The 1967 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held to choose a leader for the
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003.
From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...
. The convention was held at
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada between September 4 and 9, 1967.
Robert Stanfield was elected the new leader.
Background
The leader was elected by the approximately 2,200 delegates to the convention who voted. Most of the delegates were elected from the party's associations in each
riding (electoral district), as well as from the party's women's and youth associations.
However, many delegates were ''
ex officio'' delegates, i.e., they received delegate status as a result of their positions on the national executive committee of the party, the executives of its affiliated provincial parties, and the party's national women's and youth organizations. Former and current Progressive Conservative (PC) Members of
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
and
Senators were also ''ex officio'' delegates.
Traditionally, once elected, leaders of the party remained in the position until they resigned or died. In this case, however, the convention was called after the party membership passed a resolution to force a leadership convention even though party leader
John 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 electi ...
was unwilling to resign. Many in the party believed that his mercurial leadership when the party was in government from 1957 to 1963, and his failure to win the support of Canadian voters the
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 Co ...
and
1965 federal elections meant that he would be unable to lead the party back to government. Party president
Dalton Camp
Dalton Kingsley Camp, (September 11, 1920 – March 18, 2002) was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator, and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Although he was never elected to a se ...
organized the successful campaign within the party to force a leadership convention.
Issues
The campaign for the leadership hinged on two main issues:
# where the candidates stood on the question of Diefenbaker's leadership, and
# where the candidates stood on the controversial ''Deux Nations'' policy.
Diefenbaker had engendered considerable loyalty amongst Conservatives during his time as leader because of his passionate speaking style, and his fierce commitment to Canada. Diefenbaker had led the party to the biggest victory in a Canadian federal election (to that time) in the
1958 election, winning 208 of the 265 seats available in the House of Commons. On the other hand, divisions and infighting in his Cabinet had led to the party's defeat in the
1963 election, with the
following election two years later failing to improve the party's position.
The controversial ''Deux Nations'' policy had been proposed by the party's "Thinkers’ Conference", held in August 1967 at Montmorency Falls, Quebec, as a way of reconciling the role of the Province of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
within Canadian confederation. The Thinkers’ Conference described the policy as a statement that "English Canadians and French Canadians form two distinct societies with differing backgrounds, personalities and aspirations." The phrase "
distinct society
Distinct society (in french: la société distincte) is a political term especially used during constitutional debate in Canada, in the second half of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, and present in the two failed constitutional amendments, the M ...
" returned in the 1980s to be a key component of proposals to amend the
Canadian constitution
The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents ar ...
during the debate over the
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gov ...
and the
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord (french: Accord de Charlottetown) was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October ...
.
The policy proposal was endorsed at the convention by the party's Policy Committee by a vote of approximately 150 to 12.
Opponents of the policy were concerned that the French ''deux nations'' would be interpreted in English as "two nations", i.e., the end of a united Canada. The proponents argued that ''deux nations'' meant "two founding peoples".
In their final speeches to the convention, all of the candidates addressed the issue, but the issue did not "ignite" the delegates:
* Stanfield tried to distance himself from the issue by arguing that the Policy Committee resolution was not clear enough, and the French Canadians wanted more than just the right to enjoy linguistic distinctiveness.
* Roblin supported ''deux nations'', explaining that two European cultures had decided to live as one nation.
* Fulton also tried to avoid the argument saying that it was about semantics, and that the real point was that Canada was founded by "two races, two cultures, two peoples".
* Fleming tried to straddle the fence, saying that the meaning was unclear, and would oppose it if Diefenbaker's "two nations" interpretation were correct, but accepted that it meant "two founding peoples".
* Hees supported the resolution as meaning "two founding peoples".
* McCutcheon said that he was "not afraid to say" ''deux nations'' because it meant "two cultures", not "two sovereign entities".
* Starr argued that the policies would be unfair to other cultures in Canada, that all provinces should be equal, and that the party should not adopt a policy on the issue because Quebecers themselves were not clear on what they wanted.
* MacLean supported the policy.
Candidates
Robert Stanfield, the 53-year-old
PC Premier of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, was a late entrant to the campaign, and was the eventual victor. He had disclaimed any interest in running for the federal leadership having won a healthy mandate in the spring 1967 Nova Scotia election. He finally bowed to pressure from
Dalton Camp
Dalton Kingsley Camp, (September 11, 1920 – March 18, 2002) was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator, and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Although he was never elected to a se ...
and other Ontario opponents of Diefenbaker, and joined the race. According to reportage in the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'', it was his "honesty, forthrightness, and quiet demeanour" that set him apart from other candidates. Stanfield was supported by many party members from the
Maritime
Maritime may refer to:
Geography
* Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps
* Maritime Region, a region in Togo
* Maritime Southeast Asia
* The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prin ...
provinces, but had little support from Quebec or the Western provinces. Running as a "right-of-centre" candidate, his successful convention presence, and especially his very well received speech at the Tuesday night policy session, attracted many of the anti-Diefenbaker delegates, and made him "the man to beat".
Dufferin Roblin
Dufferin "Duff" Roblin, (June 17, 1917 – May 30, 2010) was a Canadian businessman and politician. He served as the 14th premier of Manitoba from 1958 to 1967. Roblin was appointed to the Senate of Canada on the advice of Prime Minister Pierre ...
, the 50-year-old
PC Premier of
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
, was another late entrant to the campaign. He was the youngest serious contender, and was reported to have the behind-the-scenes support of the conservative
Union Nationale party in Quebec. He portrayed himself as having been outside of the fighting over Diefenbaker's leadership, and independent of the Diefenbaker and Camp bloc. He would therefore be able to bring the party together. Roblin was seen to be on the left of the party, i.e., supported by
Red Tories
A Red Tory is an adherent of a centre to centre-right or paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition, most predominantly in Canada but also in the United Kingdom and Australia. This philosophy tends to favour ...
. He delivered an emotional appeal at the policy session for harmony between English-speaking Canadians and French-speaking Canadians. His call for party unity struck a chord with delegates, and it appeared as though he might lead on the first ballot. His Quebec delegates, however, were very critical of Diefenbaker at the convention, and undermined Roblin's image as a compromise candidate.
E. Davie Fulton, a 51-year-old lawyer from
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
had been defeated in the 1956 leadership convention by Diefenbaker. He had served as Minister of Justice and then Minister of Public Works in the Diefenbaker government, and left federal politics in 1963 to take over the leadership of the
British Columbia PC Party. His attempt to revive that party's fortunes failed, and he returned to federal politics in the
1965 election. His campaign was run by
Lowell Murray
Lowell Murray, (born 26 September 1936) is a former Canadian senator and long-time activist with the federal Progressive Conservative Party.
Education
Murray graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in 1955. He met 16-year-old Brian Mu ...
, later to be an important figure in the next PC government under
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...
. To support from his home province, he added considerable support from
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
because of his ability to speak French. He was plagued with the reputation of being a bad politician, but he dispelled that notion during the campaign. He campaigned under the slogan, "It's Fulton - All across Canada!"
George Hees
George Harris Hees (June 17, 1910 – June 11, 1996) was a Canadian politician and businessman.
Background
Born in Toronto, Hees earned a playboy image during his youth (nicknamed Gorgeous George), but then became a stalwart member of the Prog ...
, the 57-year-old former
Minister of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
and then Minister of International Trade and Commerce in the Diefenbaker government, was described as a "millionaire ''bon vivant''". Hees had been successful as trade minister, aggressively promoting Canadian trade in other countries, but left politics before the
1963 election. As head of the
Montreal Stock Exchange
The Montreal Exchange (MX; french: Bourse de Montréal), formerly the Montreal Stock Exchange (MSE), is a derivatives exchange, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that trades futures contracts and options on equities, indices, currencies, ETFs, ...
, however, he had done nothing innovative, and returned to politics in the 1965 election. Hees did not come across as an intellectual, but injected glamour into the campaign, spending the most of any of the candidates, an estimated $200,000. ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' newspaper noted that, surrounded by chanting young supporters, the "arrival of Hees was like something from Hollywood". Hees descended from one of two red London
double-decker bus
A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...
es that he had hired to transport his campaign workers between his headquarters at the
Royal York Hotel and the convention centre at Maple Leaf Gardens. Hees's speech, delivered in carnival-barker style, at the Tuesday night policy session, however, was not well received by delegates, and his support began to drift off to other candidates.
John 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 electi ...
, the 72-year-old party leader and former prime minister, kept the other candidates, the delegates, observers and pundits waiting for his decision on whether or not he would run to succeed himself until the very last minute. He filed his nomination papers for the convention very close to the closing of nominations. Although he could not reasonably have expected to win, putting his name into the race allowed him one more opportunity to address the convention, and to appeal to the party to reject the ‘’Deux Nations’’ policy. By letting his name stand, however, he was pledging his support for the winner under the rules of the convention.
Wallace McCutcheon, a 61-year-old
Senator joined the campaign to be the voice of the party's right-wing. He had served as
Minister without Portfolio in Diefenbaker's government, and then as Minister of Trade and Commerce. He campaigned aggressively against "big government" and "creeping
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
". McCutcheon was seen as the candidate of
Bay Street
Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Stre ...
(Toronto's financial district). He used dozens of attractive young women in his demonstration at the convention (dubbed "blonde goddesses" by the ''Toronto Star''). He advocated a guaranteed annual income of $10,000 per adult as an alternative to the various social programs offered by different levels of government. He proposed a "made-in-Canada" constitution to replace the
British North America Acts and to guarantee the rights of Canadians, including language and cultural rights.
Alvin Hamilton
Francis Alvin George Hamilton, (March 30, 1912June 29, 2004) was a Canadian politician. Hamilton led the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan from 1949 until he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1957 general election ...
, the 55-year-old former Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources and
Minister of Agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...
in the Diefenbaker government, had stayed out of the leadership campaign while Diefenbaker dithered about running. He appealed to Diefenbaker loyalists, but remained in the race even when Diefenbaker decided at the last moment to seek the leadership again, and continued to call himself a Diefenbaker loyalist. Hamilton warned the party that the delegates to the convention were out of touch with the grassroots of the party, and presented himself as the main alternative to the "reactionary conservative" candidates, and was opposed to the "continentalism" of 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 ...
. His campaign used signed that portrayed a red-yellow-green traffic light with the slogan "Stop - Think - Go Hamilton".
Donald Fleming
Donald Methuen Fleming, (May 23, 1905 – December 31, 1986) was a Canadian parliamentarian, International Monetary Fund official and lawyer, born in Exeter, Ontario, Canada.
Life and career
Fleming was first elected to the House of C ...
had run for and lost the PC leadership twice already. Having served as
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
and then
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
in Diefenbaker's government, he had left Parliament in 1963, and had only reluctantly agreed to run for the leadership this time. His campaign had a promising start, attracting many Diefenbaker loyalists, but had fizzled when Roblin and then Stanfield joined the campaign. Over the two months leading up to the campaign, Fleming's supporters steadily left his campaign to join those of the two provincial premiers, and then to Diefenbaker when he finally joined the campaign. Fleming was seen as an old man who had little to offer but sound fiscal policy. He had been promised a large bloc of Quebec votes by Jean-Paul Cardinal, an organizer for Quebec premier
Daniel Johnson, Sr, but these votes failed to materialize. Fleming's campaign slogan was "Unite with Fleming". He had the support of many Diefenbaker loyalists, and was rumoured before the convention to have the support of Diefenbaker himself.
Michael Starr, former
Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...
in Diefenbaker's government, MP for
Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Gr ...
, and PC House Leader in the House of Commons, was considered to be the most loyal of the Diefenbaker supporters, and declared that he was running only because Diefenbaker was not. Many believed that he was just a “stalking horse” for Diefenbaker, i.e., trying to hold delegates’ support until Diefenbaker himself joined the campaign. Starr did not, however, withdraw when Diefenbaker joined the campaign, and even stayed for the second ballot even though he had won only a few votes. Starr did little campaigning prior to the convention because he said that he did not have the resources of the other candidates. He focused on meeting delegates at the convention, but by then, most of his campaign team, headed by future
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...
Erik Nielsen
Erik Hersholt Nielsen (February 24, 1924 – September 4, 2008) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the longtime Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Yukon, and was Leader of the Opposition and the third deputy pr ...
, had quit in frustration over the lack of organization, and joined other campaigns. Starr proposed a “wage and price freeze” to fight inflation – a policy that ended up as the centrepiece of the
1974 PC campaign, and replacing personal income taxation by a “trading tax” on goods and services – a policy that was implemented by the PC government of
Brian Mulroney in 1990. He also proposed that the ''
British North America Acts'' be brought back to Canada without amendments. During the campaign he suggested that Canada withdraw from the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, a comment that he later regretted and withdrew.
John MacLean was an unsuccessful PC candidate in the
1965 election who was the first to declare his candidacy for the leadership. The 40-year-old was the operator of a
Hertz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that o ...
car rental agency and
British Petroleum gas station in
Brockville, Ontario. MacLean had worked as a journalist for the ''Toronto Telegram'', ''Quebec Chronicle'', ''Ottawa Journal'', ''
Financial Post
The ''Financial Post'' was an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the publication was folded into the new ''National Post'',"Black says Post to merge with new paper". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 23, ...
'' and ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'' newspapers. In the 1965 election, he was narrowly defeated, receiving 10,066 votes (47.1% of the total vote), compared to Liberal candidate
Ross Matheson's 10,365. Maclean set himself up as the spokesperson for youth in the party, and ran largely in order to create a larger role for himself in the party. He was not successful in doing this: he failed to win a delegateship from his home riding of Leeds, and was also defeated for the PC nomination in the riding during the campaign by
Desmond Code
Desmond Morton Code (16 November 1912 – 19 January 1980) was a Progressive Conservative party member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was a construction superintendent and contractor by career.
He was first elected at the Lanark rid ...
, who was the sitting MP for neighbouring Lanark riding. He said that the party should declare a moratorium on tax increases, and aim to “squeeze” government spending in order to reduce taxes, and train a corps of military specialists for civilian emergencies in Canada and abroad. His speech at the convention also did not increase the party's respect for him: he spoke without a prepared text for only 12 of the 19 minutes allotted to him.
['']Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'' and ''The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' newspapers, August–September 1967.
Mary Walker-Sawka
Mary Walker-Sawka (born c. 1916)"Diefenbaker Blasts Party's Policy on '2-Nation' Canada", ''Chicago Tribune'', September 9, 1967 was a Canadian film producer,[North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...]
(NORAD);
* Canada should closely supervise its foreign aid programs to ensure that aid does not end up on the black market;
* all houses more than 20 or 30 years old should be torn down and re-built;
* Old Age Security payments should be increased to $100 per month;
* the education system should be modernized, and at least six languages should be taught in schools;
* the 11% federal sales tax should be eliminated.
When she was nominated at the convention, she had no seconder. Some time passed before a female Hees supporter seconded Walker-Sawka's nomination in order to save her the embarrassment. Walker-Sawka called upon the women of the party to stand with her. She won only two votes on the first ballot, and was dropped from the ballot.
The campaign
John MacLean was the first candidate to enter the race in January 1967. As an unknown, he was not taken seriously, and the campaign did not begin in earnest until George Hees and Davie Fulton joined the campaign. For most of the campaign, Hees and Fulton appeared to be the most likely winners. Stanfield's entry on July 19 changed the situation dramatically. Duff Roblin's entry on August 3 – a little more than a month before the vote—changed the campaign again as the campaign began to focus more on the two popular premiers. Support for Donald Fleming's campaign, in particular, began to decline as his supporters left to join the Stanfield and Roblin campaigns.
There was considerable pressure on Ontario premier
John Robarts
John Parmenter Robarts (January 11, 1917 – October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.
Early life
Robar ...
to join the race until he announced on September 5 that the province would be holding an election on October 17.
Going into the convention, it appeared that any one of four candidates could win: Roblin, Fulton, Stanfield and Hees. There were many uncommitted delegates, especially from Quebec.
The convention
Stanfield arrived at the convention with considerable momentum, but it was his speech to the Policy Session of the convention on the Tuesday night that made him the candidate to beat. Hees, on the other hand, delivered his speech to the Policy Session like a carnival barker, and made Hees victory unlikely.
Among the many rumours circulating during the convention was one of a deal between Stanfield and Fulton that whichever candidate won fewer votes would withdraw and support the other. Speculation mounted further about whether or not John Diefenbaker would let his name stand. There were rumours that he would step aside if the party agreed to drop its ‘’Deux Nations’’ policy. He also told Roblin that he would lead a walkout from the convention if it were adopted. In the end, this policy was confirmed by the party’s Policy Committee, and Diefenbaker stayed at the convention. Several of the candidates went to Diefenbaker’s hotel suite to try to secure his support, but in the end he joined the race at the last minute.
Diefenbaker spoke to the convention as out-going leader, and only decided to make a speech as a candidate -- a few minutes before he scheduled to on stage -- at the urging of
Erik Nielsen
Erik Hersholt Nielsen (February 24, 1924 – September 4, 2008) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the longtime Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Yukon, and was Leader of the Opposition and the third deputy pr ...
(Michael Starr’s campaign manager) and Joel Aldred. He spoke for only 8 of the 19 minutes he was allocated because he said that he did not want to gain an unfair advantage over other candidates by speaking to the convention twice in two days. He appealed to the party once more to reject ''deux nations''. Half of the crowd rose to applaud his speech vigorously. This was the warmest reception received by any candidate.
Stanfield’s speech was well-crafted, but lacked the spark that had made his Tuesday evening speech so effective. Hees and Hamilton provided the best speeches of the evening, but by this point, the die was cast.
The voting
Stanfield led on the first ballot, holding a solid, but far from decisive lead. Roblin was just barely ahead of Fulton in second place, with a clutch of other candidates following. Most significantly, Diefenbaker finished well off the pace in fifth place, effectively ending his chances of holding onto his position. Walker-Sawka was the first to be eliminated after getting just two votes, with MacLean faring little better and withdrawing through what he claimed to be a desire to keep the convention from "going too long." Neither of them endorsed any of the other candidates, though given the minuscule number of delegates they got, it would have made little difference if they did.
On the second ballot, Stanfield and Roblin were the only candidates to significantly increase their number of delegates, with the remaining candidates either holding steady or losing delegates, and most at the convention concluding that it was now essentially a two-horse race between the top two. What little support Diefenbaker still had collapsed on this ballot, with more than a third of his delegates deserting him, leaving it unlikely that he would even be able to act as kingmaker. Starr polled the fewest votes and was eliminated, with McCutcheon withdrawing and throwing his support behind Stanfield.
The gap between the top two, still Stanfield and Roblin, did not change on the third ballot. However, their support again increased noticeably, whereas Fulton's delegate count remained stagnant, ending any realistic hope of him winning the competition, as even if all the candidates who finished below were to endorse him, he could at best only hope to draw level with Roblin in the next round. Fleming finished last and was eliminated, and Diefenbaker experienced another collapse in support that left him with less half the number of delegates he started out with; knowing that he would likely be the next to be eliminated, and wanting to leave the contest on his own terms, Diefenbaker withdrew, bringing an end to what would ultimately prove the longest tenure of any Progressive Conservative leader. Hees also withdrew after his own delegate count slumped, and he and Fleming both endorsed Stanfield, with Diefenbaker instead endorsing Roblin (and in doing so, breaking the unofficial tradition that outgoing Tory leaders did not publicly endorse any of the contenders to succeed them, albeit none of the leaders prior to Diefenbaker had run to succeed themselves).
Though the fourth ballot still had Stanfield leading, Roblin was able to narrow the gap to the closest it had been percentage-wise throughout the contest. Hamilton, having hovered around near the bottom of the vote for the duration of the contest, was finally eliminated on this round, and did not endorse any of the other candidates. Fulton, whose vote had again remained static, knew that Hamilton's delegates would likely break evenly in favour of the two frontrunners, and that given he was certain to be eliminated in the next round and the gap between the remaining two was still narrow, he was now the kingmaker. He withdrew before the next ballot and ultimately chose to endorse Stanfield, effectively handing victory to the Nova Scotian, which was confirmed on the fifth and final ballot.
Aftermath
After the fifth ballot, although he had been abandoned by his party, and his preferred candidate, Roblin, had been defeated, Diefenbaker returned to the convention, introduced by the convention chairperson as “the greatest Canadian of our century”. Diefenbaker welcomed his successor, Stanfield, and appealed to the party to give Stanfield their “undivided and unconditional loyalty”. Diefenbaker continued to sit as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament until his death in 1979.
Because Stanfield was not a Member of Parliament, Michael Starr, who was House Leader for the PC Party in the house of Commons, served as
Leader of the Opposition until the 1968 election.
The election saw Fulton, Hamilton, and Starr all fail to be re-elected, while Roblin's attempt to move into federal politics also ended in failure. Diefenbaker successfully defended his Prince Albert seat, however, while Stanfield and Hees saw their previous ridings abolished, but succeeded in being elected in replacement ridings. Hamilton would later re-enter parliament at the 1972 election, while Roblin, after spending a decade focusing on his business interests, was appointed to the senate in 1978.
Stanfield became a well-respected figure in Canadian politics, but never became prime minister. He led the PC Party through three unsuccessful election campaigns against 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 ...
of
Pierre Trudeau in
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Janu ...
,
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
, and
1974. He is often referred to as "the greatest Prime Minister Canada never had".
''Sources:
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'' and ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' newspapers, August–September 1967.
See also
*
Progressive Conservative leadership conventions
The first Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was held in 1927, when the party was called the Conservative Party. Prior to then the party's leader was chosen by the caucus or in several cases by the Governor General of Cana ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
''Hail and Farewell''
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
1967 elections in Canada
Progressive Conservative leadership election