Robert Stanfield

Plaque in memory of Robert Stanfield at Halifax Stanfield International Airport

Robert Lorne Stanfield , PC , QC (born April 11, 1914 in Truro , Nova Scotia , † December 16, 2003 in Ottawa , Ontario ) was a Canadian politician .

biography

Promotion to Prime Minister of Nova Scotia

Stanfield, son of Lieutenant-Governor (Lieutenant-Governor) of Nova Scotia from 1930 to 1931, Frank Stanfield , served during the Second World War from 1942 to 1945 as an employee of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board in Halifax .

He began his political career in 1947 when he became president of the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia , while this was not represented in the Nova Scotia House of Representatives . In 1948 he became chairman of the Progressive Conservative Association in the province and began to reorganize the party after the poor performance in the provincial election of October 23, 1945. In the following election on June 9, 1949 and May 26, 1953, he was able to increase the number of mandates to initially 8 and then to 13.

In the election of October 30, 1956, the Progressive Conservative Association for the first time in 23 years with 24 representatives again more representatives in the House of Representatives than the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. On November 20, 1956, Stanfield was then Prime Minister of Nova Scotia and also took over the offices of Treasurer and Minister of Education.

In the subsequent provincial elections in 1960, 1963 and 1967, his party was able to expand its supremacy in the House of Representatives and most recently had a majority of 40 of the 46 seats in parliament. During his tenure as Prime Minister, which lasted until September 13, 1967, he carried out extensive programs in the areas of education, health, welfare and highway construction. His successor as Prime Minister George Isaac Smith and Speaker of Parliament Harvey Veniot were among his most important political opponents during this period .

On September 13, 1967, he resigned as Prime Minister of Nova Scotia, handing this office over to his fellow party member George Isaac Smith.

Party leader and opponent of Trudeau

Four days earlier, on September 9, 1967, he was elected to succeed former Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker as chairman of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC) . Stanfield, however, was faced with a deep split in the party that had arisen after the forced resignation of John Diefenbaker. Shortly thereafter, he was at a by-election (by-election) for members of the Canadian House of Commons voted.

As party leader, Stanfield saw the need to regain the confidence of the Francophones . The progressive conservatives also began to move away from mercantilist economic policies and embark on a neoliberal course. However, Stanfield did not succeed in helping his party to an election victory. As an opposition leader, he constantly attacked Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's economic policy . However, his slow speech, which was contrary to his sharp mind, did not lead to widespread popularity in national politics, nor did his often clumsy public appearances, such as at a football game during the 1974 election campaign Trudeau said that the Progressive Conservative Party during his time as party leader in the elections to the House of Commons in 1968 , 1972 and 1974 was always clearly defeated by Trudeau's Liberal Party of Canada . Nonetheless, he was widely regarded as "the best prime minister Canada never had."

On February 22, 1976, he finally resigned as chairman of the PC, handing the office over to his former assistant, young MP Joe Clark . In the 1979 general election , Stanfield decided not to run again and initially largely withdrew from politics.

Later, however, he was chairman of the Institute for Research on Public Policy between 1983 and 1987 and subsequently of the Commonwealth Foundation from 1987 to 1991 . In the last few years of his life, Stanfield was seen as the conscience of the progressive conservatives, particularly because of his progressive or "red" views on social issues .

After his death, he was buried in Camp Hill Cemetery in Halifax. In 2005 Halifax International Airport was renamed Halifax Stanfield International Airport in his honor .

Web links

• Robert Stanfield - biographical information on the website of the Canadian Parliament (English)
• Entry on rulers.org