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?