Robert James Manion
Encyclopedia
Robert James Manion, PC
, MC
(November 19, 1881, Pembroke, Ontario - July 2, 1943, Ottawa
) was leader of the Conservative Party of Canada from 1938 until 1940.
Of Irish Catholic descent, Manion studied medicine at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario and at Edinburgh before settling in his hometown of Fort William
, Ontario
where his parents had lived since 1888. In 1915, he enrolled with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Attached to the 21st Canadian Battalion, he was awarded the Military Cross
for heroism at the battle of Vimy Ridge.
He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons
during the conscription
election of 1917
as a Unionist
Member of Parliament
(MP) for Fort William, Ontario
. A member of the Liberal Party
before the war, he supported Conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden
's pro-conscription Union government that was formed as a result of the Conscription Crisis of 1917
. Manion remained with the Conservative Party
after the war. The new prime minister, Arthur Meighen
, appointed him Minister of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment in 1921. He spent most of the 1920s on the opposition
benches , except for a few months in 1926 when he served as a minister in the second Meighen administration, including the position of Postmaster-General.
Following the federal election of 1930
, the new Conservative Prime minister R. B. Bennett
appointed Manion Minister of Railways and Canals. However, the economic crisis of the Great Depression
destroyed the Bennett government, and Manion, with many others, lost his seat in the 1935 election
. According to historian Roy Piovesana
, Manion's loss was partly attributable to his failure to cultivate his Fort William riding. Despite not having a seat, Manion won the 1938 Conservative leadership convention with backing of an "improbable coalition" of Orange Order delegates from Ontario and delegates from Quebec.
Conservative Party members hopes that his Catholicism
and marriage to a French-Canadian, Yvonne Desaulniers, would help the party in Quebec
where the perception of the Tories as being anti-French and anti-Catholic Orangemen
hurt their prospects. Manion entered the House of Commons through a by-election
in 1938 in London
. He subsequently campaigned against conscription
despite the fact that he had joined the Unionists
in 1917 because he favoured the draft.
Manion moved the Conservatives to the left and was criticized as a socialist due to his call for action against unemployment and his desire to, in his words, "bring a greater measure of social justice to all our citizens."
He hoped to come to power due to the unpopularity of the King government and his brokerage of an agreement with the Union Nationale
Premier of Quebec
, Maurice Duplessis
in which he promised federal funds for unemployment relief in Quebec in exchange for the Union Nationale's support for the Conservatives in the federal election. The onset of World War II
and the re-emergence of conscription as an issue in Canada stymied Manion's hopes. In the 1939 Quebec election
the federal Liberals warned that the Duplessis government's support for Manion would lead to conscription, despite Manion's claims that he opposed mandatory military enlistment.
The defeat of the government of Maurice Duplessis in Quebec
dashed Manion's hopes of building an electoral alliance with the conservative premier
. As well, his stand against conscription turned much of the Tory base in Ontario against the leader.
King had promised Manion that he would not call an election due to the war but reversed his pledge and called a March 1940 general election
taking Manion's Tories by surprise and unprepared. They campaigned under the name "National Government" with the platform of forming a wartime coalition government
. The renamed Tories were unable to make any gains from their 1935 result, and Manion failed to win his seat, leading to his resignation as party leader two months later. Manion was subsequently appointed director of Civilian Air Raid Defence. He died in 1943.
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,...
, MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(November 19, 1881, Pembroke, Ontario - July 2, 1943, 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...
) was leader of the Conservative Party of Canada from 1938 until 1940.
Of Irish Catholic descent, Manion studied medicine at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario and at Edinburgh before settling in his hometown of Fort William
Fort William, Ontario
Fort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Ever since then it has been the largest city in Northwestern...
, 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....
where his parents had lived since 1888. In 1915, he enrolled with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Attached to the 21st Canadian Battalion, he was awarded the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
for heroism at the battle of Vimy Ridge.
He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
during the conscription
Conscription Crisis of 1917
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I.-Background:...
election of 1917
Canadian federal election, 1917
The 1917 Canadian federal election was held on December 17, 1917, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Canada. Described by historian Michael Bliss as the "most bitter election in Canadian history", it was fought mainly over the issue of conscription...
as a Unionist
Unionist Party (Canada)
The Unionist Party was formed in 1917 by Members of Parliament in Canada who supported the "Union government" formed by Sir Robert Borden during the First World War....
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 Fort William, Ontario
Fort William, Ontario
Fort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Ever since then it has been the largest city in Northwestern...
. A member of 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...
before the war, he supported Conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden
Robert Borden
Sir Robert Laird Borden, PC, GCMG, KC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911 to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office...
's pro-conscription Union government that was formed as a result of the Conscription Crisis of 1917
Conscription Crisis of 1917
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I.-Background:...
. Manion remained with the Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
after the war. The new prime minister, Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...
, appointed him Minister of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment in 1921. He spent most of the 1920s on the opposition
Official Opposition (Canada)
In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition...
benches , except for a few months in 1926 when he served as a minister in the second Meighen administration, including the position of Postmaster-General.
Following the federal election of 1930
Canadian federal election, 1930
The Canadian federal election of 1930 was held on July 28, 1930 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 17th Parliament of Canada...
, the new Conservative Prime minister R. B. Bennett
R. B. Bennett
Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years...
appointed Manion Minister of Railways and Canals. However, the economic crisis of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
destroyed the Bennett government, and Manion, with many others, lost his seat in the 1935 election
Canadian federal election, 1935
The Canadian federal election of 1935 was held on October 14, 1935 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 18th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government, defeating Prime Minister R.B. Bennett's Conservative Party.The central...
. According to historian Roy Piovesana
Roy Piovesana
Roy Piovesana, a teacher and historian born in 1942, in Fort William, Ontario, Canada, is one of three children born to Enrico Piovesana and Christina Brescia...
, Manion's loss was partly attributable to his failure to cultivate his Fort William riding. Despite not having a seat, Manion won the 1938 Conservative leadership convention with backing of an "improbable coalition" of Orange Order delegates from Ontario and delegates from Quebec.
Conservative Party members hopes that his Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and marriage to a French-Canadian, Yvonne Desaulniers, would help the party in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
where the perception of the Tories as being anti-French and anti-Catholic Orangemen
Orange Order in Canada
The Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and has lodges in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana, Togo, the U.S.A, etc..-History:...
hurt their prospects. Manion entered the House of Commons through a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in 1938 in London
London (electoral district)
London was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario.It consisted initially of the City of London, Ontario....
. He subsequently campaigned against conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
despite the fact that he had joined the Unionists
Unionist Party (Canada)
The Unionist Party was formed in 1917 by Members of Parliament in Canada who supported the "Union government" formed by Sir Robert Borden during the First World War....
in 1917 because he favoured the draft.
Manion moved the Conservatives to the left and was criticized as a socialist due to his call for action against unemployment and his desire to, in his words, "bring a greater measure of social justice to all our citizens."
He hoped to come to power due to the unpopularity of the King government and his brokerage of an agreement with the Union Nationale
Union Nationale
Union Nationale may refer to several political parties:*Union nationale , Canada*Union Nationale Rwandaise*National Union , Union nationale in French*Chadian National Union, Union Nationale Tchadienne, known as UNT...
Premier of Quebec
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....
, Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...
in which he promised federal funds for unemployment relief in Quebec in exchange for the Union Nationale's support for the Conservatives in the federal election. The onset of 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...
and the re-emergence of conscription as an issue in Canada stymied Manion's hopes. In the 1939 Quebec election
Quebec general election, 1939
The Quebec general election of 1939 was held on October 25, 1939 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada...
the federal Liberals warned that the Duplessis government's support for Manion would lead to conscription, despite Manion's claims that he opposed mandatory military enlistment.
The defeat of the government of Maurice Duplessis in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
dashed Manion's hopes of building an electoral alliance with the conservative premier
Premier (Canada)
In Canada, a premier is the head of government of a province or territory. There are currently ten provincial premiers and three territorial premiers in Canada....
. As well, his stand against conscription turned much of the Tory base in Ontario against the leader.
King had promised Manion that he would not call an election due to the war but reversed his pledge and called a March 1940 general election
Canadian federal election, 1940
The Canadian federal election of 1940 was the 19th general election in Canadian history. It was held March 26, 1940 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 19th Parliament of Canada...
taking Manion's Tories by surprise and unprepared. They campaigned under the name "National Government" with the platform of forming a wartime coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
. The renamed Tories were unable to make any gains from their 1935 result, and Manion failed to win his seat, leading to his resignation as party leader two months later. Manion was subsequently appointed director of Civilian Air Raid Defence. He died in 1943.