The Man From Prince Albert

[The Baron of Banality]

- In this week's MacLean's, my former neighbour Peter Mansbridge tells a story about John Diefenbaker's phenomenal memory which, along with his ability to read 300 pages an hour and his extraordinary way with words and with crowds impressed the hell out of mere mortals like me.

- In Peter's column he writes of how he was chosen as a ten year old to go to Ottawa with his sister as two typical canadian kids for a film shoot on Parliament Hill. After days touring the Peace Tower and the other historic spots, Peter and his sister wound up their shoot in the PM's office with the Chief. Peter observes, "Diefenbaker was the perfect host, shaking hands, posing for pictures and chatting up my mother, who'd come along. He spent at least 20 minutes with us."

- Mansbridge notes that twenty years later (which would have made Dief 81 or 82 years old) he was a CBC reporter attending a Diefenbaker news conference. After the conference, Peter took from his briefcase the old photo of him and his sister and asked Dief if he would mind signing it for him. To Peter's considerable scepticism, Dief claimed he remembered the moment well. As he penned his autograph, the Chief looked up and said, "Ah yes, your mother was there too, wasn't she?". Peter's scepticism turned to amazement that a busy prime minister meeting scores of people every day would twenty years later near the end of his life remember a brief meeting with a couple of kids and their mother.

- When my mother was interviewed by Diefenbaker to replace his personal secretary while she was recovering from a broken hip, she mentioned that years ago her uncle had been a PC MP and had served on the backbenches with the Chief. By then, her uncle had been dead for at least ten years and Dief probably hadn't seen or heard from him or his wife Aunt Lottie for well over 15 years. But immediately the Chief, a great mimic, launched into a perfect imitation of the distinctive voice of Aunt Lottie. My mother was astounded and greatly impressed.

- The last time I saw Dief in person (other than at his funeral) was in 1974 a few weeks after he had won his twelth straight election in Prince Albert and increased his majority at the tender age of 79. (His main opponent was a 68 year old NDP candidate who good naturedly ran on the slogan "Give Youth A Chance".) I hadn't seen him for a couple of years and my mother hadn't worked for him for more than five years.

- As he ushered me into his office, he asked about my mom and dad and then asked whether our family dog named Lady had recovered from her catarac condition and operation that my mom had mentioned to him in about 1968. (She had but later died.) I was nonplussed that Dief could remember something that I had almost forgotten about myself.

- In Canada's history, we have only had four heroic prime ministers - those who regardless of policies and technical skills were able to somehow make an emotional, personal connection with people that transformed them into larger than life figures who dominated any room they were in and inspired fierce love, loyalty and hate but never indifference in canadians. These four PMs were MacDonald, Laurier, Diefenbaker and Trudeau.

- One picture I have is of Dief's funeral train in August of 1979 passing by about 25 farm folks at four in the morning somewhere in Saskatchewan. The men have their caps removed, the children are waving at the train and the women have their heads bowed. One farmer stands with a sign on which is written "John, you'll never die.".

I feel the same way about him.

[Galahad]

- In Canada's history, we have only had four heroic prime ministers - those who regardless of policies and technical skills were able to somehow make an emotional, personal connection with people that transformed them into larger than life figures who dominated any room they were in and inspired fierce love, loyalty and hate but never indifference in canadians. These four PMs were MacDonald, Laurier, Diefenbaker and Trudeau.

I don't know Baron..

That seems like a rather sweeping statement backed up by little fact.

To YOU Dief made personal connections, because your mother was his secretary. I'll bet Lester Pearson's staff's family thought he was a great guy...hell...I'll bet that John Turner & Kim Campbell touched a few kids hearts in their summer jobs.

And as for Trudeau...I personally revere him as you know...but he was more known for his imperious manner & giving people the finger than discussing their pet's illnesses.

Ru

[August1991]

I saw Trudeau in Camrose Alta and at the Inn on the Park in Toronto Ont. In his impish way, he attracted attention. (The actor Jean-Marie Lemieux sucked the air out of the room, as actors do.)

I worked around Chretien and Mulroney. Chretien was "on" in a crowd. Mulroney was uncomfortable in crowds but was great one-on-one. Incidentally, they were both tall with big heads. Chretien inspired, Mulroney seemed sleazy somehow.

I never met Diefenbaker but I saw his "limo" in that ridiculous museum in Saskatchewan.

The point? The physical presence of a leader is one thing, their presence on television another and their ability as a leader a third. "Keep your head when all about you..."

Diefenbaker was a disaster for the Conservative Party (Canada's opposition party). Canada has suffered as a result. Dalton Camp, Deux Nations, Trudeau, the 72 cliffhanger, Margaret and all the rest. If Diefenbaker had accepted his lot, put away his ego, Canada would be a better place today.

Well, these things happen. (RB Bennet could blame the depression.) One wonders whether leaders matter. But to glorify Diefenbaker is naive, simple - as my father would say, touched...

[The Baron of Banality]

I never met Diefenbaker but I saw his "limo" in that ridiculous museum in Saskatchewan.

The point? The physical presence of a leader is one thing, their presence on television another and their ability as a leader a third. "Keep your head when all about you..."

Diefenbaker was a disaster for the Conservative Party (Canada's opposition party). Canada has suffered as a result. Dalton Camp, Deux Nations, Trudeau, the 72 cliffhanger, Margaret and all the rest. If Diefenbaker had accepted his lot, put away his ego, Canada would be a better place today.

Well, these things happen. (RB Bennet could blame the depression.) One wonders whether leaders matter. But to glorify Diefenbaker is naive, simple - as my father would say, touched...

- 1991 - Since you have chosen to call me naive, simple and touched, may I begin by saying that it is naive, simple and touched to seek to make anything whatsoever out of Diefenbaker's "limo" ... if you actually knew very much about Dief, you would know that he avoided limos and never, ever rode in Cadillacs after a time in the 1940s when he was in a caddy in a parade and heard a leather lunged burger yell out "here come the tories in their cadillacs" ... even when he finally had some money from the sale of his books in his 70s, his most extravagant car was an oldsmobile 98.

- I am well aware that physical presence, TV persona, and ability as a leader are all different things, although also all related to different facets of leadership such as communications, decisiveness, boldness, people management, etc. ... indeed, I may very well be rather more aware of what constitutes leadership than you are in that I have consulted and lectured on the topic and have made lots of money selecting and appraising leaders for corporations.

- You are misinformed to say that Diefenbaker was a disaster for the PC party ... he did disappoint in many ways as prime minister ... but he took a party that had been out of power for 22 years and through his superb campaigning skills won a tremendous upset in 1957 and the biggest win in in history (until Mulroney) in 1958 ... without Dief, the Liberals would have remained in power for several more years than they did ... also, Diefenbaker put the "progressive" in the PC party in substance not simply in name through much social legislation to benefit the average canadian and the then kids he inspired to go into politics such as Mulroney and Clark continued his tradition of a socially progressive party ... Dief gave those parts of the country that could not be seen from the penthouse of the Royal York on a clear day a voice in the country's political decision making ... he gave us our first Bill of Rights, he gave native peoples the right to vote for the first time, he was one of two people who got RSA removed from the Commonwealth because of their apartheid policies, he made our immigration act and policy colour blind, he gave a measure of dignity to our old age pensioners, he established roads ro resources and in picking up for the first time 50% of the costs of transcanada highways and medical insurance he finally got us some decent roads and with Tommy Douglas provided the basis for medicare ... I could go on but I shall just say that I fail to see how this was a disaster for the PC party.

- As to heroic figures as PMs, I repeat that the four of our national leaders who could move and animate and motivate and inspire a crowd and sometimes an entire nation were MacDonald, Laurier, Diefenbaker and Trudeau. They were the great orators among our leaders and the reaction of crowds of people to them was something that defied logic and balance sheets. You are old enough no doubt to have heard of Trudeaumania from 1968 when crowds across Canada were enthralled with PET. Well, let me tell you that the reaction of crowds to John Diefenbaker in 1958 was even more fevered and worshipful. I recall being a 14 year old in Moncton in 1958 and seeing at the train station several women excitedly exclaiming "I touched his coat! I touched his coat!" after Dief had dismounted his train to shake hands on his whistle stop tour. Out in the Okenagan Valley of BC, Dief during the 1958 campaign was addressing a large crowd when it began to rain. As they saw that Diefenbaker had no umbrella and was getting drenched in the downpour, most of the crowd was seen closing their umbrellas and getting wet with him as a mark of respect.

Anyhow, I'm a student of canadian political history and am entitled to my opinion - it happens to also be the opinion of Canada's greatest political biographer Peter E. Newman. We'll get over the fact that you disagree. As to the nutter Rudyard going today by the name of Galahad, he is simply inciting which is what he lives to do. He knows nothing about the Diefenbaker era, being a DP who was still in Slovakia when The Chief was our PM. So all his is is a bullshit artiste out to enflame. If you are dumb enough to agree with him, this is a reflection on you not on me. Certainly, it betrays a naive, simple attitude to our history. Next thing you'll be claiming that Chretien was a great orator, LOL.

[August1991]

1. Diefenbaker's last "limo", a silver Olds I think, is in a museum. What nonsense is this?

2. Diefenbaker should have resigned and moved on. Or stayed as MP to heckle. Dalton Camp was right to do what he did but what a mess for the Tories.

3. I find humourous (in fact, I really dislike) your use of the term "DP" and then a reference to Peter Newman in the same post.