John Diefenbaker - Canadian History.

« only Conservative elected from Saskatchewan, which had gone solidly to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a coalition party dedicated to social andwelfare reforms. In 1952 the Liberals in Saskatchewan abolished Diefenbaker's Lake Centre seat altogether by merging it with the neighboring legislative district of Moose Jaw, where theCCF had a vast majority.

In 1953 Diefenbaker decided to run for election in Prince Albert.

Again he was the only Conservative returned to Parliament fromSaskatchewan. D Party Leader In 1953 Diefenbaker was passed over in favor of a right-wing Conservative for the post of deputy party leader in the House of Commons.

However, his chance came in1956, when George Drew resigned as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Although many party members did not want Diefenbaker as leader, they could notagree on any other candidate.

Potential challengers, seeing that Diefenbaker could not be beaten, started to support him.

He was even supported by the Conservativeold guard.

In December 1956 Diefenbaker won the party leadership. That year the fortunes of the Progressive Conservative Party took a turn for the better.

The Liberals lost support when they used closure, a process that suspends alldebate on a measure in Parliament and requires an immediate vote, to force through a bill to lend $80 million to an American-owned pipeline company.

A bitter fightensued in Parliament.

The Conservatives claimed the Liberals had made a mockery of parliamentary democracy.

Public opinion polls suggested that many Canadiansagreed. The Liberals had been in power for more than 20 years.

The government seemed to have no new ideas.

The Progressive Conservative Party's difficulties were alsogreat, but they were offset by the country's desire for change, which gave Diefenbaker his main chance in the 1957 general election. Since Diefenbaker could not win the election with only Conservative support, he had to gain uncommitted votes.

He could not do so by advocating traditionalConservative policies.

Therefore he adopted most of the Liberal positions and added them to a vision of further Canadian national development.

At first the Liberals wereconfident of victory, and, although they spent a lot of money on the campaign, they made comparatively few speeches.

Diefenbaker spent 39 days campaigning andmade more than 100 speeches.

He gained new support in Ontario and also in British Columbia and the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PrinceEdward Island. IV PRIME MINISTER In the election of June 10, 1957, the Progressive Conservative Party received only 39 percent of the popular vote but won more seats in Parliament than any otherparty.

The Liberal government resigned a week later, and on June 21, Diefenbaker became prime minister. His first duty was to attend a conference of Commonwealth prime ministers in London, where he made a good impression.

At home, Parliament was not scheduled tomeet until autumn, but his cabinet ministers were active.

Diefenbaker continued his campaign in a series of appearances throughout the country.

His was a minoritygovernment, and a new election could not be long delayed. A Cabinet Diefenbaker's cabinet included people with many points of view.

He made Donald Fleming, his chief rival for party leadership, minister of finance.

Fleming was a right-wing Conservative and was against deficit spending, the process of borrowing money for federal programs instead of raising taxes, as well as many other measures thathis cabinet colleagues supported.

Diefenbaker's other rival, Edmund Davie Fulton, was made minister of justice.

The most colorful member of the Cabinet was FrancisAlvin G.

Hamilton, an ex-farmhand from Saskatchewan, who was made the minister of northern affairs and national resources. The 23rd session of Parliament was opened on October 14, 1957, by Queen Elizabeth II of England.

It was the first time a reigning monarch had opened the CanadianParliament.

The Liberals had promised to help pass the main ideas of the Conservatives, and many bills were introduced.

Parliament undertook to increase old-agepensions, to extend unemployment benefits, to cut taxes, to reduce unemployment by establishing new federal work projects, and to support more agriculturalproducts.

Despite growing unemployment the Conservatives kept their promises. B New Election When the next parliamentary session began in January 1958, the Liberals had a new leader, Lester Bowles Pearson.

He suggested that, since the Conservatives wereintroducing liberal legislation, it might be better for Liberals to administer it.

With CCF support, Pearson could have forced dissolution of Parliament through a no-confidence vote, but he was not eager for an early election.

However, Diefenbaker knew that it would be wise to take advantage of his popularity to call an earlyelection.

In February he surprised his own party by flying to Québec and persuading the governor-general, Vincent Massey, to dissolve Parliament. The 1958 election was an overwhelming personal victory for Diefenbaker.

He campaigned on the grounds that only he could put into effect his new vision for Canada,although he remained vague about defining the new vision and how it was to be carried out. The results on March 1, 1958, surprised even optimistic Conservatives.

Diefenbaker received 62 percent of Québec's popular vote.

The Conservatives won the greatestmajority in Canadian history, 208 seats out of 265.

They defeated the CCF in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

The Liberals had only 48 members in Parliament. C Achievements One of the main aspects of Diefenbaker's vision of a new Canada was development of the north.

In 1958 a road- and rail-building program was begun to allow productsof the north to be brought to market.

However, when Diefenbaker left office, the future of the project was still uncertain.

Diefenbaker also increased federal aid touniversities.

The move was attacked as invading the field of provincial jurisdiction by Premier Maurice Duplessis of Québec, who refused the aid, ending the briefConservative revival in Québec. Diefenbaker was most proud of his Bill of Rights, introduced to Parliament in 1958 and passed into law in 1960.

The law barred discrimination on the grounds of race orcreed and was meant to affect all federal legislation.

However, since most aspects of civil liberties were the responsibility of the provinces, the Bill of Rights waseffectively only a guideline. The main event of 1959 was the opening of the St.

Lawrence Seaway, connecting the Great Lakes, the St.

Lawrence River, and the Atlantic Ocean.

Although theDiefenbaker government introduced little legislation, the Conservatives continued to gain in provincial elections.

There were changes in the cabinet.

When externalaffairs minister Sidney Smith died, Diefenbaker replaced him with Howard Green, who feared U.S.

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