Robert James Manion (November 19, 1881 – July 2, 1943) was a

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politician who led the Conservative Party of Canada from 1938 to 1940. Prior to his leadership of the party, he served in

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Arthur Meighen Arthur Meighen (; June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and fro ...

and R.B. Bennett's cabinets. A

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prior to

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, Manion was elected to the

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as a member of the pro- conscription Unionist Party led by Prime Minister

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. After the war, he served as a Conservative

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until his defeat in 1935. In 1938, Manion was elected leader of the Conservatives, which was shortly relabeled as National Government. Despite his pro-conscription stance in World War I, Manion campaigned against conscription in

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in the 1940 federal election. Manion also ran on a platform of forming a wartime coalition

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. In the election, the National Government lost in a landslide, keeping their seat count exactly the same as in the 1935 federal election. Manion also lost his seat of

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, and subsequently resigned as leader. Shortly after, Manion was appointed director of Civilian Air Raid Defence. He died in 1943 in Ottawa.

Early life

Manion was born in Pembroke, Ontario, of Irish Catholic descent, the son of Mary Ann (O'Brien) and Patrick James Manion. He studied medicine at

Queen's University, Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Sus ...

, Ontario, and at the

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before settling in his hometown of Fort William,

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, where his parents had lived since 1888. In 1915, he enrolled in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Attached to the 21st Canadian Battalion, he was awarded the

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for heroism at the battle of

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Political career

Manion was elected to the

during the conscription election of 1917 as a Unionist

(MP) for Fort William, Ontario. A member of the

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before the war, he supported Conservative Prime Minister

's pro-conscription Union government that was formed as a result of the Conscription Crisis of 1917. Manion remained with the Conservative Party after the war. The new prime minister,

, appointed him Minister of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment in 1921. He spent most of the 1920s on the

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benches, except for a few months in 1926 when he served as a minister in the second Meighen administration, including the position of Postmaster-General. Following the federal election of 1930, the new Conservative Prime minister R. B. Bennett appointed Manion Minister of Railways and Canals. However, the economic crisis of the Great Depression destroyed the Bennett government, and Manion, with many others, lost his seat in the 1935 election. According to historian Roy Piovesana, Manion's loss was partly attributable to his failure to cultivate his Fort William riding.

Conservative Party leader

Despite not having a seat, Manion won the Conservative leadership convention with backing of an "improbable coalition"Plamaondon, Bob, "A Compassionate Conservative", National Post, April 8, 2009. of Orange Order delegates from Ontario and delegates from Quebec. Conservative Party members hoped that his

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and marriage to a French-Canadian, Yvonne Desaulniers, would help the party in

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where the perception of the Tories as being anti-French and anti-Catholic Orangemen had hurt their prospects. Manion entered the House of Commons through a

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 ...

in 1938 in

. Following his by-election win, Manion subsequently campaigned against conscription despite the fact that he had joined the Unionists in 1917 because he favoured the draft. Manion moved the Conservatives to the left and was criticized as a socialist due to his call for action against unemployment and his desire to, in his words, "bring a greater measure of social justice to all our citizens." He hoped to come to power due to the criticism the King government was facing after the brokerage of an agreement with the Union Nationale

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Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, anti-Communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, he and hi ...

in which he promised federal funds for unemployment relief in Quebec in exchange for the Union Nationale's support for the Conservatives in the federal election. The onset of

and the re-emergence of conscription as an issue in Canada stymied Manion's hopes. In the 1939 Quebec election the federal Liberals warned that the Duplessis government's support for Manion would lead to conscription, despite Manion's claims that he opposed mandatory military enlistment. The defeat of the government of Maurice Duplessis in

dashed Manion's hopes of building an electoral alliance with the conservative premier. As well, his stand against conscription turned much of the Tory base in Ontario against the leader.

1940 federal election

King had promised Manion that he would not call an election due to the war but reversed his pledge and called a March 1940 general election taking Manion's Tories by surprise and unprepared. They campaigned under the name " National Government" with the platform of forming a wartime coalition government. King and his Liberal Party were quite popular, especially after his government helped Canada recover from the depression. Therefore, the Liberals won a second consecutive landslide majority government, the renamed Tories were unable to make any gains from their 1935 result, and Manion failed to win his seat, leading to his resignation as party leader two months later.

Later life

After his election loss, Manion was appointed director of Civilian Air Raid Defence. He died in 1943 in Ottawa.

Bibliography

Manion, Robert James. A surgeon in arms. Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, 1918.
*Manion, R.J. Life is an adventure. Toronto : Ryerson Press, 1936. *Naugler, Harold Adelbert. R.J. Manion and the Conservative Party 1938-1940. M.A. thesis 1966, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. *Piovesana, Roy H. Robert J. Manion member of Parliament for Fort William 1917-1935. Thunder Bay : Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 1990.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manion, Robert James 1881 births 1943 deaths Canadian recipients of the Military Cross Canadian Ministers of Railways and Canals Canadian military doctors Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian Roman Catholics Leaders of the Opposition (Canada) Leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Pembroke, Ontario Postmasters General of Canada Unionist Party (Canada) MPs Liberal-Unionist MPs in Canada Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Politicians from Thunder Bay