Hazen Argue
Encyclopedia
Hazen Robert Argue, PC
(January 6, 1921 – October 2, 1991) 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
(CCF) Member of Parliament (MP) in 1945 and ended his career as a Liberal Party
Senator. He was the last leader of the democratic socialist
CCF, from 1960 to 1961. He was briefly a member of the CCF's follow-on organization, the New Democratic Party
(NDP), before crossing the floor in the House of Commons to become a Liberal MP in 1962 until his defeat in 1963. He was appointed, by Governor General
Georges Vanier
, on the advice of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
, as a federal senator in 1966. He entered federal cabinet in 1980, as the only Saskatchewan representative, with responsibilities for the Wheat Pool
. He became the first senator to have ever been charged with fraud, in 1989. The charges were eventually dropped, for health reasons, due to his year-long battle with cancer. He died shortly thereafter in 1991.
. His family owned a farm, which he worked until he entered the House of Commons. He was first elected to Parliament
in 1945
representing the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
(CCF). He was, at the time, the youngest MP, at the age of 24. When the party was nearly wiped out in the Diefenbaker
sweep of 1958
, Argue managed to hold on to his seat, and remained the only CCF MP from Saskatchewan. Party leader M.J. Coldwell lost his seat, and the CCF parliamentary caucus elected Argue as their House Leader. When Coldwell resigned as the national CCF leader in 1960, Argue succeeded him when he was elected leader at the party's last convention in the summer of 1960.
At the time, the CCF was engaged in a three-year plan to create a new party from the union between itself and organized labour forces as represented by the Canadian Labour Congress
(CLC). Both the CCF and CLC executives approved going down this route starting in April 1958. Argue, like many grassroot CCFers, were not convinced that this merger was necessarily the best route to revitalizing the party. As an organizing tool during this period, the organization was called the New Party. New Party clubs sprung up around the country during 1958-1961. On October 31, 1960, Walter Pitman
won a stunning by-election
victory in Peterborough
running as a New Party candidate. This gave credibility to the forces organizing to remodel the CCF along the British Labour Party model. Argue became a candidate in the race to be the first leader of the newly formed NDP at their August 3, 1961 leadership convention. He was up against long-time Saskatchewan Premier
, and CCF favourite-son, Tommy Douglas
. Douglas had the support of the CLC, its president Claude Jodoin
and CCF president David Lewis
. Douglas easily defeated him 1,391 votes to 380 votes on the first and only ballot. In his concession speech, Argue stated that, "No matter what my role is in the years ahead, I shall speak for you. I shall work for you, I shall never let you down." He remained in the party's caucus, in the House of Commons, for the rest of the year, having little contact with Douglas in those months.
six months later to join the Liberal Party
arguing that divisions were rife in the NDP and that farmers' interests were overwhelmed by those of labour. He was re-elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament
(MP) in 1962
but was defeated in 1963
and again in 1965
.
In 1966, Argue was appointed to the Senate
as a Liberal.
When the Liberal Party failed to win any seats in the House of Commons from ridings west of Winnipeg in the 1980 election
, Argue was appointed to Pierre Trudeau
's Cabinet
from 1980 to 1984 as Minister of State
(Canada Wheat Board).
In 1989, he became the first senator ever charged with misuse of public funds and fraud. The RCMP alleged that he used public funds to help his wife's bid to obtain the Liberal Party nomination in their Ottawa-area riding, for the 1988 Canadian federal election. The charges were dropped in 1991 by the crown prosecuter, because it became apparent that Argue was near death, as he was bedridden for most of the year with cancer. He died three months later in Regina, on October 2, 1991.
Argue is the only former leader of the CCF or NDP whose portrait is not on the walls of NDP headquarters.
In June 1988, The Ottawa Citizen began publishing a series of stories by investigative reporter Charles Rusnell that exposed Argue's use of Senate staff, supplies and services in his wife Jean's unsuccessful attempt to capture the Liberal nomination in the federal riding of Nepean.
Rusnell also exposed how Argue's relatives and friends made extensive use of his Senate travel privileges for personal travel.
A Senate sub-committee, struck to investigate the allegations, found Argue spent thousands of dollars on his wife's campaign.
The special committee also found serious irregularities in Argue's Senate-financed travel. An independent audit ordered by the Senate found Argue made roughly 85 false or inflated claims.
The RCMP began an investigation and on Nov. 15, 1989, Argue became the first senator in the Upper Chamber's 122-year history to be charged with a criminal offence related to the use of Senate funds. Argue eventually faced seven charges including theft, fraud, breach of trust and uttering forged documents.
Argue's case forced the first independent audit of the Senate in its history by then Auditor-General Ken Dye. It also ended the honour system by which senators had claimed their expenses since the Upper Chamber's establishment.
The criminal charges against Argue were dropped after he became critically ill with cancer.
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
(January 6, 1921 – October 2, 1991) was a Canadian
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...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
based in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
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
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) Member of Parliament (MP) in 1945 and ended his career as a Liberal Party
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...
Senator. He was the last leader of the democratic socialist
Democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
CCF, from 1960 to 1961. He was briefly a member of the CCF's follow-on organization, 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...
(NDP), before crossing the floor in the House of Commons to become a Liberal MP in 1962 until his defeat in 1963. He was appointed, by Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Georges Vanier
Georges Vanier
Major-General Georges-Philéas Vanier was a Canadian soldier and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 19th since Canadian Confederation....
, on the advice of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...
, as a federal senator in 1966. He entered federal cabinet in 1980, as the only Saskatchewan representative, with responsibilities for the Wheat Pool
Wheat pool
A wheat pool is a co-operative that buys grain from farmers.In Canada in 1923 and 24, three wheat pools were created. They were farmer-owned co-operatives, created to break the power of the large for-profit corporations, that had dominated the grain trade in Western Canada since the late 19th...
. He became the first senator to have ever been charged with fraud, in 1989. The charges were eventually dropped, for health reasons, due to his year-long battle with cancer. He died shortly thereafter in 1991.
CCF/NDP MP
Born in Kayville, SaskatchewanKayville, Saskatchewan
Kayville is a hamlet in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Listed as a designated place by Statistics Canada, the hamlet had a population of five in the Canada 2006 Census....
. His family owned a farm, which he worked until he entered the House of Commons. He was first elected to Parliament
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
in 1945
Canadian federal election, 1945
The Canadian federal election of 1945 was the 20th general election in Canadian history. It was held June 11, 1945 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 20th Parliament of Canada...
representing 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 was, at the time, the youngest MP, at the age of 24. When the party was nearly wiped out in the 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...
sweep of 1958
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...
, Argue managed to hold on to his seat, and remained the only CCF MP from Saskatchewan. Party leader M.J. Coldwell lost his seat, and the CCF parliamentary caucus elected Argue as their House Leader. When Coldwell resigned as the national CCF leader in 1960, Argue succeeded him when he was elected leader at the party's last convention in the summer of 1960.
At the time, the CCF was engaged in a three-year plan to create a new party from the union between itself and organized labour forces as represented by 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 :...
(CLC). Both the CCF and CLC executives approved going down this route starting in April 1958. Argue, like many grassroot CCFers, were not convinced that this merger was necessarily the best route to revitalizing the party. As an organizing tool during this period, the organization was called the New Party. New Party clubs sprung up around the country during 1958-1961. On October 31, 1960, Walter Pitman
Walter Pitman
Walter George Pitman, OC, O.Ont is an educator and former politician in Ontario, Canada.Born in Toronto, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1952 and a Master of Arts in 1954 from the University of Toronto....
won a stunning by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
victory in Peterborough
Peterborough (electoral district)
Peterborough is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1953.The riding's borders have differed slightly since its creation in 1953, but has always included most or all of Peterborough County and its county seat of...
running as a New Party candidate. This gave credibility to the forces organizing to remodel the CCF along the British Labour Party model. Argue became a candidate in the race to be the first leader of the newly formed NDP at their August 3, 1961 leadership convention. He was up against long-time Saskatchewan Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
, and CCF favourite-son, Tommy Douglas
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas, was a Scottish-born Baptist minister who became a prominent Canadian social democratic politician...
. Douglas had the support of the CLC, its president Claude Jodoin
Claude Jodoin
Claude Jodoin was a Canadian trade unionist and politician. He served as the first president of the Canadian Labour Congress from 1956 to 1966.-Background:...
and CCF president 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...
. Douglas easily defeated him 1,391 votes to 380 votes on the first and only ballot. In his concession speech, Argue stated that, "No matter what my role is in the years ahead, I shall speak for you. I shall work for you, I shall never let you down." He remained in the party's caucus, in the House of Commons, for the rest of the year, having little contact with Douglas in those months.
Liberal Party MP and Senator
Argue crossed the floorCrossing 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...
six months later to join the Liberal Party
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...
arguing that divisions were rife in the NDP and that farmers' interests were overwhelmed by those of labour. He was re-elected as a Liberal 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) in 1962
Canadian federal election, 1962
The Canadian federal election of 1962 was held on June 18, 1962 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 25th Parliament of Canada...
but was defeated in 1963
Canadian federal election, 1963
The Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...
and again in 1965
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...
.
In 1966, Argue was appointed to the Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
as a Liberal.
When the Liberal Party failed to win any seats in the House of Commons from ridings west of Winnipeg in the 1980 election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
, Argue was appointed to Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
's Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
from 1980 to 1984 as Minister of State
Minister of state (Canada)
A Minister of State is a junior cabinet minister in the Canadian Cabinet, usually given specific responsibilities to assist a senior cabinet minister in a specific area....
(Canada Wheat Board).
In 1989, he became the first senator ever charged with misuse of public funds and fraud. The RCMP alleged that he used public funds to help his wife's bid to obtain the Liberal Party nomination in their Ottawa-area riding, for the 1988 Canadian federal election. The charges were dropped in 1991 by the crown prosecuter, because it became apparent that Argue was near death, as he was bedridden for most of the year with cancer. He died three months later in Regina, on October 2, 1991.
Argue is the only former leader of the CCF or NDP whose portrait is not on the walls of NDP headquarters.
In June 1988, The Ottawa Citizen began publishing a series of stories by investigative reporter Charles Rusnell that exposed Argue's use of Senate staff, supplies and services in his wife Jean's unsuccessful attempt to capture the Liberal nomination in the federal riding of Nepean.
Rusnell also exposed how Argue's relatives and friends made extensive use of his Senate travel privileges for personal travel.
A Senate sub-committee, struck to investigate the allegations, found Argue spent thousands of dollars on his wife's campaign.
The special committee also found serious irregularities in Argue's Senate-financed travel. An independent audit ordered by the Senate found Argue made roughly 85 false or inflated claims.
The RCMP began an investigation and on Nov. 15, 1989, Argue became the first senator in the Upper Chamber's 122-year history to be charged with a criminal offence related to the use of Senate funds. Argue eventually faced seven charges including theft, fraud, breach of trust and uttering forged documents.
Argue's case forced the first independent audit of the Senate in its history by then Auditor-General Ken Dye. It also ended the honour system by which senators had claimed their expenses since the Upper Chamber's establishment.
The criminal charges against Argue were dropped after he became critically ill with cancer.