Jack Horner (politician)
John Henry "Jack" Horner, PC (July 20 1927-November 18 2004) is a rancher and former Canadian politician and Cabinet minister.
Nicknamed "Cactus Jack", Horner was born in Saskatchewan, the fifth child in a family of six boys and three girls. His mother's uncle had been a prisoner of Louis Riel's provisional government. His father, Ralph Horner was a failed Conservative candidate who was appointed to the board of directors of Canadian National Railways by the government of R.B. Bennett in 1931, and then to the Canadian Senate in 1933.
Jack Horner moved to Alberta at the age of 18 to manage a ranch purchased by his father and then bought his own ranch in 1947.
He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1958 federal election when the Progressive Conservative Party of which he was a member was swept to power with a huge majority. Horner was an avid supporter of PC leader John Diefenbaker. Also elected to the Parliament of Canada as Tories were his older brother, Hugh Horner and cousin Albert Horner. With Jack Horner's father, Ralph, still sitting as a Senator, four Horners were sitting in the two chambers of Parliament simultaneously. Another brother, Norval Horner, was elected to the House in 1972.
According to Jack Horner's obituary in the Globe and Mail newspaper:
- He presented himself as a friend of farmers, a foe of railways, an advocate of capital punishment, a critic of generous unemployment payments, an opponent of the right to strike in essential services, and at all times a staunch free enterpriser. He railed against any changes to the Crow's Nest Pass rate that might hurt farmers. He was alert to any threat of socialism, whether from the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, Opposition Liberals, or the Red Tories in his own party.
Representing the rural Alberta constituency of Acadia, he developed a reputation as a right winger and outspoken advocate for the rights of farmers and ranchers. He remained one of "Diefenbaker's cowboys" during the 1960s, backing his leader against the ultimately successful attempts to unseat him. At the 1966 Tory convention which changed the rules to allow a challenge to a sitting leader, Horner threw a punch at Dalton Camp supporter Roy McMurtry, and accosted Brian Mulroney in a hallway. He resented the leadership of Diefenbaker's successor, Robert Stanfield, describing him as "a very, very sad choice". Horner worked to undermine Stanfield's leadership through manoeuvers such as leading a revolt against the party's support for the Official Languages Act.
He was a candidate for the PC Party leadership at the 1976 convention. At one point during the convention, he knocked over an eavesdropping reporter. He finished fourth in the contest, and threw his support to Claude Wagner, who lost on the final ballot to Joe Clark.
Horner had even less respect for fellow Albertan Clark than he had for Stanfield, regarding him as a city slicker, and once giving him the ultimate rancher's insult by describing him as a "sheep herder".
On April 20, 1977, Horner shocked his constituents and many political observers by crossing the floor to join the Liberal Party of Canada, which was at the time deeply unpopular in Alberta. The next day, he joined Pierre Trudeau's Cabinet as minister without portfolio, and was promoted in September 1977 to the position of Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce. Diefenbaker described the defection by saying "the sheriff has joined the rustlers."
Despite his Cabinet position, Horner was badly defeated in the 1979 federal election that defeated the Liberal government. Horner placed second in his riding of Crowfoot, more than 20,000 votes behind his Tory competitor. Horner attempted a comeback in the 1980 federal election, but despite the return of a Liberal government nationally, Horner again placed a poor second in Crowfoot, winning only 4,761 votes, 1,000 votes fewer than he'd managed in 1979.
The Liberal government appointed him to the board of Canadian National Railways, where he served as chairman from 1982 to 1984. From 1984 to 1988, he was administrator of the Prairie Grain Agency.
He died at a Calgary hospital, leaving his wife, Leola, and two sons, Brent and Craig.