The Fatal Flaw: How Diefenbaker Blew His Historic 1958 Majority

Commentary John George Diefenbaker was the first Prime Minister of Canada (1957–1963) with a name and lineage neither British nor French. His grandfather, George Diefenbacher, came from Baden in Germany, although his mother’s side was Highland Scots. He had been mocked as a “Hun” during his youthful campaigns in Saskatchewan, so he knew what it was like to be picked on because of his name and race. And so Diefenbaker put himself on the side of the “little guy” and it took him along way. Among Diefenbaker’s accomplishments was a symbolic Bill of Rights (1960), which codified existing rights that Canadians had inherited from English law and did not undermine parliamentary or legislative authority and traditional constitutional law—unlike the injudicious 1982 Charter of Rights....