Arthur Slade - John Diefenbaker

John G. Diefenbaker, 18951979.

Arthur Slade

Arthur Slade is the author of four books for young adults: Draugr, which was nominated for a Saskatchewan Book Award for Children and a Small Press Book Award in the U.S., The Haunting of Drang Island, The Loki Wolf, and Dust. He also penned the comic book Hallowed Knight, which was made in Saskatchewan and sold worldwide. His short fiction and non-fiction work has appeared in various magazines throughout North America and been broadcast on CBC Radio.

Arthur was born in Moose Jaw, raised on a ranch in the Cypress Hills of Saskatchewan, and further educated at the University of Saskatchewan (B.A. Honours English). He writes full time from his home in Saskatoon and spends a good portion of his year giving readings and presentations at schools across the country. Arthur may be visited virtually at http://www.arthurslade.com or e-mailed at art@arthurslade.com.

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John Diefenbaker

ARTHUR SLADE

AN APPOINTMENT WITH DESTINY

Copyright 2001 Arthur Slade and XYZ Publishing.

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisheror, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from Canadian Copyright Licensing Agencyis an infringement of the copyright law.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Slade, Arthur G. (Arthur Gregory)

John Diefenbaker: an appointment with destiny

(The Quest Library ; 9).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-9688166-0-6

1. Diefenbaker, John G., 18951979. 2. CanadaPolitics and government -19571963. 3. Prime ministersCanadaBiography. I. Title. II. Series: Quest library; 9.

FC616.D53S48 2001 971.0642092 C2001-940386-0
F1034.3.D.53S48 2001

Legal Deposit: Second quarter 2001
National Library of Canada
Bibliothque nationale du Qubec

XYZ Publishing acknowledges the support of The Quest Library project by the Canadian Studies Program and the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Canada.

The publishers further acknowledge the financial support our publishing program receives from The Canada Council for the Arts, the ministre de la Culture et des Communications du Qubec, and the Socit de dveloppement des entreprises culturelles.

Chronology and Index: Lynne Bowen
Layout: discript enr.
Cover design: Zirval Design
Cover illustration: Francine Auger
John Diefenbakers signature: National Archives of Canada/PA-130070
Photo research: Arthur Slade Rhonda Bailey

Printed and bound in Canada

Contents

Chronology of
John George Diefenbaker (18951979)

John George Diefenbaker as a child, seated, with his brother Elmer at his side. Someday I am going to be prime minister.

Im going to be prime minister!

T he Mtis man with the fierce, determined eyes was known to have killed at least a dozen men during the Riel Rebellion of 1885. He sat in the Diefenbaker house, a gun at his side. He was sixty-eight years old, but his hair was dark black. It had been parted to hide the scar from a bullet that had grazed him during the rebellion.

His name was Gabriel Dumont.

Young John Diefenbaker, just eight years old, couldnt stop staring at the stranger. Johns heart raced. He knew this guerrilla fighter had guided the Mtis to victory during the Battle of Duck Lake, less than twenty years ago. That battle had been fought only a few kilometres from the Diefenbaker home, staining the snow red with blood. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald ordered General Middleton to take the Canadian army by train to the territories and end the fighting. Over five thousand soldiers descended on Batoche, with Gatling guns and cannons blazing. The Canadian army won, Dumont fled to the United States, and Louis Riel, the rebel leader, was hanged. Fifteen months later the government issued a general amnesty to all the rebels, hoping to quell feelings of anger in Quebec over Riels death.

Young John couldnt believe Dumont was here right in their house. He had stopped by for a visit while hunting game. Everything about the man was intimidating; his size, his demeanor, his dark, serious eyes. He was part of history. John didnt know if he trusted Dumont, but he did admire him.

Dumont would be the first of many famous men whom John Diefenbaker would meet in his lifetime. In the following years, Diefenbaker grew to understand why the Riel Rebellion had been fought and recognized the problems faced by the First Nations people, the Mtis, and the less fortunate in Canada. But on the day Gabriel Dumont had dropped by their home on the prairie, John was still a child. A little frightened, a little worried, but sitting on the edge of his chair ready to pick up any new revelations about Canadas history.

William Thomas Diefenbaker, Johns father, was born in Ontario and never intended to move west. He was a short man, with a friendly face and well-trimmed mustache and the wide-eyed look of a dreamer. He also loved books and trained in Ottawa to be a teacher. His second love was politics: he spent his spare time in the House of Commons gallery watching the Canadian government in action. John A. Macdonald, Canadas first prime minister, was serving his last year in office. An election was brewing and William heard many grand speeches. The House of Commons lived for him, John Diefenbaker later explained, and it lived for me when I heard him recount the events he had witnessed and stories of the parliamentary personalities he had seen.