Hazen Robert Argue (January 6, 1921 – October 2, 1991) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served in the House of Commons and the Senate. He was first elected as a
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...
(CCF) Member of Parliament (MP) in 1945 and was the last leader of the party, from 1960 to 1961. He crossed the floor to the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
in 1962 and was defeated in 1963. In 1966 he was appointed to the Senate. He entered the federal cabinet in 1980, as the only Saskatchewan representative, with responsibilities for the
Canadian Wheat Board
The Canadian Wheat Board (french: Commission canadienne du blé, links=no) was a marketing board for wheat and barley in Western Canada. Established by the Parliament of Canada on 5 July 1935, its operation was governed by the Canadian Wheat Bo ...
. He is well known for being a strong proponent of the
proposed Canadian annexation of the Turks and Caicos Islands
The potential annexation of the Turks and Caicos Islands by Canada is a recurring proposal on the future political status of the island territory. The islands are currently a British Overseas Territory under the sovereignty of the United Kingd ...
. He was the first senator ever to have been charged with fraud, in 1989. The charges were eventually dropped as he had been suffering from
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
for a year; he died shortly thereafter in 1991.
CCF/NDP MP
His family owned a farm, which he worked until he entered the House of Commons.
He was first elected to
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in
1945
1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
Januar ...
as a member of the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...
(CCF).
At 24 years of age, he was the youngest MP at that time.
After the
Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...
sweep of 1958, Argue was one of only eight CCFers remaining in Parliament, and the only one from Saskatchewan. Party leader
M. J. Coldwell lost his seat, and the CCF parliamentary caucus chose Argue as their House Leader.
After Coldwell resigned as the national CCF leader in 1960, Argue was elected leader at the party's last convention in the summer of 1960.
At the time, the CCF was engaged in a three-year plan to create a new party from the union between itself and organized labour forces as represented by the
Canadian Labour Congress
The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (french: Congrès du travail du Canada, link=no or ) is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated.
History Formation
The CLC was ...
(CLC). Both the CCF and CLC executives approved going down this route starting in April 1958. Argue, like many grassroot CCFers, was not convinced that this merger was necessarily the best route to revitalizing the party.
As an organizing tool during this period, the organization was called the New Party.
New Party clubs sprung up around the country between 1958 and 1961. On October 31, 1960,
Walter Pitman
Walter George Pitman (May 18, 1929 – June 12, 2018) was an educator and politician in Ontario, Canada.
Background
Born in Toronto, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1952 and a Master of Arts in 1954 from the University of Toronto. He ...
won a stunning
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
victory in
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
under the banner of the New Party.
This gave credibility to the forces organizing to remodel the CCF along the
British Labour Party
The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...
model.
Argue became a candidate in the race to be the first leader of the newly formed NDP at their August 3, 1961
leadership convention {{Politics of Canada
In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader.
Overview
In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...
. He was up against long-time Saskatchewan
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
, and CCF favourite-son,
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...
.
[
] Douglas had the support of the CLC, its president
Claude Jodoin
Claude Jodoin (May 25, 1913 – March 1, 1975) was a Canadian trade unionist and politician. He served as the first president of the Canadian Labour Congress from 1956 to 1966.
Background
Born in the Montreal suburb of Westmount, Jodoin was ...
and CCF president
David Lewis.
Douglas easily defeated him 1,391 votes to 380 votes on a single ballot.
In his concession speech, Argue declared, "No matter what my role is in the years ahead, I shall speak for you. I shall work for you, I shall never let you down."
He remained in the party's caucus, in the House of Commons, for the rest of the year, having little contact with Douglas in that time.
Liberal Party MP and Senator
Six months later, Argue
crossed the floor
Crossed may refer to:
* ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis
* ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie
* "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead''
S ...
to join the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
; he argued that divisions were rife in the NDP and that farmers' interests were overwhelmed by those of labour.
He was re-elected as a Liberal
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) in
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
but was defeated in
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
and again in
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
.
In 1966, Argue was appointed to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
as a Liberal.
After the
1980 election, in which the Liberal Party failed to win any seats west of
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada
The prime mini ...
appointed Argue to
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
as
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...
(
Canada Wheat Board).
In 1989, he became the first senator ever charged with misuse of public funds and fraud.
The RCMP alleged that he used public funds to help his wife's bid to obtain the Liberal Party nomination in their Ottawa-area riding for the 1988 Canadian federal election.
The charges were dropped in 1991 by the crown prosecutor when it became apparent that Argue was near death, as he had been bedridden for most of the year with cancer.
He died three months later in Regina, on October 2, 1991.
References and notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Argue, Hazen
1921 births
1991 deaths
Canadian senators from Saskatchewan
Members of the 22nd Canadian Ministry
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Saskatchewan
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MPs
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Liberal Party of Canada senators
NDP and CCF leaders
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Canadian people of Irish descent
Members of the United Church of Canada