John Diefenbaker

The Right Honourable John George Diefenbaker, CH , PC , QC , BA , MA , LL.B , LL.D , FRSC , FRSA , D.Litt , DSL (September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the thirteenth Prime Minister of Canada (1957 – 1963). Born in Neustadt, Ontario, Canada, he received a BA in 1915, an MA in Political Science and Economics in 1916, and an LL.B in 1919 from the University of Saskatchewan. Diefenbaker married Edna Brower (1901-1951) in 1929. In 1953, he married his second wife, Olive Palmer (1902-1976), who had a daughter from a previous marriage.

Legacy

In 1967, the boyhood home of Diefenbaker was moved from Borden, Saskatchewan to Wascana Park in Regina, Saskatchewan. In 2001, the Wascana Centre Authority shut the site to visitors, and in 2004 it was moved to the Sukanen Ship and Pioneer Village Museum, 13 km south of Moose Jaw.

Related Topics:
1967 - Borden, Saskatchewan - Regina, Saskatchewan - 2001

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Lake Diefenbaker is named for the late prime minister. It is a reservoir on the South Saskatchewan River created following the construction of the Gardiner Dam. The television show Due South had a wolf character who was named "Diefenbaker," also after the Canadian Prime Minister. Saskatoon's airport is named John G. Diefenbaker International

Related Topics:
Lake Diefenbaker - Reservoir - South Saskatchewan River - Gardiner Dam - Due South - Saskatoon

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Airport in his honour. A planet in the BattleTech Wargame universe was also named after the late Prime Minister.

Related Topics:
BattleTech - Wargame

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Between 1993 and 2003 Diefenbaker was frequently touted as a "spiritual father" or symbol of Red Tory values or Progressive Conservatism espoused by the beleaguered PC Party and its membership. In his 2000 book In Defence of Civility, Tory strategist and leadership candidate Senator Hugh Segal notes that Diefenbaker "defined Progressive Conservatism as the ultimate balance for free enterprise, profit-making and economic growth on the one hand, and social justice and respect for the interests of the common man on the other." Many Red Tory PCs, such as David Orchard and Heward Grafftey, who were embarrassed or not enamored with the more recent PC prime ministership of Brian Mulroney, frequently referenced their own political traditions, values and stances to the Diefenbaker era.

Related Topics:
Red Tory - Hugh Segal - David Orchard - Heward Grafftey - Brian Mulroney

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Ironically, in his memoirs, Diefenbaker stated that he never really liked the Progressive Conservative name adopted by the party in 1943. In Volume One: The Crusading Years of his autobiography One Canada Diefenbaker states "From its inception as Canada's first national political party in 1854, the Party has been called Conservative. The name was changed under Dr. Robert Manion. In the 1940 election, Conservative was nowhere mentioned. The party became the National Government Party. Perhaps more important was John Bracken's demand in 1943 that the Party change its name to Progressive Conservative. The sense of these moves escape me. I have always preferred the name Conservative."

Related Topics:
Robert Manion - National Government - John Bracken

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