AHC: John Diefenbaker wins 1967 leadership review

In his book Big Blue Machine, Patrick Boyer says that it took considerable effort to draft Roblin and Stanfield into the contest. Anti-Dief forces feared without a premier in the race, against former ministers like Fulton and Hees, Dief would win the convention and settle leadership till after the next election. So let's say either Roblin and Stanfield don't enter - Stanfield had just won a provincial election and said he would serve out his term. Robarts is in an election year and has no interest in federal politics. Alternately, Dalton Camp loses the party presidency to Diefenbaker loyalist Arthur Mahoney (he won by 566-502 IOTL) in 1966 and there's no review. How would the Liberal race be impacted if Diefenbaker is Tory leader?
 
Minor correction. The Dief loyalist was named Arthur Maloney, not Mahoney. He was also the lawyer who defended Keith Richards on drug charges in Toronto in the late '70s.
 
In his book Big Blue Machine, Patrick Boyer says that it took considerable effort to draft Roblin and Stanfield into the contest. Anti-Dief forces feared without a premier in the race, against former ministers like Fulton and Hees, Dief would win the convention and settle leadership till after the next election. So let's say either Roblin and Stanfield don't enter - Stanfield had just won a provincial election and said he would serve out his term. Robarts is in an election year and has no interest in federal politics. Alternately, Dalton Camp loses the party presidency to Diefenbaker loyalist Arthur Mahoney (he won by 566-502 IOTL) in 1966 and there's no review. How would the Liberal race be impacted if Diefenbaker is Tory leader?

I'd say with someone as tired as Dief and I'd expect many to still remember Avro Arrow, 1968 will be an even larger Liberal victory.

Of course, butterflies from this may mean that Trudeau doesn't announce, and that alters all Canadian politics. If Trudeau does run, he will win no matter what thanks to his charisma and the youth vote, but if he does not, we get Winters or something.
 
Off the top of my head I can't think of a way to satisfy the challenge, but in terms of butterflies I think Pearson would stick on and fight the '68 election. If I remember correctly part of the reason he retired was that the Stanfield-led PCs were beating him in opinion polls, which I don't think would occur under Diefenbaker.
 
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