University of Saskatchewan (Arts, Law) Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Occupation:
1919 - Lawyer
1936-38 - Leader, Saskatchewan Conservative Party
Marital status:
Married, 1929, Edna Brower (1901-1951)
Re-married, 1953, Olive Palmer (1902-1976)
One stepdaughter
Buried:
On the grounds of the Right Honourable John G. Diefenbaker Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
John G. Diefenbaker had a successful career as a defence attorney, but decided that he wanted to be a politician. He started his political career in 1925 at the age of thirty when he ran for the federal Progressive Conservatives. He lost that election and ran again unsuccessfully in 1926. He tried to win a seat for the provincial Conservatives in 1929, but was defeated, as he was when he ran for mayor of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in 1933. His earliest political success came when he was elected Leader of the provincial Conservative Party in 1936. This success was short-lived, however, for the party lost every riding, including Diefenbaker's, in the election of 1938.
It was not until 1940 that Diefenbaker won an election, running for the Conservative Party in the riding of Lake Centre. He held this riding until 1953 when he decided to run in the riding of Prince Albert, which he held until his death in 1979. He was a backbencher for sixteen years until 1956, when he won the Party leadership following George Drew's retirement.
Diefenbaker led his Party to form a minority government in the election of 1957, the first federal Conservative win since R. B. Bennett's victory in 1930. But the victory had more to do with Liberal fatigue than Progressive Conservative flair. To ensure himself a comfortable mandate, Diefenbaker dissolved Parliament in 1958, and went before the electorate promising a "new Canada" for the "average Canadian." He was an effective, distinctive speaker and his strategy worked, for in 1958 the Conservatives captured 208 of 265 seats. This was the largest majority that the Parliament of Canada had known up until that time.
As Prime Minister, Diefenbaker did remember the under-represented. He extended the vote to all Native Canadians (1960), and appointed James Gladstone the first Native Canadian senator in 1958. He also named Ellen Fairclough Canada's first female cabinet minister in 1957. As well, he enacted the Canadian Bill of Rights (1958). He also initiated wheat sales to China and worked at reforming western Canadian agriculture. Internationally, he played an important part in getting the South African apartheid government out of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
However, Diefenbaker also insulted and infuriated many during his first term in office. In 1959, Diefenbaker cancelled the Avro Arrow airplane contract, thus costing the economy 14,000 jobs and killing any chance that Canada would have a competitive aircraft industry. Under Diefenbaker the Canadian economy also suffered and, by 1962, the dollar dropped to 92.5 cents (U.S.). His firm position against having American nuclear weapons on Canadian soil angered the American Government and other NATO partners.
The Liberals went to the voters with these facts in 1962, and although they didn't win, they reduced the Diefenbaker Government to a minority. It was only a matter of months before Diefenbaker's Government was defeated in the House of Commons by a no-confidence motion. The impetus for the motion was a press release issued by the U.S. State Department which blatantly contradicted Diefenbaker's version of NATO policy.
With his Government defeated, Diefenbaker went to the voters for the fourth time in six years. The voters were no longer in the mood for his "new" Canada. The Liberals won a minority government. Diefenbaker had taken the Conservatives from 205 seats to 95 seats in four years.
Diefenbaker stayed on as Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party until 1967. He would not resign and fought for his leadership on the convention floor. He eventually lost to Robert Stanfield, but stayed on as a backbencher in the Conservative Party and continued to represent Prince Albert until his death in 1979.
Reading: J. Diefenbaker (1975-77) One Canada 3v.; P. Stursberg (1975-76) Diefenbaker 2v.
