Make Maurice Duplessis Conservative PM of Canada with POD of 1935. Bonus points for King staying till 1948 as per OTL. Make his PM-ship as long as possible.
Make Maurice Duplessis Conservative PM of Canada with POD of 1935. Bonus points for King staying till 1948 as per OTL. Make his PM-ship as long as possible.
Let's switch it to after 1948. Even as a Blue Tory, the thought of Duplessis at 24 Sussex during the war makes me queasy. Manning as DPM. A King/Duplessis match would be similar to LBJ vs. Marcos. Masters of Rovian politicking and unchallenged legislative gurus
It (a Duplissis government during WWII) would make for an interesting TL, if you like your AH to be very dark, a la 'For All Time'...
Duplessis in power for the 1950s Red Scare would be just about perfect, for the same reasons as above. But with fewer Nazis.
If it were to be 1948/9, it would Duplessis vs Louis St. Laurent, another native son of Quebec. (Mackenzie King had retired from politics in 1948 because his health was failing. IIRC he was about 80 years old by that point, and he died in 1950, less than two years later) That would be an interesting matchup, though by this point, Duplessis had been premier of Quebec for most of the time since 1935. And the Tories had swallowed their pride and the Progressive party to become the more familliar Progressive Conservatives.
The POD would have to include the Tories and Duplessis both being more willing to overcome past prejudices (or more likely to sweep them under the rug, at least in public) and joind forces. With the additional effect of marginalising the Progressive Party. (Or turning them into a 1940s NDP, as the third party that can occasionally toss a spanner in the works...) This can occur in say 1943/4 as the outcome of the war becomes inevitable and thus any (continued) opposition to the war becomes pointless. Duplessis and the Tories both want power. The Tories have been shut out of Quebec effectively since 1917. Duplessis more or less rules Quebec, and he doesn't like the Liberal Party much. Why not have Duplessis "take over" the Conservative Party, and lead them both into power? They'd get to be the ones who won the war. Quebec would have a voice in the government. The Tories would quietly toss universal conscription overboard, admitting that 1917 was an 'error'. Victory would be pretty much guaranteed. What could possibly go wrong?
Couple of thoughts. 1) pro-Empire Tories with anti-Empire Union Nationale would be ... interesting
2) the CCF was founded in '32 and won election in Saskatchewan in '44 (I'm proud to claim I'm from the home of the first Socialist government in North America). So the Progressives and CCF might work together/merge (staving off the 'P' of PCs and the NDP).
Personally, I just don't see Duplessis as PM. He was so focussed on Quebec (especially as his personal fiefdom), that I don't think he'd likely even be interested in the Federal stage.
Anyone know how his English was?