victory.^[76] On election night, the Progressive Conservative advance started early, with the gain of two seats in reliably Liberal Newfoundland.^[77] The party picked up nine seats in Nova Scotia, five in Quebec, 28 in Ontario, and at least one seat in every other province. The Progressive Conservatives took 112 seats to the Liberals' 105: a plurality, but not a majority.^[g] While the Liberals finished some 200,000 votes ahead of the Tories nationally, that margin was mostly wasted in overwhelming victories in safe Quebec seats. St. Laurent could have attempted to form a government, however, with the minor parties pledging to cooperate with the Progressive Conservatives, he would have likely faced a quick defeat at the Commons.^[78] St. Laurent instead resigned, making Diefenbaker prime minister.^[79]

When John Diefenbaker took office as Prime Minister of Canada on June 21, 1957, only one Progressive Conservative MP,

As the Parliament buildings had been lent to the Universal Postal Union for its 14th congress, Diefenbaker was forced to wait until the fall to convene Parliament. However, the Cabinet approved measures that summer, including increased price supports for butter and turkeys, and raises for federal employees.^[82] Once the 23rd Canadian Parliament was opened on October 14 by Queen Elizabeth II – the first to be opened by any Canadian monarch – the government rapidly passed legislation, including tax cuts and increases in old age pensions. The Liberals were ineffective in opposition, with the party in the midst of a leadership race after St. Laurent's resignation as party leader.^[83]

With the Conservatives leading in the polls, Diefenbaker wanted a new election, hopeful that his party would gain a majority of seats. The strong Liberal presence meant that the Governor General could refuse a dissolution request early in a parliament's term and allow them to form government if Diefenbaker resigned. Diefenbaker sought a pretext for a new election.^[84]

Such an excuse presented itself when former Secretary of State for External Affairs

On Thursday there was shrieking defiance, on the following Monday there is shrinking indecision ... The only reason that this motion is worded as it is[,] is that my honourable friends opposite quake when they think of what will happen if an election comes ... It is the resignation from responsibility of a great party.[86]

Diefenbaker read from an internal report provided to the St. Laurent government in early 1957, warning that a recession was coming, and stated:

Across the way, Mr. Speaker, sit the purveyors of gloom who would endeavour for political purposes, to panic the Canadian people ... They had a warning ... Did they tell us that? No. Mr. Speaker, why did they not reveal this? Why did they not act when the House was sitting in January, February, March, and April? They had the information ... You concealed the facts, that is what you did.^[87]

According to the Minister of Finance, Donald Fleming, "Pearson looked at first merry, then serious, then uncomfortable, then disturbed, and finally sick."^[86] Pearson recorded in his memoirs that the Prime Minister "tore me to shreds".^[85] Prominent Liberal frontbencher Paul Martin called Diefenbaker's response "one of the greatest devastating speeches" and "Diefenbaker's great hour".^[88] On February 1, Diefenbaker asked the Governor General, Vincent Massey, to dissolve Parliament, alleging that though St. Laurent had promised cooperation, Pearson had made it clear he would not follow his predecessor's lead. Massey agreed to the dissolution, and Diefenbaker set an election date of March 31, 1958.^[89][90]

The 1958 election campaign saw a huge outpouring of public support for the Progressive Conservatives. At the opening campaign rally in Winnipeg on February 12 voters filled the hall until the doors had to be closed for safety reasons. They were promptly broken down by the crowd outside.^[91] At the rally, Diefenbaker called for "[a] new vision. A new hope. A new soul for Canada."^[92] He pledged to open the Canadian North, to seek out its resources and make it a place for settlements.^[91] The conclusion to his speech expounded on what became known as "The Vision",

This is the vision: One Canada. One Canada, where Canadians will have preserved to them the control of their own economic and political destiny. Sir John A. Macdonald saw a Canada from east to west: he opened the west. I see a new Canada—a Canada of the North. This is the vision!^[93]

Pearson and his Liberals faltered badly in the campaign. The Liberal Party leader tried to make an issue of the fact that Diefenbaker had called a winter election, generally disfavoured in Canada due to travel difficulties. Pearson's objection cut little ice with voters, and served only to remind the electorate that the Liberals, at their convention, had called for an election.[97] Pearson mocked Diefenbaker's northern plans as "igloo-to-igloo" communications, and was assailed by the Prime Minister for being condescending.^[98] The Liberal leader spoke to small, quiet crowds, which quickly left the halls when he was done.^[97] By election day, Pearson had no illusions that he might win the election, and hoped only to salvage 100 seats. The Liberals would be limited to less than half of that.^[97]

On March 31, 1958, the Tories won what is still the largest majority (in terms of percentage of seats) in Canadian federal political history, winning 208 seats to the Liberals' 48, with the CCF winning 8 and Social Credit wiped out. The Progressive Conservatives won a majority of the votes and of the seats in every province except British Columbia (49.8%) and Newfoundland. Quebec's Union Nationale political machine had given the PC party little support, but with Quebec voters minded to support Diefenbaker, Union Nationale boss Maurice Duplessis threw the machinery of his party behind the Tories.^[99]

An economic downturn was beginning in Canada by 1958. Because of tax cuts instituted the previous year, the government's budget predicted a small deficit for 1957–58 and a large one, $648 million, for the following year. Minister of Finance Fleming and Bank of Canada Governor James Coyne proposed that the wartime Victory Bond issue, which constituted two-thirds of the national debt and which was due to be redeemed by 1967, be refinanced to a longer term. After considerable indecision on Diefenbaker's part, a nationwide campaign took place, and 90% of the bonds were converted. However, this transaction led to an increase in the money supply, which in future years would hamper the government's efforts to respond to unemployment.^[100]

As a trial lawyer, and in opposition, Diefenbaker had long been concerned with civil liberties. On July 1, 1960, Dominion Day, he introduced the Canadian Bill of Rights in Parliament. The bill rapidly passed and was proclaimed on August 10, fulfilling a lifetime goal of Diefenbaker's, as he had begun drafting it as early as 1936.^[101][8] The document purported to guarantee fundamental freedoms, with special attention to the rights of the accused. However, as a mere piece of federal legislation, it could be amended by any other law, and civil liberties were to a large extent a matter of provincial, rather than federal, jurisdiction. One lawyer remarked that the document provided rights for all Canadians, "so long as they don't live in any of the provinces".^[102] Diefenbaker had appointed the first First Nations member of the Senate, James Gladstone, in January 1958,^[103] and in 1960, his government extended voting rights to all native people.^[13] In 1962, Diefenbaker's government eliminated race discrimination clauses in immigration laws.^[104]

Diefenbaker pursued a "One Canada" policy, seeking equality of all Canadians. As part of that philosophy, he was unwilling to make special concessions to Quebec's francophones. Thomas Van Dusen, who served as Diefenbaker's executive assistant and wrote a book about him, characterized the leader's views on this issue:

There must be no compromise with Canada's existence as a nation. Opting out, two flags, two pension plans, associated states, Two Nations and all the other baggage of political dualism was ushering Quebec out of Confederation on the instalment plan. He could not accept any theory of two nations, however worded, because it would make of those neither French nor English second-class citizens.^[105]

Diefenbaker's disinclination to make concessions to Quebec, along with the disintegration of the Union Nationale, the failure of the Tories to build an effective structure in Quebec, and Diefenbaker appointing few Quebeckers to his Cabinet (and none to senior positions), all led to an erosion of Progressive Conservative support in Quebec.^[106] Diefenbaker did recommend the appointment of the first French-Canadian governor general, Georges Vanier.^[13]

By mid-1961, differences in monetary policy led to open conflict with Bank of Canada Governor Coyne, who adhered to a tight money policy. Appointed by St. Laurent to a term expiring in December 1961, Coyne could only be dismissed before then by the passing of an Act of Parliament.^[107] Coyne defended his position by giving public speeches, to the dismay of the government.^[108] The Cabinet was also angered when it learned that Coyne and his board had passed amendments to the bank's pension scheme which greatly increased Coyne's pension, without publishing the amendments in the Canada Gazette as required by law. Negotiations between Minister of Finance Fleming and Coyne for the latter's resignation broke down, with the governor making the dispute public, and Diefenbaker sought to dismiss Coyne by legislation.^[109] Diefenbaker was able to get legislation to dismiss Coyne through the House, but the Liberal-controlled Senate invited Coyne to testify before one of its committees. After giving the governor a platform against the government, the committee then chose to take no further action, adding its view that Coyne had done nothing wrong. Once he had the opportunity to testify (denied him in the Commons), Coyne resigned, keeping his increased pension, and the government was extensively criticized in the press.^[110]

By the time Diefenbaker called an election for June 18, 1962, the party had been damaged by loss of support in Quebec and in urban areas^[111] as voters grew disillusioned with Diefenbaker and the Tories. The PC campaign was hurt when the Bank of Canada was forced to devalue the Canadian dollar to 92+1⁄2 US cents; it had previously hovered in the range from 95 cents to par with the United States dollar. Privately printed satirical "Diefenbucks" swept the country.^[112] On election day, the Progressive Conservatives lost 92 seats, but were still able to form a minority government. The New Democratic Party (the successor to the CCF) and Social Credit held the balance of power in the new Parliament.^[111]

Diefenbaker attended a meeting of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers in London shortly after taking office in 1957. He generated headlines by proposing that 15% of Canadian spending on US imports instead be spent on imports from the United Kingdom.^[113] Britain responded with an offer of a free trade agreement, which was rejected by the Canadians.^[114] As the Harold Macmillan government in the UK sought to enter the Common Market, Diefenbaker feared that Canadian exports to the UK would be threatened. He also believed that the mother country should place the Commonwealth first, and sought to discourage Britain's entry. The British were annoyed at Canadian interference. Britain's initial attempt to enter the Common Market was vetoed by French President Charles de Gaulle.^[115]

Through 1959, the Diefenbaker government had a policy of not criticizing South Africa and its apartheid government.^[116] In this stance, Diefenbaker had the support of the Liberals but not that of CCF leader Hazen Argue.^[117] In 1960, however, the South Africans sought to maintain membership in the Commonwealth even if South African white voters chose to make the country a republic in a referendum scheduled for later that year. South Africa asked that year's Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference to allow it to remain in the Commonwealth regardless of the result of the referendum. Diefenbaker privately expressed his distaste for apartheid to South African External Affairs Minister Eric Louw and urged him to give the black and coloured people of South Africa at least the minimal representation they had originally had. Louw, attending the conference as Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd recovered from an assassination attempt, refused.^[118] The conference resolved that an advance decision would be interfering in South Africa's internal affairs.^[119]

On October 5, 1960, South Africa's white voters decided to make the country a republic.^[120] At the Prime Ministers' Conference in 1961, Verwoerd formally applied for South Africa to remain in the Commonwealth. The prime ministers were divided; Diefenbaker broke the deadlock by proposing that South Africa only be re-admitted if it joined other states in condemning apartheid in principle. Once it became clear that South Africa's membership would be rejected, Verwoerd withdrew his country's application to remain in the Commonwealth and left the group. According to Peter Newman, this was "Diefenbaker's most important contribution to international politics ... Diefenbaker flew home, a hero."^[121]

American officials were uncomfortable with Diefenbaker's initial election, believing they had heard undertones of anti-Americanism in the campaign. After years of the Liberals, one U.S. State Department official noted, "We'll be dealing with an unknown quantity."^[122] U.S. officials viewed Diefenbaker's 1958 landslide with disappointment; they knew and liked Pearson from his years in diplomacy and felt the Liberal Party leader would be more likely to institute pro-American policies.^[123] However, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower took pains to foster good relations with Diefenbaker. The two men found much in common, from Western farm backgrounds to a love of fishing, and Diefenbaker had an admiration for war leaders such as Eisenhower and Churchill.^[124] Diefenbaker wrote in his memoirs, "I might add that President Eisenhower and I were from our first meeting on an 'Ike–John' basis, and that we were as close as the nearest telephone."^[125] The Eisenhower–Diefenbaker relationship was sufficiently strong that the touchy Canadian Prime Minister was prepared to overlook slights. When Eisenhower addressed Parliament in October 1958, he downplayed trade concerns that Diefenbaker had publicly expressed. Diefenbaker said nothing and took Eisenhower fishing.^[126]

Diefenbaker had approved plans to join the United States in what became known as NORAD, an integrated air defence system, in mid-1957.^[127] Despite Liberal misgivings that Diefenbaker had committed Canada to the system before consulting either the Cabinet or Parliament, Pearson and his followers voted with the government to approve NORAD in June 1958.^[128]

In 1959, the Diefenbaker government cancelled the development and manufacture of the

Although Diefenbaker and Eisenhower had a strong relationship, by 1960 U.S. officials were becoming concerned by what they viewed as Canadian procrastination on vital issues, such as whether Canada should join the Organization of American States (OAS). Talks on these issues in June 1960 produced little in results.^[126] Diefenbaker hoped that U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon would win the 1960 presidential election, but when Nixon's Democratic opponent, Senator John F. Kennedy, won the race, he sent Kennedy a note of congratulations. Kennedy did not respond until Canadian officials asked what had become of Diefenbaker's note, two weeks later. Diefenbaker, for whom such correspondence was very meaningful, was annoyed at the President-elect's slowness to respond.^[136] In January 1961, Diefenbaker visited Washington to sign the Columbia River Treaty. However, with only days remaining in the Eisenhower administration, little else could be accomplished.^[137]

Kennedy and Diefenbaker started off well, but matters soon worsened. When the two met in Washington on February 20, Kennedy impressed Diefenbaker, and the Prime Minister invited Kennedy to visit Ottawa.

Diefenbaker was initially inclined to go along with Kennedy's request that nuclear weapons be stationed on Canadian soil as part of NORAD. However, when an August 3, 1961 letter from Kennedy which urged this was leaked to the media, Diefenbaker was angered and withdrew his support. The Prime Minister was also influenced by a massive demonstration against nuclear weapons, which took place on Parliament Hill. Diefenbaker was handed a petition containing 142,000 names.^[144]

By 1962, the American government was becoming increasingly concerned at the lack of a commitment from Canada to take nuclear weapons. The interceptors and Bomarc missiles with which Canada was being supplied as a NORAD member were either of no use or of greatly diminished utility without nuclear devices.

Kennedy was careful to avoid overt favouritism during the 1962 Canadian election campaign. Several times during the campaign, Diefenbaker stated that the Kennedy administration desired his defeat because he refused to "bow down to Washington."^[151] After Diefenbaker was returned with a minority, Washington continued to press for acceptance of nuclear arms, but Diefenbaker, faced with a split between Defence Minister Douglas Harkness and External Affairs Minister Howard Green on the question, continued to stall, hoping that time and events would invite consensus.^[152]

When the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted in October 1962, Kennedy chose not to consult with Diefenbaker before deciding on what actions to take. The President sent former Ambassador Merchant to Ottawa to inform the Prime Minister as to the content of the speech that Kennedy was to make on television. Diefenbaker was upset at both the lack of consultation and the fact that he was given less than two hours advance word.^[153] He was angered again when the U.S. government released a statement stating that it had Canada's full support.^[154] In a statement to the Commons, Diefenbaker proposed sending representatives of neutral nations to Cuba to verify the American allegations, which Washington took to mean that he was questioning Kennedy's word.^[155] When American forces went to a heightened alert, DEFCON 3, Diefenbaker was slow to order Canadian forces to match it. Harkness and the Chiefs of Staff had Canadian forces clandestinely go to that alert status anyway,^[156] and Diefenbaker eventually authorized it.^[157] The crisis ended without war, and polls found that Canadians widely supported Kennedy's actions. Diefenbaker was severely criticized in the media.^[158]

On January 3, 1963, NATO Supreme Commander General Lauris Norstad visited Ottawa, in one of a series of visits to member nations prior to his retirement. At a news conference, Norstad stated that if Canada did not accept nuclear weapons, it would not be fulfilling its commitments to NATO. Newspapers across Canada criticized Diefenbaker, who was convinced the statement was part of a plot by Kennedy to bring down his government.^[159] Although the Liberals had been previously indecisive on the question of nuclear weapons, on January 12, Pearson made a speech stating that the government should live up to its commitments.^[160]

With the Cabinet still divided between adherents of Green and Harkness, Diefenbaker made a speech in the Commons on January 25 that Fleming (by then

The bitter divisions within the Cabinet continued, with Diefenbaker deliberating whether to call an election on the issue of American interference in Canadian politics. At least six Cabinet ministers favoured Diefenbaker's ouster. Finally, at a dramatic Cabinet meeting on Sunday, February 3, Harkness told Diefenbaker that the Prime Minister no longer had the confidence of the Canadian people, and resigned. Diefenbaker asked ministers supporting him to stand, and when only about half did, stated that he was going to see the Governor General to resign, and that Fleming would be the next Prime Minister. Green called his Cabinet colleagues a "nest of traitors," but eventually cooler heads prevailed, and Diefenbaker was urged to return and to fight the motion of non-confidence scheduled for the following day. Harkness, however, persisted in his resignation.^[164] Negotiations with the Social Credit Party, which had enough votes to save the government, failed, and the government fell, 142–111.^[165]

Two members of the government resigned the day after the government lost the vote.^[166] As the campaign opened, the Tories trailed in the polls by 15 points. To Pearson and his Liberals, the only question was how large a majority they would win.^[167] Peter Stursberg, who wrote two books about the Diefenbaker years, stated of that campaign:

For the old Diefenbaker was in full cry. All the agony of the disintegration of his government was gone, and he seemed to be a giant revived by his contact with the people. This was Diefenbaker's finest election. He was virtually alone on the hustings. Even such loyalists as Gordon Churchill had to stick close to their own bailiwicks, where they were fighting for their political lives.^[168]

Though the White House maintained public neutrality, Kennedy privately made it clear he desired a Liberal victory,^[169] and lent Lou Harris, his pollster to work for the Liberals again.^[170] On election day, April 8, 1963, the Liberals claimed 129 seats to the Tories' 95, five seats short of an absolute majority. Diefenbaker held to power for several days, until six Quebec Social Credit MPs signed a statement that Pearson should form the government. These votes would be enough to give Pearson support of a majority of the House of Commons, and Diefenbaker resigned. The six MPs repudiated the statement within days. Nonetheless, Pearson formed a government with the support of the NDP.^[171]

Diefenbaker continued to lead the Progressive Conservatives, again as Leader of the Opposition. In November 1963, upon hearing of

There were calls for Diefenbaker's retirement, especially from the Bay Street wing of the party as early as 1964. Diefenbaker initially beat back attempts to remove him without trouble.^[177] When Pearson called an election in 1965 in the expectation of receiving a majority, Diefenbaker ran an aggressive campaign. The Liberals fell two seats short of a majority, and the Tories improved their position slightly at the expense of the smaller parties.^[178] After the election, some Tories, led by party president Dalton Camp, began a quiet campaign to oust Diefenbaker.^[13]

In the absence of a formal

My course has come to an end. I have fought your battles, and you have given me that loyalty that led us to victory more often than the party has ever had since the days of Sir John A. Macdonald. In my retiring, I have nothing to withdraw in my desire to see Canada, my country and your country, one nation.[181]

Diefenbaker was embittered by his loss of the party leadership. Pearson announced his retirement in December 1967, and Diefenbaker forged a wary relationship of mutual respect with Pearson's successor, Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau called a general election for June 1968; Stanfield asked Diefenbaker to join him at a rally in Saskatoon, which Diefenbaker refused, although the two appeared at hastily arranged photo opportunities. Trudeau obtained the majority against Stanfield that Pearson had never been able to obtain against Diefenbaker, as the PC party lost 25 seats, 20 of them in the West. The former prime minister, though stating, "The Conservative Party has suffered a calamitous disaster" in a CBC interview, could not conceal his delight at Stanfield's humiliation, and especially gloated at the defeat of Camp, who made an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Commons.^[182] Diefenbaker was easily returned for Prince Albert.^[182]

Although Stanfield worked to try to unify the party, Diefenbaker and his loyalists proved difficult to reconcile. The division in the party broke out in well-publicised dissensions, as when Diefenbaker called on Progressive Conservative MPs to break with Stanfield's position on the Official Languages bill, and nearly half the caucus voted against their leader's will or abstained.^[183] In addition to his parliamentary activities, Diefenbaker travelled extensively and began work on his memoirs, which were published in three volumes between 1975 and 1977. Pearson died of cancer in 1972, and Diefenbaker was asked if he had kind words for his old rival. Diefenbaker shook his head and said only, "He shouldn't have won the Nobel Prize."^[184]

By 1972, Diefenbaker had grown disillusioned with Trudeau, and campaigned wholeheartedly for the Tories in that year's election. Diefenbaker was re-elected comfortably in his home riding, and the Progressive Conservatives came within two seats of matching the Liberal total. Diefenbaker was relieved both that Trudeau had been humbled and that Stanfield had been denied power. Trudeau regained his majority two years later in an election that saw Diefenbaker, by then the only living former prime minister, have his personal majority grow to 11,000 votes.^[185]

In the

In 1978, Diefenbaker announced that he would stand in one more election, and under the slogan "Diefenbaker—Now More Than Ever", weathered a campaign the following year during which he apparently suffered a mild stroke, although the media were told he was bedridden with influenza. In the May election Diefenbaker defeated NDP candidate Stan Hovdebo (who, after Diefenbaker's death, would win the seat in a by-election) by 4,000 votes. Clark had defeated Trudeau, though only gaining a minority government, and Diefenbaker returned to Ottawa to witness the swearing-in, still unreconciled to his old opponents among Clark's ministers. Two months later, Diefenbaker died of a heart attack in his study at age 83.^[188]

Diefenbaker had extensively planned his funeral in consultation with government officials. He

Some of Diefenbaker's policies did not survive the 16 years of Liberal government that followed his fall. This was especially true in the realm of foreign affairs: "By the time Diefenbaker left office," according to Canadian historian Robert Bothwell, "his conduct of foreign policy was reviled by an important and growing number of Canadians, while his relations with both the Americans and the British were disastrous."^[196] By the end of 1963, the first of the Bomarc warheads entered Canada, where they remained until the last were finally phased out during John Turner's brief government in 1984.^[197] Diefenbaker's decision to have Canada remain outside the OAS was not reversed by Pearson, and it was not until 1989, under the Tory government of Brian Mulroney, that Canada joined.^[198]

Historian Conrad Black writes that Diefenbaker:

was not a successful prime minister; he was a jumble of attitudes but had little in the way of policy, was a disorganized administrator, and was inconsistent, indecisive, and not infrequently irrational. But he was very formidable; a deadly campaigner, an idiosyncratic but often galvanizing public speaker, a brilliant parliamentarian, and a man of many fine qualities. He was absolutely honest financially, a passionate supporter of the average and the underprivileged and disadvantaged person, a fierce opponent of any racial or religious or socioeconomic discrimination ...^[199]

However, some defining features of modern Canada can be traced back to Diefenbaker. Diefenbaker's Bill of Rights remains in effect, and signaled the change in Canadian political culture that would eventually bring about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which came into force after his death.^[13] Canadian philosopher George Grant saw Diefenbaker's career as emblematic of the broader trajectory of Canadian national identity:

Diefenbaker's confusions and inconsistencies are to be seen as essential to the Canadian fate. His administration was not an aberration from which Canada will recover under the sensible rule of the established classes. It was a bewildered attempt to find policies that were adequate to its noble cause. The 1957 election was the Canadian people's last gasp of nationalism. Diefenbaker's government was the strident swansong of that hope.^[200]

Diefenbaker has had several locations named in his honour, some before his 1979 death (particularly in his home province of Saskatchewan, including Lake Diefenbaker, the largest lake in Southern Saskatchewan, and the Diefenbaker Bridge in Prince Albert), others after (in 1993, Saskatoon renamed its airport the Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport). The city of Prince Albert continues to maintain the house he resided in from 1947 to 1975 as a public museum known as Diefenbaker House; it was designated a National Historic Site in 2018.^[201]

Diefenbaker reinvigorated a moribund party system in Canada. Clark and Mulroney, two men who, as students, worked on and were inspired by his 1957 triumph, became the only other Progressive Conservatives to lead the party to election triumphs.

Conservative Senator Marjory LeBreton worked in Diefenbaker's office during his second time as Opposition Leader, and has said of him, "He brought a lot of firsts to Canada, but a lot of it has been air-brushed from history by those who followed."^[203] Historian Michael Bliss, who published a survey of the Canadian Prime Ministers, wrote of Diefenbaker:

From the distance of our times, Diefenbaker's role as a prairie populist who tried to revolutionize the Conservative Party begins to loom larger than his personal idiosyncrasies. The difficulties he faced in the form of significant historical dilemmas seem less easy to resolve than Liberals and hostile journalists opined at the time. If Diefenbaker defies rehabilitation, he can at least be appreciated. He stood for a fascinating and still relevant combination of individual and egalitarian values ... But his contemporaries were also right in seeing some kind of disorder near the centre of his personality and his prime-ministership. The problems of leadership, authority, power, ego, and a mad time in history overwhelmed the prairie politician with the odd name.^[204]

Diefenbaker received several

• "Dief Will Be the Chief Again"
• Diefenbunker
• List of people from Prince Albert

Citations

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5. ^ ^{a b} Newman 1963, p. 16.
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51. ^ ^{a b c d} Newman 1963, pp. 29–30.
52. ^ Diefenbaker 1975, pp. 268–269.
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58. ^ Bliss 2004, p. 202.
59. ^ Perkel 2013.
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61. ^ Smith 1995, p. 200.
62. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 201–203.
63. ^ Meisel 1962, pp. 17–18.
64. ^ Meisel 1962, p. 16.
65. ^ ^{a b} Bliss 2004, p. 188.
66. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 203–204.
67. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 217–218.
68. ^ Smith 1995, p. 224.
69. ^ English 1992, p. 185.
70. ^ ^{a b} Newman 1963, p. 53.
71. ^ Newman 1963, p. 52.
72. ^ Meisel 1962, p. 158.
73. ^ Newman 1963, p. 54.
74. ^ Meisel 1962, p. 286.
75. ^ Smith 1995, p. 235.
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77. ^ Newman 1963, p. 56.
78. ^ Newman 1963, p. 58.
79. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 238–240.
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81. ^ Daniell 1957.
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89. ^ Stursberg 1975, p. 89.
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95. ^ Stursberg 1975, p. 94.
96. ^ Stursberg 1975, p. 95.
97. ^ ^{a b c} English 1992, pp. 201–202.
98. ^ English 1992, p. 203.
99. ^ Smith 1995, p. 282.
100. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 287–289.
101. ^ Smith 1995, p. 335.
102. ^ Bliss 2004, pp. 195–196.
103. ^ Newman 1963, p. 101.
104. ^ McIntyre, Tony (2001). "Visible majorities: History of Canadian immigration policy". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
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107. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 393–394.
108. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 397–399.
109. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 400–406.
110. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 412–413.
111. ^ ^{a b} Smith 1995, p. 442.
112. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 437–439.
113. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 251–53.
114. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 255–56.
115. ^ Newman 1963, pp. 272–274.
116. ^ Gabriel 1987, p. 53.
117. ^ Gabriel 1987, pp. 56–57.
118. ^ Gabriel 1987, pp. 58–63.
119. ^ Diefenbaker 1976, pp. 211–212.
120. ^ Gabriel 1987, p. 66.
121. ^ Newman 1963, p. 258.
122. ^ Nash 1990, p. 46.
123. ^ Nash 1990, p. 50.
124. ^ Nash 1990, pp. 54–55.
125. ^ Diefenbaker 1976, p. 157.
126. ^ ^{a b} Nash 1990, pp. 56–57.
127. ^ Smith 1995, p. 292.
128. ^ Smith 1995, pp. 295–296.
129. ^ ^{a b} Smith 1995, pp. 307–308.
130. ^ Stewart 1991, pp. 254–255.
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132. ^ Smith 1995, p. 310.
133. ^ Smith 1995, p. 316.
134. ^ Stewart 1991, pp. 244–245.
135. ^ Smith 1995, p. 317.
136. ^ Nash 1990, pp. 59–61.
137. ^ Nash 1990, pp. 61–62.
138. ^ Asa McKercher, "Diefenbaker's World: One Canada and the History of Canadian–American Relations, 1961–63." The Historian 75.1 (2013): 94-120, at pp. 99–100.
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143. ^ Druzin 2011.
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159. ^ Nash 1990, pp. 223–225.
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• Perkel, Colin (December 13, 2013), "Several 'Diefenbabies' suspected across nation", Winnipeg Free Press, archived from the original on March 4, 2016, retrieved December 1, 2014

Further reading

• Bothwell, Robert, Ian Drummond, and John English. "The Diefenbaker Years 1957-63." in Canada Since 1945 (University of Toronto Press, 2018). pp 181–252; university textbook
• Boyko, John. Cold fire: Kennedy's northern front (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2016)
• Carter, Mark. "Diefenbaker's Bill of Rights and the Counter-Majoritarian Difficulty: The Notwithstanding Clause and Fundamental Justice as Touchstones for the Charter Debate." Saskatchewan Law Review 82 (2019): 121+ online Archived October 13, 2021, at the Wayback Machine.
• Cavell, Janice, and Ryan M. Touhey, eds. Reassessing the Rogue Tory: Canadian Foreign Relations in the Diefenbaker Era (UBC Press, 2018).
• Empey, Sarah. "John G. Diefenbaker and Cross Border Relations During the Bomarc Missile Crisis." Waterloo Historical Review 8 (2016). online Archived July 7, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
• Hilliker, John. "The Politicians and the 'Pearsonalities': The Diefenbaker Government and the Conduct of Canadian External Relations", in Canadian Foreign Policy: Historical Readings ed. J. L. Granatstein (Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman, 1993), pp 152–167.
• Kyba, Patrick. Alvin: A Biography of the Honourable Alvin Hamilton, PC (Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 1989).
• McKercher, Asa. "No, Prime Minister: Revisiting Diefenbaker and the 'Pearsonalities'." Canadian Journal of History 52.2 (2017): 264–289. online^{[dead link‍]}
• McKercher, Asa. "Sound and Fury: Diefenbaker, Human Rights, and Canadian Foreign Policy." Canadian Historical Review 97.2 (2016): 165–194. online^{[dead link‍]}
• McKercher, Asa. "The trouble with self-determination: Canada, Soviet colonialism and the United Nations, 1960–1963." The International Journal of Human Rights 20.3 (2016): 343–364.
• McMahon. Patricia I. Essence of Indecision: Diefenbaker's Nuclear Policy, 1957–1963 (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009) online review Archived November 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
• Molinaro, Dennis. "'Calculated Diplomacy': John Diefenbaker and the Origins of Canada's Cuba Policy." in Our place in the sun (University of Toronto Press, 2016) pp. 75–95.
• Manulak, Daniel. "Blood Brothers: Moral Emotion, the Afro-Asian-Canadian Bloc, and South Africa's Expulsion from the Commonwealth, 1960–1." Canadian Historical Review (2021): e20200041.
• Morris-Hurl, Rebecca. "Diefenbaker's Canada: A Vision for Human Rights and Multiculturalism in the Speeches from the Throne." in Canada and Speeches from the Throne (2020). online Archived December 22, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
• Neary, Peter. "High Commissioner JJS Garner on Joey Smallwood versus John Diefenbaker, 1959." Newfoundland and Labrador Studies 32.1 (2017): 229–240. online Archived December 22, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
• Parker, Oliver. "Canadian Concerns of a Different Kind of Brexit: Britain's First Application to the EEC and Canada's Commonwealth Appeal." The Round Table 108.1 (2019): 81–85.
• Story, D. C. and R. Bruce Shepard, eds. Diefenbaker legacy: Canadian politics, law and society since 1957. (Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina, 1998). 13 essays by experts.
• Stevenson, Michael D. "George Drew, the Law of the Sea, and the Diefenbaker Government, 1957-1963." Diplomacy & Statecraft 31.2 (2020): 326–349.
• Urban, Michael Crawford. "A fearful asymmetry: Diefenbaker, the Canadian military and trust during the Cuban missile crisis." Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 21.3 (2015): 257–271. online^{[dead link‍]}
• Wiseman, Nelson. "Minority Governments: The Diefenbaker-Pearson Years." in Partisan Odysseys (University of Toronto Press, 2020) pp. 67–82.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Diefenbaker.

Wikiquote has quotations related to John Diefenbaker.

• Political Biography from the Library of Parliament, and Diefenbaker's electoral results
• Diefenbaker Homestead Archived March 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
• CBC Digital Archives – Dief the Chief Archived March 8, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
• 1960 Commencement Address at DePauw University Archived June 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
• Dief, documentary film, National Film Board of Canada
• "Dief the Chief" Archived March 4, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, entry in Parli, the dictionary of Canadian politics