A 24-year-old friend with an affinity for Dad Jokes asked which PM I was focusing on this week, and when I said Charles Tupper, they responded with "Is that who Tupperware is named after?"

Womp womp.

Instead of inventing those little reliable Tupperware containers that I always seems to lose, Charles Tupper was the sixth prime minister of Canada, serving the shortest time in office yet - a mere two months. But despite his minimal time in the PM's seat, he did have a lengthy and lustrous political career, serving as premier of Nova Scotia and as the second High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (whatever the hell that means).

Charlie Tupper was born and bred in Nova Scotia, start gin on July 2, 1821, when he was born in Amherst. He went to school at the Horton Academy in Wolfville, Nova Scotia and studied medicine in Edinburgh and became an doctor. According to a very precise Wikipedia entry, he handles 116 obstetric cases by the time he was 22 - I'm 32 and I haven't even gotten through all the prime ministers yet. He returned to Nova Scotia in 1846, a blooming good doctor.

In regards to love, Tupper was a bit of a risky guy. He broke off a contractual agreement he made when he was 17 to marry the daughter of a rich Halifax merchant, instead opting for Frances Morse. Frances was also from Amherst - so from there in fact that her grandfather, Colonel Joseph Morse, is credited as founding Amherst. Together, the couple had three sons and three daughters (nice and fair....) with two of his sons - Charles Hibbert and William Johnston - following their father into politics.

Tupper got involved in politicos at the behest of his friend, James William Johnston (...and the namesake of one of their sons) who was the Conservative Party Leader in Nova Scotia. Tupper won a seat in the Nova Scotia House Assembly in 1855 and became heavily entwined in Nova Scotia's politics. He became premier from 1864 to 1867 and was active in securing Canadian Confederation in 1867.

Upon confederation, Tupper entered federal politics and had an intense career - head of the Queen's Privy Council, Minister of Public Works, Minister of Railways and Canals, Minister of Customs, Minister of Inland Revenue - these are just a sample of the positions he could brag about on his resume. In 1883, determined to leave Ottawa, Tupper moved to London to become High Commissioner to the UK, an unpaid post. There he advocated for Canadian rights and promoted immigration to help settle the new counter.

Tupper's resume is seriously impressive. I might plagiarize it for my next job interview...

After the death of John Thompson in 1894, Tupper was the assumed frontrunner for the next PM. But the Governor General, Lord Aberdeen, had to unsettled beefs with Tupper and opted for Mackenzie Bowell instead. Bowell's cabinet was brought down when many in his party opposed his actions (or inactions) in the Manitoba Schools Question. Seven on Bowell's cabinet ministers resigned and demanded the return of Tupper. He officially became PM on May 1, 1896, just mere months before the election that swept the Liberals under political wonder kid Wilfred Laurier to power. This makes Tupper the first of three prime ministers to hold office for such as short time that they never sat in parliament as PM - along with John Turner and Kim Campbell.

Upon losing the election, Tupper became the official leader of the opposition until 1900, paving the way for a new Nova Scotian to rise in the Conservative Party - Robert Borden.

Tupper died in 1915, and was the last of the original Fathers of the Confederation to die. He is buried in St. John's Cemetery in Halifax. And until a studied Tupper, I had no idea Canada had the equivalent of Founding Fathers - which I recognize as extremely pathetic. So I'm going to get into that on the next blog, centring it on Tupper himself.

Pierre Berton - the most eloquent writer when it comes to prime ministers - described Tupper thusly:

A man of dogged character and methodical thought who had been able to read the old testament in Hebrew and the New in greek at the age of 19 and who, at 21, had become an evangelist with all forensic powers that calling requires.

I like that description.