Canada: Diefenbaker’s Shambles

Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s government and his Conservative Party lay in shambles. Triggered by a bluntly undiplomatic U.S. note accusing Canada of reneging on its nuclear defense commitments, a rebellious Parliament shot down Diefenbaker’s minority government on a vote of no confidence. And then, as he faced an election on April 8. several of Diefenbaker’s key Cabinet ministers and some of his staunchest supporters turned against him.

Unresigned. In a shattering political week, Diefenbaker struggled desperately to save himself. Yet at every turn, his own inability to make a firm decision, either about nuclear weapons or even politics, worked against him. After two years of patient argument, Defense Minister Douglas Harkness made one last effort to get Diefenbaker to honor Canada’s three-year-old commitment to arm Canadian planes and missiles with U.S. nuclear weapons. Once again, Diefenbaker refused. Exasperated beyond endurance, Harkness resigned. It was, he said, “a matter of principle.”

Backed by a “Diefenbaker, resign” editorial in the pro-Conservative Toronto Globe and Mail, Trade Minister George Hees led a second palace revolt. Going to Diefenbaker’s Ottawa home, Hees asked him face to face to resign for the good of Canada and the party. Stung to tears, Diefenbaker refused, and set out to rally his strength. Loyal supporters whipped up the prairie-province backbench M.P.s, and there were cheers as Diefenbaker entered the House of Commons to answer no-confidence motions brought by the opposition Liberals of Lester B. Pearson and the funny-money Social Crediters. In a fighting speech, Diefenbaker lashed the Liberals and tried to get the Social Crediters to change their mind by offering to meet their conditions. But it was no use. In the final tally, 44 out of 46 minor party M.P.s joined with 98 Liberals to vote down Diefenbaker and his 108 Conservatives.

Party Asunder. At that, another Conservative newspaper turned against Diefenbaker. Snapped the Toronto Telegram: “This man cannot expect again to lead his country.” At a stormy party caucus, Trade Minister Hees once more urged Diefenbaker to resign, demanded at the very least a promise that Diefenbaker would not campaign on a platform of destructive anti-Americanism. Diefenbaker seemed to agree, but then in his first TV speech, he angered the Cabinet rebels all over again with statements about “loss of sovereignty” and “domination.”

For Hees and Acting Defense Minister Pierre Sévigny, there was only one course. Both men resigned. John Diefenbaker’s party was torn asunder; his government had not been able to pass a single major piece of legislation in eight months in office; some of his most powerful Cabinet members would, in effect, be campaigning against him. It was hard to see how his party could conduct a coherent campaign. Lester Pearson kicked off the Liberal campaign by announcing, “The people will now have a chance to replace this government with one which I feel confident will do a better job.” As of last week, Pearson’s chances were looking up.