John Turner: Interesting Men do not always make Good Leaders

John Turner around the time of his leadership tenure - 1984. Photo credit: Al Gilbert.

If you take politics out of it, John Turner is among the most interesting prime minsters in Canadian history. He nearly married a princess, which would have made him a brother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth. And this is by Princess Margaret’s own recollection. From his glory days as a track and field star, he was once the fastest man in Canada and an Almost Olympian (which, again, if you take athletics out of it, makes him a more interesting athlete). He was raised by an intelligent and strong woman and later married another one - Geills Kilgour in 1963. Really, in his long career and life, being prime minister of Canada for 79 days is one of the least interesting things he accomplished.

Turner’s career and accomplishments (and lack thereof in the PM’s office) make an interesting study into what, if anything, are the prerequistes to be a political leader in Canada. And if someone is successful in the outside world, would that translate into a successful political leader? Sure, John Turner was a fast runner for his time, but that didn’t mean he could hold the confidence of the Canadian people.

This is also the case of Michael Ignatieff, Canadian academic and Liberal martyr. He has a long laundry list of accomplishments, has rubbed shoulders with the whose-who of progessive thinkers, and therefore seemed like an ideal candidate when the Liberals were looking for someone to de-thron Stephen Harper in 2011. He was scouted by the Liberal Party in 2006 and convinced to return to Canada (from Cambridge, Massachusetts) for an eventual leadership run. And when he got his chance in the 2011 election, he and his Liberals were whomped - like whomped. It was the worst showing by the Liberal Party in history, stealing that title away from John Turner’s showing in September 1984. Ignatieff’s Liberals lost 43 seats, winning a mere 34 seats, and putting them behind Jack Layton’s NDP, and marking the first time since Confederation that the Liberals weren’t in power or the official opposition. He wasn’t even elected in his own riding. It was bad.

Michael Ignatieff during his short reign as Liberal leader - circa 2011-ish.

Ignatieff and Turner both had careers after their affairs in Ottawa. Turner stayed on as leader of the opposition, and stayed as an MP until 1993, before returning to the private sector. And Ignatieff took his tail and went back to his studies and his successful career in academia. Accomplishments in the private sector do not automatically parlay into the PM’s office. If these two political figures and flops show us anything, it’s that

So in essence, more interesting does not make a better leader. Sometime mediocrity is more of a winning quality than princesses, academia and other famous pursuits. That’s an oddly comforting thought, isn’t it?

The Seventeenth One - John Turner

There are many novel aspects to John Turner, and not exclusively that he is one of Canada’s shortest serving leaders - at a mere 79 days, he is only beaten out by Charles Tupper for that title. But he also holds the title of the only PM to be born outside of Canada in the 20th century, the only one to qualify for the Olympic Games, and the only one to court a princess. He is also Canada’s oldest living former prime minister. Oh, he’s an interesting one.

John Napier Wyndham Tuner was, as his name suggests, born in Great Britain, in the London suburb of Richmond in June 1929. His father, Leonard was a journalist and his mother Phyllis Gregory was a Canadian citizen. They had two other children before his father’s passing, after which is mother moved her young family back to her hometown of Rossland, B.C. I grew up in a town an hour west of there, and I never knew this. I thought the most famous thing to come out of Rossland was Nancy Greene.

The family didn’t stay in the small Kootenay town for long. Phyllis moved the family to Ottawa and she, witch her economist background, found a job as a civil servant, . There she met Frank Mackenzie Ross, who was in Ottawa helping the government procure supplies for World War 2. The two were wed in 1945 and relocated the family to Vancouver, B.C. Frank Mackenzie Ross would later serve at the 19th lieutenant-governor of B.C. from 1955 to 1960.

Turner was an athlete. He started attending UBC, studying political science, in 1945 at 16 years old, and was a prominent member of the track team. He was known as the fastest man in Canada in 1947, setting the 100-metre national record at 9.8 seconds. He did qualify for the 1948 London Olympic Games, but a knee injury kept him from competing.

After graduating from UBC in 1949, he went to study at Oxford with a Rhodes Scholarship. There he rubbed shoulders with notable historical figures - he ran track with Roger Bannister , famed for being the first man to run a four-minute mile, and was friends with Malcom Fraser, future prime minister of Australia. After he completed his law studies, he returned to Canada where he worked as a lawyer in Montreal in 1955.

John Turner and Princess Margaret were “nearly married” - Photos thanks to the CBC Archives

His brushes with famous friends didn’t end there at Oxford though. In 1958, he met Princess Margaret at celebration to open the new government house in B.C. The party, which was hosted by his step-father, was infamous, as the two danced most of the evening together. According to Princess Margaret, the two were “nearly wed”, or as so she said in a letter to a friend of hers in 1966. But alas, it was not to be. Princess Margaret married David Armstrong-Jones in 1960, at which John Turner was a guest. For his part, he married Geillis McCrae Kilgour in 1963, and the couple had four children - one daughter and three sons.

And for his political career, Turner was first elected as a member of parliament in 1962, and served in a plethora of cabinet positions under multiple leaders - Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau. One of his most memorable political moves was when he resigned as Finance Minister for Trudeau in 1975. Trudeau wrote that Turner resigned to gain a more lucrative career in the private sector to support and see his family more. Yet Turner, in his own words, said he resigned to not legislate wage and price controls, a policy that Trudeau’s Liberal campaigned against in the 1974 election and were now looking to implement.

Turner in 1968.

He was not done with politics forever. Upon hearing of Trudeau’s retirement in 1984, Turner returned to the Liberal Party to put his name in for the leadership race. He beat out Jean Chrétien for the leadership bid and was formally appointed as prime minister one June 30, 1984. His first act may have been his own downfall, as he asked the Governor General Jeanne Sauvé to dissolve parliament and hold an election, which they were ultimately whooped in. The Progressive-Conservative party, under Brian Mulroney, gave the Liberals their worst defeat of the 20th century, leaving the Liberals with a mere 40 seats in parliament. Because of Turner’s short time in the PM’s office, he and Kim Campbell are the only two prime ministers to never face parliament and never introduce any of policies or legislature.

Though his party suffered a huge loss, Turner himself won his riding of Vancouver-Quadra and became leader of the opposition. He was Liberal Leader during the 1988 federal elections, where the Liberals recovered a little, receiving 83 seats to the Tories 169. After the election, he stepped down as opposition leader before the 1990 Leadership Race, which was won by Jean Chrétien. Turner served his riding of Vancouver-Quadra until retiring in 1993.

John Turner after leaving politics in the 2000s.

While it may have been a mere 79 days in office, the path to the leadership was interesting, filled with athletics and romances. Imagine that episode of The Crown had Princess Margaret married John Turner… I bet he would have enjoyed watching that.

Hometown Hero, Joe Clark

Well it has been a hot minute and in the light of social isolation I thought what better time to get to know the former prime ministers. Really, it’s boredom’s best cure.

It has been over a year since I left this blog without following up on Joe Clark, a short term prime minister who took office in between reigns of Trudeau Sr. He was a young and obscure politician from Alberta and I know it has been mentioned but it deserves an underline - he was the Editor-in-Chief of The Gateway, the student publication of the UofA, making us both student journalism alums and giving me one massive bragging right.

Joe Clark was the first Alberta-bred prime minister elected to office. R.B. Bennett was technically the first PM to be PM while representing an Alberta riding, but he was from Hopewell Hill, New Brunswick, about as far away you can get from Alberta while still being in the same country.

The distance between Bennett’s hometown and his riding in Calgary West.

Being from High River, it was a point of pride for many Western Canadians to vote for one of their own, a small town boy from High River who had become the youngest leader of a political party in Canadian history, and he was from small town Alberta. The only other PM born and bred in Alberta was Stephen Harper.

But his hometown is rather proud of Joe Clark, naming a bilingual elementary school after him. He is the only living PM to have this honour.

Joe Clark’s time as PM also highlights an interesting division between Canadian leaders - short term vs. long term. There are notably long-serving PMs - Mackenzie King, Laurier and Macdonald all come to mind, with each close to or over two decades in power. And there are notably short serving ones - Kim Campbell, John Turner and Joe Clark come to mind. PMs where you hear their name and inadvertently say “who?”

The division seems to be cleanly split at 4 years and 11 months. Any more than that, and you’re a lifer. Any shorter than that and you’re considered short-term and will be remembered and ranked as so. Even our current PM, Trudeau Jr., is considered short-term because he hasn’t been in office over 4 years and 11 months yet - but come this fall, if he is still in office, he will breach that threshold.

Clark and Mulroney before the 1983 PC leadership race. - Montreal Gazette

Clark lost the 1983 leadership bid to Brian Mulroney, ending his opportunities to lead the country after Trudeau Sr.’s final exit and forever putting him in the short-term prime minister category. Being so young - only in his early 40s - Clark did have an illustrious career as a politician and diplomat ahead of him, serving as Secretary of State of External Affairs under Mulroney. He did win the leadership of the party again, from 1998 to 2003, when he was ousted by Peter MacKay - who is currently running, once again, for leadership of the Conservative party. So maybe i’ll have to write about him later.

Sorry to put this on hiatus for awhile. Life got busy for a minute there and while it may be lonely now, it is definitely not busy. Thanks to Joe Clark for keeping me company today.

The Sixteenth One - Joe Clark

Joe Clark, Canada’s 16th prime minister and the one with the most easily pronounceable name. He was also one of Canada’s shortest-serving leaders, serving less than a year in office, from June 4, 1979 to March 3, 1980, sandwiched in between two of Pierre Trudeau’s tenures. But alas, I’m ahead of the biography.

Joe Clark, or Charles Joseph Clark to his parents, was born in High River, Alberta, on June 5, 1939, making him a good ol’ country boy. He was raised in Alberta and attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton where he was the editor-in-chief of their student publication, The Gateway. I would like to take this opportunity to say that I too was EIC of my student publication, the Capilano Courier. Maybe that means I’ll be in office one day too. Clark worked a variety of publications as a journalist, including the Edmonton Journal and the Canadian Press I Toronto before ultimately going to Dalhousie Law School in Halifax. He then switched coasts and attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Gotta give it to the guy, he travelled the country.

Clark, while working for the Progressive-Conservative Party (which is, when you think about it, a full oxymoron) met Maureen McTeer, who he hired to work in a parliamentary office. McTeer had been politically active since a young age and made a stink when she didn’t opt to change her name when they were married in 1973. She was supportive of his political ambitions, which was a good thing, as he entered politics at the ripe age of 28. He was first elected as the MP for Rocky Mountain in 1972. Just four years later, at the age of 36, he was elected as leader of the Progressive-Conservative party. He remains the youngest person ever to be elected as party leader in Canadian political history.

Joe Clark with his wife Maureen McTeer, celebrating his party leader win in 1976.

Because he was so young at the time of election, many people, especially out east in Toronto in Quebec, didn’t know him. When he first was elected, the Toronto Star ran a headline, “Joe Who?” which was his unfortunate nickname for many years after. And when the Canadian public wanted a change from the Trudeau agenda in 1979, the elected Joe Who as their alternative. He became prime minister the day before his 40th birthday.

Joe Clark wasn’t in office long enough to make any drastic changes. He did have a long-serving political career, serving as leader of the opposition to Trudeau’s Liberals and taking multiple roles n Brian Mulroney’s cabinet in the post-Trudeau era. Since his political retirement, he has written multiple books, taught at McGill, worked with various organizations, including the Jimmy Carter Centre, and the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars. And, because of his Alberta roots, he is one of a handful of prime ministers from the Canadian west, something to dig my teeth into in the next one.

The Advanced Charisma of Pierre Elliott Trudeau

When looking at the roster of Canadian leaders, it is unsurprisingly lacklustre in charisma. The political savvy and charm that seems to ooze out of some of the American counterpart politicians in obviously lacking in the prime ministers’s office. For the most part, the majority of Canadian leaders are known for their alcoholism (McDonald), their strange nuances (Mackenzie King) or their even tempered, rational governing (Pearson, St. Laurent, et al).

But there is one name that stands out for it’s charm, or swarm, as some saw it - Pierre Elliott Trudeau, of course. The 15th prime minister, and third longest serving one, had a je ne said quoi about him that makes him a polarizing, interesting and memorable Canadian politician. There are a few incidences that highlight his charisma, which he is arguably more known for, over any of his political accomplishments during his 15 year tenure.

Trudeau Mania

In the tepid landscape of Canadian politics, there have been few who can invoke emotion across the country, but Trudeau was one of them. He even had a mania named after him, as he rallied people in the late 1960s and early 1970s around his political causes. Officially, Trudeaumania lasted a total of five years, from his rise to the PM’s office and into his first years in office. It was during this time that he was dating Barbra Streisand, legalizing homosexuality, and relaxing divorce laws. This mania even led to a board game, which I would love to play if anyone is into it.

The Trudeamania inspired board game, which looks like a mix of Monopoly and Snakes and Ladders.

Just Watch Me

Chances are every Canadian student has heard on of their social studies teachers go off about the “Just Watch Me” clip from Trudeau. I had multiple, including political philosophy instructors who broke it down in university. In an impromptu interview, Trudeau tells reporters to “just watch” him in regards to how far he will take his powers to ensure “law and order”. It was regarding the October Crisis, in which a Quebec Liberation extremist group took two hostages, including a British diplomat, James Cross, and a Quebec cabinet minister, Pierre Laporte hostage. Laporte ultimately died at the hands of his captors.

The Just Watch Me clip, as my most of my teachers cited, is an illustration to the power a prime minister has and how far it can extend in moments of crisis. One said it was the ramblings of a over-confident leader.

Impromptu interview of Pierre Elliott Trudeau with Tim Ralfe of the CBC and Peter Reilly of CJON-TV on October 13, 1970. Q: I still go back to the choice that you have to make in the kind of society that you live in.

Marriage + Divorce to Margaret Sinclair

Pierre Trudeau wasn’t the first bachelor prime minster in Canada’s history. Both R.B. Benentt and William Lyon Mackenzie King weren’t married during their time as prime minister. Trudeau, however, was the first prime minister to get married, and then divorce, while in power.

Margaret Sinclair was the daughter of a Liberal MP and 28 years Trudeau’s junior when they were wed in 1971. She birthed all three of their sons - Justin, Alexandre and Michel - during his time in office. His first two children were both born on Christmas Day, two years apart, in 1971 and 1973, prompting my grandfather to proclaim, “Oh great, now he really does believe that he is God.”

Margaret was a little bored in their marriage, as she was second fiddle to the high tooting life of politics. They were separated in 1977, and divorced in 1984. He was married, had three children, and was divorced, all while he held the chair of the highest office in Canada.

While this may seems like stupid little answers to trivia questions, this is kind of a big deal. Politicians are often judged for how they handle their personal affairs - look at the States, where a politician’s personal life is fair game to ruck mud at. They have had only ONE bachelor president in their entire history. Every other president has had the guise of being “happily married” to bolstered them into that position. But Trudeau had an entire relationship, resulting in three kids, blossom and die while he was in power. Only someone with extreme charm and wit could be able to do that.

Think about it: could you imagine the scrutiny that would arise if a modern-day political dated a Hollywood star, secretly married a woman 28 years his junior, had an embattled marriage with conspiracy theories saying that Fidel Castro is actually the father of the first born child, and a humiliating divorce

Margaret Sinclair and Pierre Trudeau wed on March 4, 1971 in North Vancouver.

Without exaggeration, Trudeau is easily the most charismatic leader Canada has ever had. And now, with his eldest son at the helm, Trudeau 2.0 steering the wheel, we are seeing how much of his father’s charm was passed down, both personally and politically. While this may be a point of contention, I say the more charismatic leaders are the more polarizing leaders. Because there is a thin line with charm and swarm and the Trudeaus like to dance with it.

The Fifteenth One - Pierre Elliott Trudeau

When my grandfather, who I never met but family lore implores he had a wicked sense of humour, learned that Pierre Trudeau had two kids born on Christmas Day, he responded with, “Great, now he really does think that he is God.” My grandpa was mostly piss, vinegar and a very strong martini.

But Grandpa Schwieder did have a point. Pierre Trudeau is arguably Canada’s most well-known and polarizing politicians. Of all the ones I’ve wrote about thus far, he is the only one propped up by the same charisma and magnetism that has become a feature staple of our political neighbours in the US (barring the current conditions). Teddy Roosevelt was known for his energy and love of the office. John F. Kennedy raised the presidency to a level equivalent of celebrities and movie stars. For the most part, Canadian politics lacked the same prestige. But Pierre Trudeau had some of that charisma. Whether you agree with his politics or not, he had that charisma in spades. He is the only prime minster to have a “Mania” named after him - Trudeaumania of the 1960s, in which he became a beacon of hope for a younger generation.

Anyways…. I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to the basics.

Joseph Phillippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (“That’s My Name Too!”) was born on October 18th, 1919, meaning he would be 99 years old if alive today. He was born in Outermont, a suburb of Montreal to Charles-Emile Trudeau and Grace Elliott, who was of Scottish decent. He was the middle child, having an older sister and younger brother.

The Trudeau family was a tight family unit and thanks to some beneficial business decisions by his father, they were a wealthy family at the time. Charley Trudeau sold a successful gas station to Imperial Oil when Pierre was in his young teens, ensuring financial comfort for the family. His father died when Pierre was only 15 years old, but Trudeau remained close to his mother for the rest of her life.

Trudeau was earning a law degree at the University of Montreal in the early 1940s, during the Second World War and was conscripted into the war effort. This was the Conscription Crisis of 1944, where Quebecois questioned the war effort. He cited in his biography that he, along with many of his peers, thought of the war “as a setting of the scores among the superpowers.” His experience with he conscription crisis led to his first brush with politics, as it caused him to campaign for the anti-conscription candidate Jean Drapeau in a Montreal by-election.

Pierre Trudeau became an intellectual, earning educations at Harvard University, the Institute d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and the London School of Economics, where he was enrolled for a doctorate but failed to complete it. So in the 1940s through to the 1960s, Trudeau was mostly known as an intellectual thinker. He worked as a law professor and was the editor of Cite Libre, a “dissident” publication which is credited with being the basis for the Quiet Revolution - basically an era of Quebecois politics in the 1960s and 70s, resulting in many socio-economic and cultural changes. He was known as being a left-wing radical thinker for the time, and was banned from entering the US for a time because of his left-wing thinking and a visit to Moscow in the middle of the Cold War.

Although he did have ties to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, a pre-cursor to the current New Democratic Party, he solidified his position as a Liberal in the early 1960s and while he was a vocal critic of Lester Pearson’s Liberals, he joined the party in 1965 and was elected in the Mount Royal riding in that year’s election. Trudeau would hold the Mount Royal seat until his retirement in 1984.

Pierre Trudeau with Lester Pearson, the Liberal leaders of the 1960s.

When Pearson announced his retirement in 1968, Trudeau was the obvious choice as his successor, as Pearson himself advocated for it. He was officially sworn in as PM on April 20, 1968, and almost immediately dropped the writ, calling for an election on June 25 of the same year.

This was the start of Trudeaumania and a the tenure of the third-longest serving prime minister in Canadian history - behind William Lyon Mackenzie King and John A. Macdonald. Trudeau served a total of 15 years and 164 days.

Trudeau and his then-girlfriend Barbra Streisand in 1970, two years into his first term in office.

Trudeau holds a lot of “first” or “only” titles for the prime ministers office, including being the only prime minster to marry while in power. And the only prime minister to date a Hollywood actress, Barbra Streisand, while in power. And, after his split from Margaret Sinclair, the mother of his first three children and current PM Justin, the only prime minister to become a single parent while in office. Okay, all of these stem from romantic exploits, but maybe that was part of the charisma he was known for.

And why my grandpa quipped that Trudeau thought of himself as God. Of course, that is what I’m going to write about next week, because my grandpa would have wanted me to.

CP Photographer, Peter Bregg, shot this photo on the 1972 campaign trail and highlights this unique and elusive charisma.

Pearson the Peace Prime Minister

“The award which I have received today at this ceremony, which my wife and I will always remember with emotion, is a renewed incentive to work with all other men of good will in the world for the triumph of Ibsen’s third Empire, that of the Empire of Peace.”

This is part of Lester Pearson’s acceptable speech for the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize, which he won for his work negotiating the Suez Canal Crisis. This made him the third Canadian to win a Nobel Peace Prize at that time (the list has since grown to include 23 Canadians, including literary icon Alice Munro) and the only future prime minister to win the coveted award thus far.

Lester “Mike” Pearson was always known for his diplomatic abilities during his long career as a public servant. His diplomatic career started in 1928, when he accepted a position as first secretary in the Canadian Department of External Affairs, and his career quickly developed from there. He participated in the Hague Conference on Codification of International Law, the London Naval Conference and the Geneva World Disarmament Conference - all in a five year span from 1930 to 1935. From 1935 to 1941 he served as High Commissioner for Canada in London before becoming the Canadian ambassador for the United States.

These are just the Coles notes on his long diplomatic career, but they are important to highlight as it was this career that enabled him to negotiated the Suez Canal Crisis, ultimately earning him the illustrious Nobel Peace Prize. Also, this career and award was all before his time in Ottawa and as prime minister.

At a glance, the Suez Canal crisis came to a head when the UK, France and Israel invaded Egyptian territory. For his part, Pearson proposed a resolution which created a UN Emergency Force to monitor and police the area, allowing the invading armies to leave the area alone with minimal PR damage. The event is covered well in the second season of The Crown on Netflix, for anyone curious. He was the first person to win the Nobel Peace Prize in two years, as it wasn’t awarded to 1955 or 1956.

Lester Pearson holding his Nobel Peace Prize, in 1957.

What’s important about a Canadian PM winning the Nobel Peace Prize is that it raises the esteem of the office and the role Canada plays as peacekeepers. With Pearson sharing the award with politicians like the energetic Teddy Roosevelt and more reserved Woodrow Wilson, it increases the reputation of Canadian politicians and their seat at the international table. Basically it helps move them up from the kids’ table to the grown ups table in terms of international talks and international relations. And that, to me, is the mainstay of Pearson’s legacy, paving the way for future PMs to sit at the big boy table, and look good while doing it (the style of that era is enviable).

Pierre Trudeau and Lester Pearson, the Liberal PMs of the 60s and 70s in all of their stylish glory (look at those suits).

And next week, we get stylish with the polarizing Pierre Trudeau, Canada’s most celebrity-like prime minister, and the charisma that oozed out of him with ease.

The Fourteenth One - Lester "Mike" Pearson

It’s the fourteenth prime minister day! It’s Lester Pearson Day! I’m likely the only one aware of this or celebrating it, but it’s a party at my place.

Lester Pearson is the namesake of Canada’s busiest airport in Toronto, the winner of a Nobel Peace Prize, and was the last Canadian prime minister to be born in the 19th century - take that to your next trivia night. Lester Pearson was born on April 23, 1897 to parents Edwin and Annie Pearson. His father was a Methodist minister in York, Ontario, which has since been swallowed by Toronto. He has a jock, playing everything from rugby to hockey, basketball and baseball, and dabble in tennis and golf. He had, by all reports, a relatively stable and milk upbringing, attending the University of Toronto. The coolest thing about Lester Pearson, besides his name being Lester, is that in university he participated in The Bob Comedy Revue, Canada's longest running sketch comedy revue. That is nerdy and badass.

Lester was 17 when World War 1 began to roar, and he jumped into service, first working as a medical orderly before heading overseas in 1915 as part of the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a stretcher bearer. In 1917, Lester transferred to the Royal Flying Corps - before the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Farce (as a satirist, Pearson would have enjoyed that joke). It was there that he earned the nickname Mike, because one of his officers didn’t think “Lester” was the most masculine name for a pilot. From them on, his only used the name Lester for official documents and public life, but went by Mike in his private life.

After the War, Lester (as I call him) went back to school, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, then went to Oxford, getting educated in modern history. This led him back to the UofT, teaching history at the university. This is where he ultimately met his wife, Maryon Moody. The couple were wed in 1925 and ultimately had two children - Geoffrey and Patricia.

Lester’s wade into the political waters was rather slow. As he garnered top marks on his entrance exam in the toe foreign service, he attracted attention from then PM RB Bennett. Bennett regarded himself as a talent spotted and encouraged Lester’s rise through the ranks of the foreign department. He was assigned to the High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom in the late 1930s, leading up to WW2 before being posted to the Canadian Embassy in Washington during the war, ultimately becoming the Canadian Ambassador to the US.

This was by the time he was in his mid-40s. Lester’s resume in intimidating.

It’s really no surprise that with all of Lester’s experience in foreign policy, he had a large impact on the United Nations. He played a huge role in both the United Nations and NATO, and almost became the first Secretary-General of the United Nations, but his nomination was vetoed by the Soviet Union.

In 1948, William Lyon Mackenzie King appointed Lester as Secretary of State for External Affairs, continuing on his diplomatic career, which led to him running for Parliament. He won in the riding of Algoma East and started his political career under the liberal leadership of Louis St. Laurent.

The pinnacle of his career, from an outsiders standpoint, must have been the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957. He was awarded it for his work negotiating the Suez Canal Crisis - to be fair, I know very little about it, so that is exactly what I’m going to write about next time.

Lester Mike Pearson, the eternal jock.

After St. Laurent’s retirement, he looked to Lester as his successor, which came to fruition when Lester won the party leadership in 1958, becoming opposition leader to The Dief’s Tory government. He was ultimately elected as PM in 1963 and was in power for five years, having a fairly successful and productive time in office. He is remembered fondly as one of Canada’s most successful prime ministers, according to McLean’s Magazine, right behind his successor, Pierre Trudeau.

Time’s cover of ‘Canada’s Pearson’.

One of the most challenging scandals during Lester’s time in office was easily Charles de Gaulle’s 1967 visit to Quebec, where the French political yelled “Viva le Quebec”, enflaming the issue of Quebec’s separation. This prompted Lester to rebut de Gaulle, saying that “Canadians do not need to be liberated” before uninviting de Gaulle to Canada.

Lester announced his retirement on December 14, 1967, also known as my mother’s 12th birthday. He was easily succeeded as Liberal Leader and ultimately PM by Pierre Trudeau, who Lester recruited and made justice minister in his cabinet. Viva la Liberals.

Five years after his retirement, Lester succumbed to cancer. He died on December 27, 1972 at his home in Ottawa.

Lester proved that jocks can be peacemakers, and that a successful leadership doesn’t have to be a tumultuous one. More on this next time.

John Diefenbaker + The Arvo Arrow

It’s nearly impossible to review John Diefenbaker’s legacy without talking about the Avro Arrow. In fact, it should be impossible to mention the Deif without talking about it, as his decision to cancel the program ultimately cost him his job as prime minister, and cancelled one of the best aviation programs in the world at that time.

The Avro Arrow was a plane, made by the Avro company, the third largest company in Canada during the 1950's. Out of it’s factory in Malton, Ontario, they developed a twin-engined, supersonic interceptor for the Royal Canadian Air Force. This plane was the creme de la creme at the time, with the Avro team credited with making the most sophisticated aircraft in the world. The Arrow flew at three times the speed of sound, travelling at an altitude of 60,000 feet.

The Avro Arrow debuted on October 4, 1957, the same day the USSR launched their Sputnik rocket.

Avro had big plans for the future of technical aviation. Its team of engineers was known for their “out of the box” designing, and had drawn up ideas for moon rovers, spaceships and other advanced aircrafts. The company was on the cutting edge of the industry - until the program was axed by Diefenbaker in 1959.

At the same time that Arvo was designing its game-changing planes, the Cold War was at it’s heights, and the US and Canada were in talks about protecting themselves against possible attacks from the USSR. In fact, the Avro Arrow was developed as a response to the threat the USSR posed and was debuted on Oct. 4 1957, the same day the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. But on February 20, 1959, the Dief walked into the House of Commons and announced the termination of the Arrow and Iroquois programs.

The reasoning behind the Dief’s decision is simple: the cost. The total bill for the program was creeping upwards of $3 billion. But that reasoning is easily disputed, as critics say the cost for cancelling the program equaled the cost of keeping it running. Add in the cost of outsourcing fighter planes and buying used jet planes from the US, and that excuse does seem rather feeble. Between 1982 and 1988 alone, the Canadian government paid $5.2 billion to the US for fighter jets.

Some say that there was a huge difference in temperance between the Dief and Avro President Crawford Gordon Jr. The Deif was known to be a slightly uptight teetotaler, never smoking or drinking, while Gordon had more of a suave disposition, enjoying whiskey, cigars and more casual conversation. And then there is also the Dief’s leadership style. During most of St. Laurent’s - the Dief’s predecessor - time in office, the US and Canada were in talks about the North American Defence Command or NORAD. The two countries were in constant negotiations about who was responsible for what if an attach occurred on North American soil. But after St. Laurent lost the 1957 election, the Dief looked at the most recent negotiation from the US and gave it no pushback. According to an article by Global News, “Diefenbaker just looked at it, said ‘looks good’ and signed it. Even Americans were shocked, because they expected some pushback.”

While the cancellation of the Arrow program may have saved some money in the short run, it costs were bountiful, including the loss 15,000 direct jobs and thousands more indirect jobs. It also caused one of the biggest brain drains of Canadian talent, with the majority of the Avro engineers relocating to the United States to work on their space and aviation programs. If Canada had kept the program running, it could have made the country leaders in aerospace and aviation engineering and technology, but now we will never know what could have been.

Cartoon satirizing JFK’s and the Dief’s mutual dislike for each other, even though the Dief never pushed back too hard on the United States during negotiations.

For me, as the nerd that I am, the biggest question this highlights in the Dief’s leadership capabilities and styles. From the time he was a boy, he wanted to be in politics, telling his mom when he was a child that he was going to be prime minister one day. But when he gets to lead the country, he seems to only want to appease the bigger power, not using any advice that was given to him at the time. It makes me wonder if he wanted the job because he wanted to do the best for his country or if he wanted it for bragging rights? But that’e me bring critical.

The Thirteenth One - John Diefenbaker

It’s the little facts that makes me love history, and I was so excited to write about John Diefenbaker - The Dief from here on out - because he has one of my favourite facts: spending a night outside in a Saskatchewan blizzard and living to tell the tale.

I first discovered this story in 2015, when I was touring Saskatchewan for a ski magazine. The tour took me to Prince Albert, a city very proud to be part of The Dief’s history. There was a plaque dedicated to the 13th prime minister detailing how he survived a night in a blizzard. In 1958, The Dief retold the story to MacLean’s Magazine, and it is a beautiful little fact.

In his own words, on March 11, 1909, The Dief was at a school concert with his uncle, who, like his father, was a schoolteacher. Around 10 p.m., the duo left the concert for home, when their horse “could not face the blizzard, and turned off”. They were forced to spend the night in an open cutter turned upside down. They were found when the storm broke in the morning.

Aside from his political legacy and everything else, spending a night in a Saskatchewan blizzard is badass and always will be.

His family moved to Saskatchewan, then yet to be a province and known as the Northwest Territories, from Ontario in 1903. His father, William, was a school teacher and accepted a position near Fort Carlton, then known for being halfway between Edmonton and Winnipeg on the wagon route. The Dief’s father was a passionate teacher, especially when it came to history and politics, a passion he embedded into his eldest son, John. From a young age, The Dief told his mother that he was going to be prime minister one day, an aspiration his mother immediately poo-pooed because there had never been a prime minister from the Western territories at that time.

In 1910, the Diefenbakers moved to Saskatoon, mostly due to the education it could provide their two sons, John and his younger brother Elmer Clive (what a name!). In fact, John Dief became the first person to ever receive three degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, including a bachelor and master of arts and a law degree. The Dief earned his law degree in 1919, after a brief stint in the army during WW1. He opened a law office in the town for Wakaw, a town of 400 people 40 miles north of Saskatoon.

John Diefenbaker in 1919, a budding lawyer.

He established his law office and worked there for four years before leaving it in the hands of a business partner, Alexander Ehman, and moving to Prince Albert to open another office. During this time, his interest in politics, both local and federal grew. His father was a devout Liberal, but the young Dief was preparing to establish himself as a Conservative. Even when his name was put forward as a Liberal candidate in 1925, he said he was “never keen” for the position. On August 6, 1925, he became the Conservative candidate for the federal election in the riding of Prince Albert.

A note on his love life: The Dief was known to woo a few woman in the early 1920s, including Olive Freeeman, before her family moved to Manitoba in 1920. He then courted and proposed to Beth Newell of Saskatoon, but he broke the engagement after her diagnosis of tuberculosis, which is kind of a dick move, even in modern dating standards. She died a year later, and he moved on with his life, ultimately marrying a teacher, Edna Brower, in 1929. After her death in 1951, he reconnected with Olive Freeman, then known as Olive Palmer, and married his first love in 1953. Though The Dief had no children of his own, he did help raise Olive’s daughter from her marriage to Harry Palmer.

I still can’t believe he didn’t marry Beth after she was diagnosed. Maybe that was common then, but C’mon. I digress.

The Dief’s Wikipedia page is filled with notes on his political career. With politics being his main love and passion, it no wonder it’s well chronicled. The Dief officially entered federal politics and was elected to the House of Commons in 1940, during the reign of Liberal PM, William Lyon Mackenzie King. He was a rookie MP during the prelude to the Second World War, and his maiden speech in the House of Commons was defending Canadians of German descent (as he was one), saying that they were loyal Canadians. He also publicly was against Japanese interment, and wrote about it in his memoirs, but this claim has since been disputed, especially in his private life. In fact, many claims that The Dief made have since been disputed, but I’m holding on to that story about him surviving a night in a blizzard. Please give me that.

A Time Magazine cover from August 5, 1957, after Diefenbaker led the Conservatives to a massive election win.

The Dief ran to be party leader for the Conservatives two times before finally winning party leadership in 1956. A year later, he was elected as the 13th prime minister of Canada, a lifelong ambition for him. And a year after that, in a snap election, he brought the Conservatives the biggest victory since the 1930s, and the biggest one they would see until the 1980s.

The Dief sat in the prime minister’s office until 1963, a total of 5 years, 10 months and 1 day (I did the math). He was the leader of the official opposition until 1967 and stayed in the House of Commons until his death in 1979, two months after Joe Clark took office. Politics was his life.

While there are many things to dig into regarding The Dief’s tenure as PM, including passing the first Canadian Bill of Rights and appointing the first female cabinet minister and Aboriginal senator, what I want to get into with The Dief is why my father has such resentment for him as a prime minister. And that has everything to do with what ruined The Dief’s reputation - cancelling the Avro Arrow program and creating the Brain Drain, where Canadian talent has been migrating south to the United States. Seriously, every time I mention this blog to my father, he mentions The Dief’s role in cancelling the program that could have made Canada a leader in the aviation industry. But that’s next time…

St. Laurent, the first PM to live at 24 Sussex Drive

When I first embarked on writing about every prime minister in chronological order back in the spring, I talked about it with my brother, who has a degree in Political Science and an affinity for random trivia that no one else cares about (that runs in the family). We came up with some topics to cover in this and the one that I hovered around the most is 24 Sussex Drive. And we are finally here, at 24 Sussex Drive, as Louis St. Laurent was the first prime minister to use the estate as his private residence.

Louis St. Laurent and his wife, Jeanette, greeting Queen Elizabeth at 24 Sussex Drive.

There is a lore surrounding the homes of powerful people, from the White House to Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Versailles, there is intrigue around these landmarks, as they are the backdrop for some of the most famous historical events in our memories.

However, there isn’t an air of intrigue around 24 Sussex Drive. If anything, there is an air of pity surrounding the building, which our current PM, Trudeau Jr., hasn’t lived in during his entire tenure as prime minister due to is dismal state. Trudeau has publicly said that despite growing up in the residence while his dad was in power, he is unlikely to live there during his time as PM, opting for a cottage on the Governor General’s property, aptly named Rideau Cottage.

But 24 Sussex Drive wasn’t always in this state. It was originally built in 1866 by Joseph Merrill Currier, a lumber baron and member of the Legislative Assembly for the then-Province of Canada, as wedding gift to his third wife Hannah. As a slight digression, Currier was twice widowed before marrying Hannah Wright, granddaughter of Philemon Wright, who is credited with founding the city of Gatineau. He married his second wife, Ann Crosby, in 1861, and while showing her around a lumber mill in Manotick a month later, her dress got caught in the shaft of a milling machine. The force threw her into a wooden post and she died from her head injuries. In distress, Currier cut ties with the business, and began a political career. There are tales of Ann’s ghost still haunting Waton’s Mill in Manotick. Apologies for the digression, but it’s stories like this that make me fall in love with history and the human flaws that stain it.

Anyways, as mentioned, 24 Sussex Drive was built as a gift for Currier’s third wife, Hannah, and was completed in 1868. It was originally titled Gorffwysfa, which I have no idea how to pronounce but translates to “place of rest” in Welsh. The estate was built on the south bank of the Ottawa River and spans over 4 acres. The house itself features 34 (!!) rooms over 4 floors, including a library, dining room and a sun room. Hannah lived there until her death in 1901, when it was sold to William Edwards, an Liberal MP from Ontario. He passed the house onto his nephew, Gordon Edwards, who had the property divested from him by the federal Crown-in-Council. In 1943, the Council used its power of expropriation to overtake ownership of the property, and although Edwards fought the government’s actions, he ultimately lost the dispute and it officially became property of the Canadian government in 1946.

24 Sussex Drive - the official residence of the Canadian Prime Minster, although not right now.

The government wanted the property enough to divest a private owner out of his stake in it. By this time, the Government of Canada owned nearly all of the properties along the Ottawa River and there were fears that private ownership would result in the commercialization of the properties not under federal control. Edwards contested the eviction notice, but ultimately lost the legal battle in 1946. After four years of renovations and uncertainty, Louis St. Laurent and his family made it home in 1951, starting the tradition of it becoming the official residence of the prime minister of Canada. He moved in on the condition that he would pay rent for the use of the home, a custom that remained in tact until 1971.

Before then, prime ministers were largely responsible for their own accommodations while running the country. Wilfred Laurier’s house in Sandy Hill was home to both Laurier and William Lyon Mackenzie King during their reigns. As both leaders were of the Liberal cloth, it is unlikely that a leader from a Tory background would have felt comfortable living in Laurier House, which is now also official property of the Government of Canada. And the Ottawa Citizen made a cool map of where the other prime ministers lived before 24 Sussex Drive.

Map of the various PM’s residences, thanks to the Ottawa Citizen.

In the six decades it has been used as the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada, the state of the house has crumbled. In 2008, the Auditor General estimated $10 million would be required to upgrade and renovate the house. Multiple prime ministers have been coy when it comes to spending money on the residence, fearing scrutiny for spending tax payers money on their home. In 2005, Rick Mercer used his segment to help then-PM Paul Martin to draft-proof some of the windows.

The decrepit state of 24 Sussex Drive is no secret. The Washington Post has profiled the building and the lack of funds going into its upkeep. And Justin Trudeau’s refusal to live there is quite the message: it’s not fit for the leader of the country, let along to host dignitaries or heads of state. Currently the future of the building is unclear, with many, including the wives of former prime ministers, calling for the building to be demolished and a new, more modern residence to be built in its wake.

So there is the history of 24 Sussex Drive, and the blog I was aching to write. Also apologies for the tardiness of this post. I was too excited to rush it. Here’s to hoping the posts come at more regular intervals again.

And because I haven’t spoken much of St. Laurent in here, using his blog to write about his house instead, let’s end it on a quote from him.

“I didn’t know there were two languages in Canada. I just thought that there was one way to speak to my father and another to my mother”

The Twelfth One - Louis St-Laurent

Louis St-Laurent is the prime minister that I knew least about going into this. I had even heard of Mackenzie Bowell’s name once or twice, but I had never heard of “Uncle Louis”, as the media dubbed him. And upon reading about him, he seems like one of Canada’s most stable and apt prime ministers. However, aptness doesn’t always make for spellbinding stories.

Uncle Louis was born on February 1, 1882 in Compton Quebec, which is in the Eastern Townships. His father was French Canadian while his mother was Irish and he grew up completely bilingual, an asset that really helped him in his future career. There were little details about his childhood, other than his father was a die-hard Liberal and a huge fan of Wilfrid Laurier, instilling staunch Liberal principals into young Louis.

He went attended St. Charles Seminary in Sherbrooke before getting a law degree at Laval University, graduating in 1905. He, like so many before and after him, was a prime minister with a law degree. He was offered a Rhodes Scholarship after graduating from Laval but turned it down (!!!) in order to start up a law practice.

There are also relatively few details in comparison to other PMs about Louis’ love life. He married Jeanne Renault in 1908 and they had three daughters and two sons - a nice happy family. Yet I’m not sure where they met. I would actually love to know how Louis proposed. I'll spend some time reading into that and get back at ya!

Louis didn’t head into politics right away. In fact, he led a fairly apolitical lifestyle for the majority of his life, focusing on is law career and his family life. He garnered quite a reputation as one of Quebec’s leading lawyers. He was so well reputed that Arthur Meighen offered Louis, a die-hard life-long Liberal, a cabinet position in his Tory government. Louis declined this and the an appointment on the Supreme Court in the 1920s.

He tiptoed his way into public service in 1941, when he was nearing 60 years old, at the behest of William Lyon Mackenzie King, who had a huge respect for the lawyer and used “patriotic duty” to convince Louis to enter politics. He was elected to the House of Commons by a by-election in 1942, and immediately held some prominent posts, including Minister of Justice and Minister of External Affairs.

He quickly became Lyon’s right hand man and best confidant during Lyon’s third stint as PM, and as Lyon was thinking of retiring, he saw Louis as his natural successor. And when he did retire in 1948, the Liberal Party agreed with Lyon and quickly made Louis leader of the party and thus prime minister of Canada.

Overall, he was in office for right years, from 1948 to 1956, at a time that was prosperous of Canada. The country had one of the strongest economies after World War 2, and started the groundwork for some social programs that we are now famous for, such as health care. He made future PM Lester Pearson his right had man and Secretary of State and together the two executed a strong foreign policy era. Pearson helped diffuse the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956, winning a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Uncle Louis was the first prime minister to really use the media to his advantage, kissing babies, shaking hands and appearing as a common, relatable Canadian that helped his image. It is what led to his nickname of Uncle Louis - or Papa Louis in Quebec.

He was a hard worked during his time in office and accomplished a few massive feats, such as incorporating Newfoundland as Canada’s 10th province. Maybe the one accomplishment of his that I adore with all my heart is the TransCanada highway. He made that a reality in his time, and that highway and I have had some times together. He was also the first prime minister to live at 24 Sussex Drive, which has since become the official residence of the Canadian prime ministers.

All in all, Louis was a good guy and a strong leader and gave us the TransCanada Highway. Uncle Louis!!

R.B. Bennett + his valuable institutions

Upon first glance, there is little meat to R.B. Bennett’s life, especially his personal life. He had few close friends, and the friends he did keep were upper-class British gentlemen, not the most relatable sort of guys. He had no love life to dig into, rarely drank, and had remarkably few scandals to entertain the public. He had no known odd quirks, such as his predecessor - and successor - William Lyon Mackenzie King, who believed in ghosts, had three dogs all named Pat, and made decisions based on the pattern of his shaving cream that day. All in all, R.B. Bennett was an upright standing citizen, whose most notable personality trait was an undying love for the United Kingdom, King and Country.

And most Canadians will likely remember him as the prime minister at the height of the Great Depression. When I told my mom I was writing about Bennett this week, she said the two words that have haunted his legacy - “Bennett Buggy" - cars that were towed by horses instead of running on gasoline, because people simply couldn’t afford the gasoline to use the cars.

People opted to move their cars using horses instead of expensive gas during the height of the depression. Thusly, they were dubbed “Bennett Buggies” after RB Bennett.

He did, however, start multiple organizations that are still in operation today, both in the public and private sector. And more than one that are close to my heart personally and that I still use on a daily basis. When he moved to Alberta in the early 1900s, he hobnobbed with prominent people, such as James Lougheed - grandfather of Peter Lougheed and the namesake of the Lougheed House in downtown Calgary. But Bennett was fundamental in the incorporation of the first Calgary Public Library in 1908. The Calgary Public Library’s main branch downtown has recently gotten a facelift and looks so cool! Maybe that’s just the nerd in me, but I’ve very excited to discover it. And Bennett helped to start that.

Look how cool the design of this library looks - so COOL!

The other public service that Bennett spearheaded is the beloved CBC. My childhood is stapled with memories of the As It Happens theme song, as my mom would blast CBC every night during dinner.

Bennett started the CBC during his time in the prime minister’s office. There were national radio stations before the CBC that made a useful blueprint for the crown corporation, most of which were used to keep riders entertained on long cross-country train journeys. However, much like other aspects of his life, Bennett looked to Britain and their national radio station, the BBC, as a model for how to mould the CBC. Bennett established the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission in 1932, a precursor to the CBC.

"This country must be assured of complete Canadian control of broadcasting from Canadian sources. Without such control, broadcasting can never be the agency by which national consciousness may be fostered and sustained and national unity still further strengthened." - R.B. Bennett on the importance of a nationalized radio station.

While the health of the CBC hasn’t been stable over the years, it is still an active service to Canadians, broadcasting in English, French and a few Indigenous languages up North. And I still listen to it, because of nostalgia and an appetite for information. I doubt I’m the only 30-something one with strong childhood memories of the CBC at dinner.

While RB Bennett provides a dull tapestry as a Canadian politician and is not remember as an especially apt prime minister when compared to other who held the office, he did give Canadians, and me personally, some valuable institutions. Now, if you need me, I’ll be roaming the aisles at the new Calgary Library, with a shit-eating grin on my face the entire time.

The Eleventh One - R.B. Bennett

This week is all about R.B. Bennett, Canada's eleventh prime minister and the second bachelor one. I'm not sure what it was about the political leaders in the 1920s and 1930s, but the two main ones - Bennett and William Lyon Mackenzie King - were both bachelors with little known romantic interests at all. King really liked his three dogs, all named Pat. As far as I can tell, Bennett didn't even have a close relationship with a pet. Anyways, I digress. 

RB Bennett - the RB stands for Richard Bedford, FYI - was born on July 3, 1870, the first of six children to Henrietta and Henry John Bennett. Wikipedia told me that RB's dad wasn't a "very good family provider", but I found little to back up that rumour. The family wasn't a wealthy one, relying mostly on small farm in New Brunswick to make ends meet. RB's grew up on staunch conservative principals and an unwavering love and respect for the British Empire, something that would play a big role in his life, and arguably the closest love affair he ever had. 

RB attended Dalhousie Law School, graduating in 1893, and after graduation he uprooted his life and moved to Calgary, then in the Northwest Territories of Canada. He started a law firm with James Lougheed - grandfather to Peter - and began a prosperous career in the west. His law firm is now known as Bennett Jones LLP and is thriving today, with over 10 offices and 600 employees. Many prominent Canadian politicians have worked for his law firm, including former BC premier and notorious smiler Christy Clark and former Finance Minister David Dodge.

RB waded into politics in 1898, when he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories and when Alberta was carved out as a province in 1905, he became the very first leader of the Alberta Conservative party, a party that is alive and well. He made the transition to federal politics in 1911 with Robbie Borden's Torie government and stayed there for two and half decades. Despite not being very well liked by Arthur Meighen (it sounds like Meighen didn't like many people, William Lyon King and RB included...) RB became Minister of Finance for Meighen's short-lived government in 1926. When Meighen retired in 1927, RB became leader of the party and went toe-to-toe against Rex King's liberal government. 

When RB was elected prime minister in 1930 - smack in the middle of King's 21 years as PM - he was the first PM to be from the west, representing Alberta. But it was bad timing as he came to power the same time as the Great Depression. He wasn't liked much during that time. Cars that were towed by horses because people couldn't afford gas became known as "Bennett Buggies" - similar to Hooverville shanty towns, disparaging US president, Herbert Hoover. 

RB's attempts to combat the Great Depression was an ode to his love for Britain. His Imperial Preference policy increased trade with Britain and raised tariffs on non-Canadian goods. It was not as effective as the New Deal policy. He did create some important crown corporations in that time, such as the Canadian Wheat Board, which was around until Harper nixed it in 2011, the Bank of Canada and the CBC. That's right, we have RB to thank for all the wonderful CBC programming.

We have RB Bennett to thank for this beautiful thing. 

His actions weren't quite enough, and voters booted RB out in the 1935 election, with a landslide victory for King. RB stayed on as leader of the opposition for another three years before retiring in 1938. He moved to his beloved Britain after retiring, where he was made Viscount Bennett of Mickleham. He is the only PM to be made a Viscount, which is a peerage ranked above a baron but below an earl. Having no direct descendants, the Viscounty died with RB in 1947. He is the only PM not to be buried in Canada - even John Sparrow Thompson, who died in the company of Queen Victoria in England, was shipped back to Canada and buried here. But alas, RB stayed with his love in England. 

I'll leave with this - a YouTube clip of an speech RB gave when he was PM. It is rather dull, which might underline the type of guy he was - practical, ambitious, and slightly boring?

William Lyon Mackenzie King + his reputations

Doing anything for two decades will garner anyone a reputation, especially in politics. Therefore it comes as little shock that William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's longest serving prime minister at 21 years, 7 months and four days - or a grand total of 7826 days - has a reputation for some odd things. Here are five odd things that Rex King is known for. 

1. His belief in the afterlife

His penchant for mediums is by far his most famous legacy, and the one most people think of when remembering King. It is widely known that he was firm believer in the afterlife and used mediums to try to communicate with spirits regularly. His most trusted medium was a lady named Rachel Bleany in Kingston, Ontario. Rex visited her right before the 1925 election, which he lost to Arthur Meighen's and resulted in the infamous King-Byng Affair. And when Rex became sick in 1948, there was a stream of mediums into his room to comfort the ailing politician.
King tried to communicate with his late family through seances, keeping detailed records of every seance and communication with the afterlife. While it seems odd now, it wasn't very odd at the time, with many people, including US President Warren Harding and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also being dedicated spiritualists at that time. 
My Aunt Sara runs through Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto regularly and sent me some photos of King's tomb, where he is likely trying to communicate with people from the afterlife. 

King's Burial 

Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Photo by Aunt Sara

Tribute to William Lyon Mackenzie King at his burial in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Photo by my Aunt Sara.

2. His bachelorhood  

William Lyon Mackenzie King was Canada's first bachelor prime minister. While he wasn't the only one, with Mackenzie Bowell being a widower during his short reign as PM, it was certainly odd for a prominent politician in this age to be unmarried. It is still considered odd for a leader not to be married, with many details of their personal and family life to be broadcast and used to determine their leadership style. Other bachelor and bachelorette prime ministers include King's successor, R.B. Bennett and token female PM Kim Campbell, who was a divorcee. 
Not only was King a bachelor, it seems he had little interest in nurturing any close relations, female or otherwise. He is said to have few friends, trusting the company of his dogs over people.

3. His dogs

While it is not weird to have and be fond of pets, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, King preferred the company of his three dogs to everyone else. He had three Irish Terriers, each of them named Pat - and that is a little odd. He called one "a god-sent little angle in the guise of a dog... a dear little saviour," which shows more than just an admiration, but rather a worship. He also used seances to communicate with his beloved dogs after they passed and fully believed he would see them when he died and his spirit moved to the other side. 

4. His superstitions   

Going hand in hand with his belief in the afterlife is his belief in superstitions. These played a large role in his personal and professional life, as he apparently would make decisions based on the wagging of his dogs' tails or the pattern in his shaving cream. According to Mental Floss, Rex would check the hands of a clock when anything of significance occurred, believing when the hands were in a certain position, loved ones in the afterlife were looking over him. 
King tied a huge significance to the numbers 7 and 17, and to them as a guide in life. As an example, he was born on December 17, and WW2 was declared won on May 7, 1945. 
While superstitions seem harmless enough, it is interesting to think that some of Canada's policies from that era were based upon what shape King's shaving cream made in the morning or how energetic his Pat dogs were that day. 

5. His political legacy

...in so much as that he didn't leave much of one, considering he was in power for two decades. This comes with the caveat of comparison. He will always be remember in the Canadian political tapestry, but compared to other political heavyweights of his time, King barely makes a mark. Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Hitler, all of whom were leaders of their respective countries at the time made a larger impact on the greater historical realm than Rex King did. It is also rumoured that King had a favourable impression upon his first meeting with Hitler, declaring he was a man who cared greatly for his people, and boy would he be mistaken about that. 
And even in Canadian politics, King is remembered as a bland, well-mannered and private leader. People looked to him as a steady hand in turbulent times, including the Great Depression and World War 2. But while he may be remembered as boring and a bad orator, the revelations about his personal life, including his affinity for the afterlife and the company of his dogs, makes him more interesting than what originally met the eye. 

 Let's leave it on a quote by William Lyon Mackenzie King, which aptly sums up the Canadian reputation as a whole: 

Fortunately, the Canadian people in all their habit, are essentially a temperate people.

Man, have we ever lived up to that reputation. 

The Tenth One - William Lyon Mackenzie King

Oh man, have I ever been neglecting this poor little blog. And I've came up with two suitable excuses: 1. I've been busy. 2. William Lyon Mackenzie King is such a beast of a Canadian political figure that I couldn't really half-ass it. He is the longest serving prime minister, sitting in that office for a total of 21 years. His tenure was a full fledge adult by the time he officially retired from politics. 

Politics was steeped into King's blood, as his grandfather and namesake, William Lyon Mackenzie, was the first mayor of Toronto and a major Canadian political figure in his own right. King, or Rex as I want to call him, mostly because Arthur Meighen did, was born on December 17, 1874, in Berlin, ON, now commonly known as Kitchener. His proud parents, John King and Isabella Grace Mackenzie, had a total of four children. Education was important in the family, and even though money was tight, they found money to tutor their children. John King was a struggling lawyer before becoming a law professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, which Rex would eventually attend. It was there that he met his political rival, Meighen.  

King obtained a robust education, ultimately earning five degrees. In 1909, Harvard, where he earned at M.A. in political economy a decade prior, gave him a PhD for his dissertation on "Oriental Immigration to Canada", which is exactly as racists as it sounds. His entire dissertation argued against Asian immigration, saying that Canada should remain a "white man's country". It's hard to find a politician who didn't share some racist sentiments or support racist policies, proving how embedded racial inequality is into our national history and tapestry. 

In 1900, Rex started his career in the public sector as the Deputy Minister in the newly minted Labour Department. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1908, as one of Laurier's Liberals, and was appointed as the first Minister of Labour in 1909. But after losing his seat in 1911 he dove into the lucrative private sector, making upwards of five times as much. His work as a consultant for the Rockefeller Foundation pocketed him a cool $12,000, making his MP salary of $2,500 look like peanuts. 

After Laurier's retirement from politics in 1919, Rex was asked to step into the leadership role for the Liberal party, which he did so with gusto, even though he was considered to be an "outsider" after spending a decade working in the private sector, mostly in the US. He did something few prime ministers before him did - he actually cared about the Prairies. This move helped him win the 1921 election, defeating Arthur Meighen for the first time (there was a few times he defeated Meighen). 

Because he was in office for over two decades, Rex accomplished a laundry list of things, which would be longer than a book to detail. So here are some highlights: 

*He refused to back the UK in a potential war conflict with Turkey in 1922, even when asked to by British PM, David Lloyd George
*Had a interest in the city planning and beautification of Canada's capital city, including parks, Confederation Square and the Great War Memorial
*Extended provincial autonomy and power
*Inaugurated the old-age pension system
*Appointed Cairine Wilson as the first female Senator in 1930
*Formed the National Film Board of Canada in 1939
*Made the CBC into a crown corporation in 1936
*Had a strong working relationship with Franklin Roosevelt during his fourth stint as PM, marking a turning point in Canada-US Relations after the Great Depression

Likely most importantly, Rex was leader during the Second World War. He warned British PM that he intended to remain neutral if Britain went to war with Germany in 1937 but that declaration quickly changed. What I find most interesting about his role as a wartime leader is that he is often compared to some heavy hitters in political history. Winston Churchill, FDR, Charles De Gaulle and, on the evil side of things, Hitler and Stalin, were all in power at the same time. Rex barely makes a mark on history compared to these men. It shows that while he was an arguable effective leader, he wasn't a very robust one, and most likely was not a charming man. The one thing most people remember about him: he believed in ghosts and would hold seances to try to speak with them. So more on THAT next week. 

Arthur Meighen and the King-Byng Thing

Nothing would piss off Arthur Meighen more than using his entire second blog to talk about William Lyon Mackenzie King, but that is exactly what I'm going to do. Arthur and William didn't get a long from the moment they met as students at the University of Toronto, and their rivalry remained ignited as they led Canada's two major political parties in the 1920s - Meighen flying the Conservative banner while Mackenzie-King loved his Liberal ideals. But Meighen got into power for a second term only because of the King-Byng Affair, and so, that's what I'm going to get into. To be fair, Arthur Meighen wasn't in the PM's chair long enough to have anything else really of substance. He's like a Diet Coke of prime ministers. 

The King-Byng Thing, as I like to call it, is also known as Canada's first major constitutional crisis. It featured "Rex" (as Meighen called him, and thus so will I) King against Lord Byng, the Governor General - aka the monarch's representative in Canada. Thankfully, their names rhymed and so we are left with a nice title for a constitutional crisis. 

The 1925 elections brought Meighen's Conservatives into power with a minority government. The Tories garnered 116 seats to the Liberals 101 and the Progressives - a new party formed of labour workers - 28. Instead of respectfully surrendering the federal government to Meighen, King went to the House of Commons and asked who they thought should run the government. Using this political maneuvering and with the help of the Progressive MPs, King was able to stay in power until June 1926. And again, instead of polishing the furniture for Meighen on his way out of office, King went to Lord Byng and asked him to call another election - even though the results of the 1925 election never really came to fruition. So Byng refused to honour this request, pissing King right off and causing him to resign. 

This is how Arthur Meighen got into power for a second time - but for a notably short amount of time. His government was three days old when it lost a vote in the House, causing Meighen to asked Byng to call another election, a mere eleven months after the one that elected the Tories into power as a minority government. 

But Meighen's Conservatives didn't fare as well the second time around. The Liberals gained seats, earning a total of 128 and a majority government to the Conservatives 91 and the Progressives 26. Meighen was gone, this time for good. 

The King-Byng Thing caused some changes to the Canadian government - most notably the Statute of Westminster, signed on December, 31, 1931. This treaty declared that the dominions - Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa - were their own independent nations. This meant that Canada could thereafter pick its own governor general, making it easier to avoid conflicts such as this. 

So, let's be honest, Arthur Meighen didn't leave much of a legacy, especially when compared to his political rival, Rex King. He will be fondly remembered as one of the more obscure prime ministers. 

The Ninth One - Arthur Meighen

Arthur Meighen was the 9th prime minister of Canada, and when I told that to my mother, she said, "Who?"

While many prime ministers are obscure, some are more than others. Most will remember Laurier, Macdonald or Trudeau the First, while the Tuppers, Campbells and Clarks remain relatively unknown. Meighen is at the top of the long list of obscure Canadian prime ministers. 

And while he is relatively unknown, he had a very turbulent and interesting time in office. Due to his long-standing rivalry with William Lyon Mackenzie King, who he called Rex, the two of them swapped in and out of the PM's office for the better part of the 1920s. The two rivals, who met in university in Toronto, apparently didn't get along from the moment they met. Anyways, I'm ahead of myself. 

Arthur Meighen was born in Perth County, Ontario on June 16, 1874 to happy parents of Joseph and Mary (***) Meighen. It seems like he was a bit of a goody-two-shoes student, and graduated with top honours in Latin, English and math, as well as being the top debater on the debating team. His grandfather, who was the schoolmaster at the Blanshard Public School when Meighen was educated, must have been beaming with a special kind of pride at this. 

Meighen attended the University of Toronto, getting his bachelors in math (bleck), which is where me met his future political foe, Rex Mackenzie King. After graduating in 1896, he went to the Osgoode Hall Law School, and became a working lawyer after graduating. 

As for his love life, it seems pretty stable, and no rumours of affair follow him, unlike his predecessor, Laurier. He married Isable Cox in 1904 who bore him three children - two sons and one daughter. 

Meighen tiptoed his way into politics in 1908, getting elected into the House of Commons for the riding of Portage La Prairie in Manitoba. During the 1910s, he worked closely with Robbie Borden, serving in a number of posts, such as Soliciter General, Minister of Mines, and Secretary of State. And while he was close to Borden, he was not the first pick to step into his role after Borden resigned in 1920. The Governor General - the Duke of Devonshire originally asked William Thomas White to take over. White acted as finance minister during the war, masterminding the methods for how to pay for the war. But White decline the promotion, leaving the Duke to ask Meighen. Even after that, many of Meighen's colleagues in Ottawa advised him against becoming PM. The believed him to be unpopular due to his stances on tariffs, which made him unliked by farmer and labours across Canada. And his colleagues were kind of right - Meighen's first time in office lasted only a year and a half before losing to King's Liberals. Meighen would be back in office in 1926, for a total of two months, only to lose once again to his beloved foe, Rex King. 

While in politics for over two decades, Meighen served a total of 1 year, 8 months, and 16 days, making him one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in Canadian history. It also pales in comparison to Mackenzie King, who is remembered as Canada's longest-serving PM, at 21 years, 7 months and 4 days. Writing about Meighen means I'm going to finally understand the King-Byng affair, which is what got him into power the second time. Learning is cool, especially when it's about obscure and dead prime ministers.

Robert Borden - Upright and Handsome

Robert Borden left behind a robust legacy because he was faced with a barrage of challenges none of his predecessors had to face - namely the Great War. Because of the devastation of World War 1, Robbie had to navigate Canada's place in an uncertain diplomatic world, and took the opportunity to loosen Canada's grip on Britain's large and over-extended hand.

Robbie was Canada's first war time prime minister, and he stayed PM during this time due to some political manuvering - including creating his own political party, the Unionist Party - to beat Laurier's Liberals in the 1917 federal election. The Unionist Party was a eclectic mix of politicians, including war-supporting Liberals and a smattering of Conservatives. 

While he faced many issues during the war - most notably the Conscription Crisis of 1917, that once again pitted the English and French populations against each other - how he represented Canada at the Paris Peace Talks in 1919 is worth delving into, for no other reason that he was kind of a dick, but in a good way, as he was advocating for Canada's place at the table and as it's own nation, not as a subsidiary of the British Empire. Robbie protested the opening ceremonies of the Paris Peace Talks because he thought that Newfoundland, which was separate from Canada at that time, was treated with more respect and dignity than Canada was. Robbie was having none of it.

During the actual peace talks, Borden demanded to have a separate seat and vote from Britain, under the leadership of David Lloyd George. This was not liked by either Britain or the United States at first, as Britain wanted to remain in control of its dominions and the US was convinced that it would simply act as another vote for Britain's interests on all levels. Using the argument that Canada had lost a larger number of men in combat that the US did, Canada had the right to proper representation during the peace talks. According to the Canadian War Museum, Canada lost over 59,000 people during the Great War, to the US's 53,000. His argument eventually won, opening the door for other British dominions to have their input heard, including Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. As badass historian Margaret MacMillan wrote in Paris 1919:

"By 1916 the dominions, which has once tiptoed reverentially around the mother country, were growing up. They and their generals has seen too much of what Sire Robert Borden, the Canadian prime minister, called 'incompetence and blundering stupidity of the whiskey and soda British H.Q. Staff'."

Apparently our Robbie was quite the word wizard as well. Margaret MacMillan also calls Borden "upright and handsome" more than once in the book, meaning Robbie represented Canada well on the world stage and into the history books.

By distinguishing Canada as its own nation, with its own battle wounds and concerns, Robbie was able to step out of Britain's shadow leading to other practices to follow - such as the Nickle Act of 1920, forbidding the British monarch from knighting any Canadian citizens. In fact, Sir Robert Borden was the last Canadian PM to be knighted, a tradition that used to be as common as butter on toast in the early days of the country (before Borden, the only PM not to be knighted was Alexander Mackenzie...).

While he accomplished some other massive feats during his tenure as PM - WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE and all - how Sir Robbie presented himself, and thus Canada, during the Paris Peace Conference had a massive impact on the direction and character of our country. Also, because it's been exactly 100 years since women gained the right to vote in Canada - 1918, y'all - I'm going to devote a big ol' blog to that specifically, looking at some of the badass women and male allies that made it happen. Because if I didn't have my right to vote, I wouldn't be as interested in politics. And without my interest in politics, I would just be another basic bitch with two cute cats and a blog.

And finally, of all the PM's I've looked into, Robbie Borden is the one I would choose to share a bottle of whiskey with, that upright and handsome devil.

The Eighth One - Robert Borden

Robert Borden, or Robbie as I will affectionately call him, is most notably known as the man who led Canada in World War 1. And while that will always be the mainstay of his legacy, he did a few other things during his nine-year reign as PM, including championing women's suffrage and the creation of his own political party. But that's the meat to the story. We have to first start with the salad.

Robbie Borden was born in Grand-Pre Nova Scotia, on June 26, 1854 - making him the last prime minister to be before before the Confederation of the country. The last pre-1867 baby. He was born into a loving family, from what Robbie said of his parents. He said he father was a "man of good ability and excellent judgement," while he said his mother had "a very strong character, remarkable, energy, high ambition and unusual ability," which are beaming parental reviews, especially for the era.

Robbie was a teacher from 1868 - which would make him a Doogie Howser kind of teacher, at only 14 years old - until 1874, when he realized that it bored him. He went to Halifax and articled to become a lawyer despite having no formal education. When he was called to the bar in 1878, he placed first in all of his examinations (Doogie Howser would have done the same). Two years after that, he was inducted into the Freemasons(!!).

By 1882, Robbie was asked to join Charles Tupper's law firm in Halifax, and by the time he was 35 he became a senior partner, ultimately taking it over when Tupper left the firm to pursue his political career, and he did all of this with no formal education.

While pursuing his bootstrap legal career, Robbie didn't make much time for love. But in 1889, he married Laura Bond, the daughter of a hardware merchant, and like Laurier before him, he and his wife had no children. Unlike Laurier, there are no rumours that Robbie fathered a child with his lover of two decades. At least none that I can find.

Robbie had a penchant for changing political parties. He grew up Liberal, and was the cousin of Liberal MP Fredrick Borden, but he became a Conservative in 1891 due to Reciprocity - aka free trade - policies. So when he was elected to the House of Commons in 1896, it was as a Tory. And after Charles Tupper stepped down as party leader after his lose at the hands of Laurier's Liberals, Robbie was asked to step into the role as leader. He went toe-to-toe against Laurier during the latter's 15 years in power, with Reciprocity being the issue that finally won Robbie a spot in voters' hearts - he successfully campaigned against Laurier in 1911. Robbie campaigned using a modern version of John A. Macdonald's National Policy, calling for high tariffs on imported goods to support Canadian industry and loyalty to the British Empire.

Most of Borden's nine years at the helm of the country were spent in wartime. From 1914 to 1919, he navigated the country through the First World War, including the conscription crisis of 1917 and the 1919 Paris Peace talks, where he demanded his own seat at the table, not just a chair leg to support David Lloyd George and the British Empire. But this is now the meat, which I will devour next week. It's seasoned with women's suffrage.