Doug Fisher
Encyclopedia
Douglas Mason "Doug" Fisher (September 19, 1919 – September 18, 2009) was a Canadian
political columnist and politician.
in Ottawa
, Fisher was born in Sioux Lookout, Ontario
, the son of Roy W. Fisher and Eva Pearl Mason, and worked at various jobs, including as a miner, before enlisted in the Canadian Army's 12th Armoured Car Regiment of the 12th Manitoba Dragoons during World War II
. He landed at Normandy following D-Day
and fought through northwestern Europe until reaching Germany
. Returning to Canada after the war, he enrolled at the University of Toronto
through a veteran's program and, after graduating, returned to northern Ontario to teach history at Port Arthur Collegiate Institute
. In 1948, Fisher married Barbara Elizabeth Lamont; the two later divorced. He entered politics with his upset victory in the 1957 general election
as a candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
(CCF). He won over Liberal
Cabinet minister C.D. Howe, the "minister of everything" in the governments of William Lyon Mackenzie King
and Louis St. Laurent
.
As CCF Member of Parliament
(MP) for Port Arthur
, Ontario
, Fisher was an active member of the House during the 1957-1958 minority government
. He quickly became knowledgeable both of parliamentary rules and personalities.
Re-elected in 1958 with an increased majority, Fisher was one of only a handful of CCFers elected in the general election
that returned a crushing Progressive Conservative
majority government
, led by John Diefenbaker
. The CCF, nearly wiped out, began to debate a relaunch of the social democratic movement in Canada by formally integrating the party with the Canadian Labour Congress
trade union movement. Fisher, along with the interim leader of the CCF, Hazen Argue
, resisted the transition into what was to become the New Democratic Party
, arguing against making labour too strong within the movement.
When the new party became a fait accompli, Fisher supported Argue in his bid to lead the NDP. Argue lost, and crossed the floor
to the Liberals. Fisher remained in the party and became an NDP MP, although he increasingly found himself at odds with the rest of the NDP caucus
, and saw himself on the right-wing of the party.
Economic pressures also ensued as MPs were not well-paid at the time, and Fisher needed to support a growing family. Offered a job by Toronto Telegram
publisher John Bassett
, he began freelancing as a political columnist.
After the 1963 election saw the defeat of David Lewis
, who had been Deputy Leader of the New Democratic Party, Doug Fisher became Deputy Leader.
Finding journalism more rewarding than politics, Fisher retired from the House of Commons at the 1965 general election
after eight years as an MP. He remained on Parliament Hill as a full-time parliamentary columnist. In the 1968 general election
, Fisher reconciled with the NDP, and attempted a political comeback as the party's candidate in the suburban Toronto
riding of York Centre
, but came in second to the Liberal candidate.
When the Telegram folded in 1971, Fisher joined the upstart Toronto Sun
as its Ottawa columnist. He remained a columnist for the Sun chain of newspapers until his retirement in 2006. With almost a half-century of his life spent in and covering Parliament, Fisher was considered the most experienced political writer in Canada. He had five sons: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Tobias. Matthew Fisher is a foreign correspondent
for the National Post
.
From 1974 to 1977, Fisher was head of Hockey Canada
.
Fisher was the recipient of the 2001 Distinguished Service Award of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians
, "presented annually to a former parliamentarian who has made an outstanding contribution to the country and its democratic institutions."
Fisher retired at the age of 86, due to declining health. His last column appeared on July 30, 2006. He died on September 18, 2009, only one day shy of his 90th birthday.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
political columnist and politician.
Life and career
The long-time dean of the Parliamentary press galleryPress gallery
The press gallery is the part of a parliament, or other legislative body, where political journalists are allowed to sit or gather to observe and then report speeches and events...
in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Fisher was born in Sioux Lookout, Ontario
Sioux Lookout, Ontario
Sioux Lookout is a town in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. It has a population of 5,336 and an elevation of 1280 ft / 390 m. Known locally as the "Hub of the North", it is serviced by the Sioux Lookout Airport, Highway 72, and the Sioux Lookout railway station...
, the son of Roy W. Fisher and Eva Pearl Mason, and worked at various jobs, including as a miner, before enlisted in the Canadian Army's 12th Armoured Car Regiment of the 12th Manitoba Dragoons during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He landed at Normandy following D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
and fought through northwestern Europe until reaching Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Returning to Canada after the war, he enrolled at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
through a veteran's program and, after graduating, returned to northern Ontario to teach history at Port Arthur Collegiate Institute
Port Arthur Collegiate Institute
Port Arthur Collegiate Institute was a Collegiate institute operated by the Lakehead District School Board in Thunder Bay, Ontario from 1910 to 2007. The building was designated a historic building in 1984 and is located at the west end of Waverly Park. The school's teams were named "PACI Redmen"...
. In 1948, Fisher married Barbara Elizabeth Lamont; the two later divorced. He entered politics with his upset victory in the 1957 general election
Canadian federal election, 1957
The Canadian federal election of 1957 was held June 10, 1957, to select the 265 members of the House of Commons of Canada. In one of the great upsets in Canadian political history, the Progressive Conservative Party , led by John Diefenbaker, brought an end to 22 years of Liberal rule, as the...
as a candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
(CCF). He won over Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
Cabinet minister C.D. Howe, the "minister of everything" in the governments of William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
and Louis St. Laurent
Louis St. Laurent
Louis Stephen St. Laurent, PC, CC, QC , was the 12th Prime Minister of Canada from 15 November 1948, to 21 June 1957....
.
As CCF Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Port Arthur
Port Arthur (electoral district)
Port Arthur was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1979. It was located in the province of Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Fisher was an active member of the House during the 1957-1958 minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
. He quickly became knowledgeable both of parliamentary rules and personalities.
Re-elected in 1958 with an increased majority, Fisher was one of only a handful of CCFers elected in the general election
Canadian federal election, 1958
The Canadian federal election of 1958 was the 24th general election in Canada's history. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election...
that returned a crushing Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
, led by John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
. The CCF, nearly wiped out, began to debate a relaunch of the social democratic movement in Canada by formally integrating the party with the Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Labour Congress
The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in English Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated.- Formation :...
trade union movement. Fisher, along with the interim leader of the CCF, Hazen Argue
Hazen Argue
Hazen Robert Argue, PC was a Canadian politician based in Saskatchewan who served in Ottawa for 43 years at various levels of Canada's federal government. He was first elected as a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member of Parliament in 1945 and ended his career as a Liberal Party Senator...
, resisted the transition into what was to become the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
, arguing against making labour too strong within the movement.
When the new party became a fait accompli, Fisher supported Argue in his bid to lead the NDP. Argue lost, and crossed the floor
Crossing the floor
In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...
to the Liberals. Fisher remained in the party and became an NDP MP, although he increasingly found himself at odds with the rest of the NDP caucus
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
, and saw himself on the right-wing of the party.
Economic pressures also ensued as MPs were not well-paid at the time, and Fisher needed to support a growing family. Offered a job by Toronto Telegram
Toronto Telegram
The Toronto Evening Telegram was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at both the federal and provincial level. The paper competed with the liberal Toronto Star...
publisher John Bassett
John Bassett
John White Hughes Bassett, was a Canadian publisher and media baron.Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he was the son of John Bassett , publisher of the Montreal Gazette, and Margaret Avery. Bassett attended Ashbury College and graduated from Bishop's University with a BA in 1936...
, he began freelancing as a political columnist.
After the 1963 election saw the defeat of David Lewis
David Lewis (politician)
David Lewis, CC was a Russian-born Canadian labour lawyer and social democratic politician. He was national secretary of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1936 to 1950, and one of the key architects of the New Democratic Party in 1961...
, who had been Deputy Leader of the New Democratic Party, Doug Fisher became Deputy Leader.
Finding journalism more rewarding than politics, Fisher retired from the House of Commons at the 1965 general election
Canadian federal election, 1965
The Canadian federal election of 1965 was held on November 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 27th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected with a larger number of seats in the House...
after eight years as an MP. He remained on Parliament Hill as a full-time parliamentary columnist. In the 1968 general election
Canadian federal election, 1968
The Canadian federal election of 1968 was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 28th Parliament of Canada...
, Fisher reconciled with the NDP, and attempted a political comeback as the party's candidate in the suburban Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
riding of York Centre
York Centre
York Centre is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1917 and since 1953....
, but came in second to the Liberal candidate.
When the Telegram folded in 1971, Fisher joined the upstart Toronto Sun
Toronto Sun
The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...
as its Ottawa columnist. He remained a columnist for the Sun chain of newspapers until his retirement in 2006. With almost a half-century of his life spent in and covering Parliament, Fisher was considered the most experienced political writer in Canada. He had five sons: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Tobias. Matthew Fisher is a foreign correspondent
Foreign correspondent
Foreign Correspondent may refer to:*Foreign correspondent *Foreign Correspondent , an Alfred Hitchcock film*Foreign Correspondent , an Australian current affairs programme...
for the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
.
From 1974 to 1977, Fisher was head of Hockey Canada
Hockey Canada
Hockey Canada, formally known as the Canadian Hockey Association, is the national governing body of ice hockey in Canada and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Hockey Canada controls a vast majority of ice hockey in Canada, with a few exceptions...
.
Fisher was the recipient of the 2001 Distinguished Service Award of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians
Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians
The Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians is a non-profit organization, established by an Act of the Parliament of Canada, the membership of which is composed of former members of the Senate or House of Commons of Canada.-History:...
, "presented annually to a former parliamentarian who has made an outstanding contribution to the country and its democratic institutions."
Fisher retired at the age of 86, due to declining health. His last column appeared on July 30, 2006. He died on September 18, 2009, only one day shy of his 90th birthday.