John G. Diefenbaker

Prime minister of Canada (1957-1963)

• Born: September 18, 1895
• Birthplace: Neustadt, Ontario, Canada
• Died: August 16, 1979
• Place of death: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

The thirteenth Canadian prime minister, Diefenbaker was a colorful and controversial political figure known for his appeal to the Canadian public and his support for global human rights.

Early Life

John G. Diefenbaker (DEE-fuhn-bay-kur) was born in Neustadt, Ontario. He was the oldest son of William Thomas Diefenbaker and Mary Florence Bannerman. His father was of German background and his mother was of Scottish descent. His father worked as a schoolteacher in a number of small towns in Ontario before moving the family to a part of the Northwest Territories (soon to become the province of Saskatchewan) in 1903. After several years, between 1906 and 1910, homesteading on the prairie, the family moved to the town of Saskatoon, where, in 1912, Diefenbaker began his formal study at the University of Saskatchewan. He completed a B.A. in 1915, an M.A. (in political science and economics) in 1916, and an LL.B. in 1919. During this period he also served (March, 1916-July, 1917) in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I, but he was given a medical discharge before being sent into action.

After completing his law degree in 1919, Diefenbaker practiced law in Saskatchewan for a number of years, achieving success as a criminal defense attorney known for his willingness to defend the poor. In 1920, at the age of twenty-five, he also made his first venture into politics, successfully running for the position of alderman on the town municipal council in Wakaw, Saskatchewan, where he was residing at the time.

Life’s Work

Politics was to become Diefenbaker’s area of greatest life achievement, though he was largely unsuccessful in politics in the twenty years after his first post as alderman. First, he lost his reelection bid as alderman in Wakaw in 1923. Second, between 1925 and 1938 he lost in five more attempts at elected office losing twice in races for the federal parliament, twice for the provincial parliament, and once in a race for mayor of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. That he was running as a conservative in a region dominated by the Liberal Party had much to do with these electoral defeats. The only bright spot during this period was his progression within the Conservative Party itself, being chosen as its provincial leader in Saskatchewan in 1936.

In 1940, Diefenbaker’s persistence paid off when he was elected to the federal parliament from Lake Centre, Saskatchewan. He gradually ascended in the leadership ranks of his party, known since 1942 as the Progressive Conservative Party. He was elected as its national leader in 1956, after several unsuccessful attempts at gaining the position. He also served as Canada’s delegate to the United Nations in 1952. In 1957 he led his party to a narrow victory over the Liberal government of Prime MinisterLouis St. Laurent, forcing St. Laurent’s resignation. In 1958, in a second election, conservatives won the largest majority victory in Canadian political history up to that time (208 of 265 seats) to consolidate Diefenbaker’s position as Canada’s thirteenth prime minister and the first non-Liberal Party prime minister in twenty-two years. Among the many remarkable things about this election was the support Diefenbaker, as a prairie populist, received from the province of Quebec and its powerful Union Nationale political machine.

Diefenbaker’s personal style was a key factor underlying his political success. He used his powerful speaking ability to set forth a “common man” populist message. In his 1958 campaign he spoke of creating a “Canada of the North,” with increased subsidies and aid to the northern sections of the country, and of prosperity to the rest of the nation. Once in office, however, his lack of leadership skills and experience kept him from implementing much of his vision. He also was plagued with economic problems that were only partially a result of his policies.

Major events of the Diefenbaker years include the attempt (the so-called 15 percent promise) to revise Canada’s trade policy with Great Britain and the United States, the infamous Avro Arrow controversy, and the government’s support, both internally and internationally, for human rights. Shortly after his election, Diefenbaker announced that Canada would shift 15 percent of its imports from the United States to Britain. If implemented, the plan would have violated the 1947 GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) treaty and required a complete revision of Canada’s trade policy. While the plan never followed through, the ensuing controversy undercut the new government’s credibility with the United States and Britain.

Even more dramatic was the Diefenbaker government’s decision in 1959 to cancel funding for the CF-105 Arrow supersonic jet fighter. A government contract had been awarded several years earlier to the A.V. Roe (Avro) air research company in Ontario for the development of the plane. Although costs had skyrocketed and anticipated foreign sales were not being realized, the plane was in the process of being tested when the project was scrapped. The decision led to fourteen thousand aerospace industry workers losing their jobs and a massive migration of Canadian engineers and specialists to the United States. The decision also made Canada more reliant on the United States for its defense.

Only in the area of human rights did the Diefenbaker government show truly positive results. Nationally, in 1957, Ellen Fairclough was the first woman appointed to a cabinet post. The first Canadian Indian, James Gladstone, was appointed to the federal senate in 1958, and Canadian Indians were granted the right to vote in 1960. Likewise a highly discriminatory immigration quota policy was eliminated in 1962. Abroad, the government supported the entrance of Ghana as the first African member nation in the Commonwealth and opposed the membership of South Africa in the same body because of its apartheid policy. The effort to create a Canadian bill of rights, although undertaken with great enthusiasm, proved largely unsuccessful, and the project had to wait until the Pierre Trudeau era twenty years later for completion.

By 1962, Diefenbaker’s leadership flaws had become apparent. In that year his personal dislike for U.S. president John F. Kennedy marked Canada as the only major U.S. ally not to support the Americans during the Cuban Missile Crisis. A celebrated battle with the governor of the Bank of Canada, James Coyne , which resulted in Coyne’s resignation in 1961, also undercut the prime minister’s credibility. Diefenbaker managed to hang on to power with a minority government following the 1962 election, but he was defeated by the Liberals and Lester B. Pearson the following year.

In 1964, still serving as party leader, Diefenbaker led a bitter but unsuccessful battle against the adoption of the maple leaf flag as the official flag of the country. He retained his leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party until 1967, running one more time unsuccessfully in the 1965 national election. After being voted out as party leader, he continued to hold his seat in parliament until his death in 1979 at the age of eighty-three. During the period from 1969 until his death he also served as chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan.

Diefenbaker was married twice. Edna Mae Brower, his first wife, died in 1951 after a lengthy illness. Two years later he married Olive Palmer, who had been married to a Toronto lawyer. Palmer served as Canada’s first lady during his years as prime minister.

Significance

Diefenbaker is remembered both for leading the Progressive Conservative Party to power in the 1957 and 1958 Canadian elections unseating the Liberals who had held power for more than two decades and for his controversial and contentious six years as Canadian prime minister. Although his record of achievement in office was thin, his colorful personality, ability to appeal to the masses, and his record in the area of human rights make him an important figure in twentieth century Canadian history.

Bibliography

Diefenbaker, John G. One Canada: Memoirs of the Right Honorable John G. Diefenbaker. Toronto, Ont.: Macmillan of Canada, 1975. Diefenbaker’s memoirs covering the period from 1895 to 1956. Unfortunately the two additional projected volumes of the work were never completed.

Greenham, Craig. “American Inspiration: The Story of the Diefenbaker Centre’s Unlikely Origins.” American Review of Canadian Studies 36, no. 4 (Winter, 2006): 596-611. An account of the founding of the Diefenbaker Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. Provides valuable insight into the man himself as well as the reasons for his continuing popularity in Canada.

Morton, Desmond. A Short History of Canada. Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, 2006. Revised sixth edition of popular narrative history of Canada from its origins to the twenty-first century.

Robinson, H. Basil. Diefenbaker’s World: A Populist in Foreign Affairs. Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press, 1989. An analysis of Diefenbaker’s record in foreign affairs, placing it in the context of other postwar Canadian prime ministers, particularly Pearson, Trudeau, and Brian Mulroney.

Smith, Denis. Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John G. Diefenbaker. Toronto, Ont.: MacFarlane Walter & Ross, 1995. More than seven hundred pages in length, this is a full and balanced biographical treatment.

Story, D. C., and R. Bruce Shepard, eds. The Diefenbaker Legacy: Canadian Politics, Law and Society Since 1957. Regina, Sask.: Canadian Plains Research Centre, 1998. A collection of scholarly essays presented at a conference marking the fortieth anniversary of the start of Diefenbaker’s ministry. The principal goal of these works is to initiate a more favorable assessment of his accomplishments in office.