Cool; here's the Canadian version!
DESTINY FALLS ONE GENERATION EARLY
Canadian Version
Short version:
1911-1912:
8) Henry John Bennett (C-AB) – voted out
1912-1915:
9) Jean-Baptiste-Moise St-Laurent (L-QC) – died, natural causes
1915-1916:
10) John King (L-ON) – died, natural causes
1916-1930:
11) Rev. Edwin Arthur Pearson (L-ON) – voted out
1930-1944:
12) William Thomas Diefenbaker (C-SK) – voted out
1944-1951:
13) Sir Charles-Emile Trudeau (L-QC) – voted out
1951-1952:
14) Charles A. Clark (C-AB) – voted out
1952-1957:
13) Sir Charles-Emile Trudeau (L-QC) – stepped down
1957-1961:
15) Wellie Chretien (L-QC) – voted out
1961-1970:
16) Benedict Martin Mulroney (C-QC) – stepped down
1970:
17) George Thomas Campbell (C-BC) – voted out
1970-1975:
18) Phyllis Gregory Turner (L-BC) – stepped down
1975:
19) Paul Joseph James Martin (L-QC) – killed, plane accident
1975-1977:
20) Pierre Trudeau (L-QC) – voted out
1977-1978:
21) Joseph Harris Harper (C-AB) – voted out
1978-1995:
20) Pierre Trudeau (L-QC) – voted out
1995-present (mid-2001):
21) Joseph Harris Harper (C-NB) – incumbent
Longer version:
1911-1912: 8) Henry John Bennett (April 3, 1842 – April 29, 1925)
Bennett’s victory over incumbent PM Laurier led to Bennett governing with only a minority government, with which he proved to poorly govern and negotiate. Only 15 months into office, another election demonstrated the Canadian voters’ rejection of Bennett’s ineffective government. Bennett would continue to serve in parliament until his death. His son R.B. would become a lifelong politician, similar to Henry’s own career.
1912-1915: 9) Jean-Baptiste-Moise St-Laurent (September 18, 1839 – July 9, 1915)
Entering the office of Prime Minister at the age of 73, Laurent (originally a shopkeeper before entering politics) had been a longtime protégé of Laurier, whom had decided to step down as the Liberal party leader in favor of St-Laurent. As the UK entered World War I, St-Laurent sought to send volunteers to the front, but as the war continued, volunteer numbers diminished. In early 1915, the Military Duty Act led to widespread protests, with many English-speaking Canadians claiming the law protected French-speaking Canadians from military service. The riots and protests came to an uneasy halt when St. Laurent became the first PM to die in office since 1894, doing so at age 76 from natural causes (officially).
1915-1916: 10) John King (September 1, 1843 – August 30, 1916)
King was another longtime politician appointed to fill St-Laurent’s vacancy. King originally was a struggling lawyer from a small city in Ontario before catching a break with a successful run for parliament in 1891. Known for supporting compromise in parliament, the liberal party picked him to be St-Laurent’s successor in the hoes that he would quell the crisis over the Military Duty Act. King hurriedly worked to repeal the law, but the damaged still remained. At 71, King sought to retire from the office upon the conclusion of World War I. Instead, King spent just a little over a year in office before mirroring his predecessor’s exit. His biggest legacy was the passage of the Suffrage Act in early 1916 that greatly extended rights for women.
1916-1930: 11) Rev. Edwin Arthur Pearson (May 21, 1868 – September 6, 1931)
The liberal sought out a young face to lead the nation through its troublesome times. Pearson, age 48 in 1916, was the son of the Methodist Reverend Marmaduke Pearson, and followed in his father’s footsteps via becoming ordained in 1892. He entered parliament in 1906 and quickly rose through the leadership ranks. Pearson settled the conscription controversy through the help of Militia Minister Sam Hughes, and played a crucial role in the establishment of the Commonwealth of Nations after WWI. After leading the liberals to victory in 1919, Pearson personally met with leaders on both sides of the Winnipeg General Strike, culminating in the passing of the Military-Industrial Reform Act of 1920. The act alienated businessmen from the liberal party in Manitoba. After surviving an assassination attempt in 1921, and another federal election win in 1922, Pearson continued to campaign for lower taxes, made strong trade policies with the United States, and strongly supported humanitarian causes and organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross. He carried the liberals to victory once more in 1927. However, once the economy went into a tailspin, Pearson lost his bid for a fourth term in 1930, and died from pneumonia 17 months later. His tenure as PM is the fourth-longest in Canadian history, behind Laurier, Macdonald and P. Trudeau.
1930-1944: 12) William Thomas Diefenbaker (April 6, 1868 – February 12, 1945)
Diefenbaker began his career as a schoolteacher. He moved with his family to Saskatchewan in 1903 to recover from tuberculosis. Both Diefenbaker and his son John became interested in politics during the 1911 federal election campaigns, and his son convinced him to run for parliament in 1919. After Conservative leader Arthur Meighen stepped down, Diefenbaker unexpectedly won the leadership election. The 1930 federal election was a landslide for the Conservatives; they also won every seat in Manitoba due to Pearson’s unpopularity among wealthy voters there. Entering the office of Prime Minister at the seasoned age of 62, Diefenbaker had his work cut out for him. Within his first two years in office, several laws were passed to pull Canada out of the Great Depression, including the Unemployment Relief Act and the Farming and Mining Relief Act. In 1935, socialist Tim Buck was arrested for treason but was acquitted in 1936; he was assassinated in 1937 and quickly became a martyr for the far left. Following the advice of his son and several allies, Diefenbaker shifted attention away to expanding the rights of indigenous Canadians via the First Nations Civil Rights Act of 1938, which only increased Conservative approval in the western provinces. Diefenbaker led the Conservatives to victory again in 1934, 1938, and 1941. Upon the outbreak of WW2, Diefenbaker shifted focus to foreign policy, and, essentially, approach conscription in a way nearly opposite to how St. Laurent approached it. In 1944, with WW2 coming to a close, so did Diefenbaker’s time in office. In an election many saw as him giving up under the guise of a fight, the liberals regained majority control and Diefenbaker left office at age 76, dying less than a year later from natural causes. Diefenbaker’s tenure was shorter in length than Pearson’s by just 37 days. He has since developed a positive legacy, especially among Canada’s conservatives. His son John would follow in his footsteps and entered parliament in 1947, but John never became PM.
1944-1951 / 1952-1957: 13) Sir Joseph Charles-Emile “Charley” Trudeau (July 5, 1887 – April 10, 1965)
Many words can describe C.E.T., the gregarious and extravagant baseball-loving grandson of the mayor of Saint-Constant, Quebec. Beginning his career as a lawyer, the entrepreneurial Charles-Emile Trudeau developed much wealth by building gas stations across Quebec. Originally a conservative, Trudeau heavily disagreed Trudeau entered parliament in 1934. After almost dying from a heart attack in 1935, Trudeau began a legislative crusade on health advocacy, and was instrumental in the passing of the Food and Health Act of 1940. Upon the retirement of his longtime rival, W. L. M. King, Trudeau became leader of the Liberal party in 1943. Trudeau than led the liberal party into government in 1944 at age 57 and served with an agenda that tended to be slightly more centrist than many liberals liked. However, dislike for liberals was only worsening in Manitoba, with radical activist Errick Willis gaining a dangerous band of followers calling for Manitoban secession. After obtaining a minority government in 1947 and again in 1950, Trudeau lost re-election in 1951; the Liberal party lost every seat they had in the plains provinces. However, Trudeau was still popular enough within the party to maintain leadership, declaring after the election he would soon resume the PM position, as “I still have much to do for Canada.” 11 months later, Trudeau was back in 24 Sussex Avenue. He resumed passing center-left legislation (but, learning a lesson from 1951, also pushed for better connections – trade deals, highway projects – between the eastern and western halves of Canada) until his sudden retirement in 1957 at age 70. Trudeau died on the thirtieth anniversary of his 1935 heart attack from natural causes. Having served as PM for nearly 12 years in total, Trudeau’s legacy has been lasting, albeit mixed.
1951-1952: 14) Charles A. Clark Jr. (c. 1890 – October 2, 1973)
Clark started out in the newspaper publishing industry in High River, Alberta in the late 1920s. With his father being Charles A. Clark Sr., whom founded the prosperous weekly newspaper
The Times in 1905, the Clark family was very wealth despite behaving frugally. After meeting with Prime Minister Diefenbaker, shortly after the birth of his son Charles Joseph “Joe” Clark in 1939, Charles A. Clark Jr. decided to give politics a try. A traditional Conservative, his administration was unenthusiastic, and after being unable to regain power in 1955 and 1957, he retired from leadership, parliament, and politics altogether. His son followed him into the newspaper business.
1957-1961: 15) Wellie Chretien (c. 1888 – September 21, 1980)
When the elderly Trudeau announced he would soon step down from heading the government, the liberal party ultimately chose the boisterous and controversial Chretien to replace him. After over thirty years in parliament, the 69-year-old Chretien had developed a reputation for bullying legislator into voting his way, and was notorious for swearing. Knowing his political life was a stake, Chretien did his best to maintain a professional image. He ran a surprisingly decent ship, but as the economy began to lag, so did his approval, and the liberals lost power in the 1961 federal elections.
1961-1970: 16) Benedict Martin Mulroney (September 12, 1903 – February 16, 1975)
Originally a paper mill electrician with later a small repair business, Mulroney became a political activist after his medical insurance refused to cover an injury he received on the job in early 1952. He decided to run for an open riding election in late 1952, and won in an upset. The young, yet prematurely grey-haired politician was Charles A. Clark’s preferred successor. Determined to lead by example, Mulroney ran an unprecedentedly busy administration, actively campaigning across the nation to hear the concerns of every single province, both before and after being elected Prime Minister. However, after an unspecific “health attack” in February 1965, Mulroney became less active for a little while. Still, his administration focused closely on social prosperity and economic maintenance. The Thunder Bay Accords, a series of meetings with Manitoban, Quebecois, and Maritime leaders proved highly popular; with Errick Willis embroiled in several affairs involving sex and taxes, and the provincial economy in prosperity, the Manitoban Crisis Era essentially came to a close. Unfortunately for Mulroney, his attempts to “nip” the nation’s budget “in the bud” with a “slight” tax hike received major backlash, and he ultimately resigned as PM and from parliament in January. His son Brian Mulroney (born c. 1939) later became the Premier of Quebec for 15 years.
1970: 17) George Thomas Campbell (b. April 3, 1920)
Campbell always cared about law. Born in Montreal to parents from Glasgow, Campbell began his career in law as a barrister for The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in Italy. He moved with his two daughters to British Columbia in 1960 after his wife separated from him; the end of his marriage, and the 1961 elections, motivated Campbell to enter politics to promote family values. His meteoric rise from parliamentary candidate to PM candidate happened in the course of just a few years. Campbell won the 1970 leadership election as a dark horse candidate by portraying himself as the political newcomer needed to bring the party into the ’70s. Entering office 70 days before turning 50), Campbell successfully distanced himself from Mulroney. Unfortunately, his own attempts to attempt tax, plus a failed push for healthcare reform lead to the Conservatives being swept from power by a comfortable margin in December, just 11 months after Campbell had become PM. Campbell stepped down as party leader in 1975, but was later appointed to the Canadian Supreme Court, where he still serves today.
1970-1975: 18) Phyllis Gregory Turner (c. 1903 – April 18, 1988)
When the elderly Chretien announced he would soon step down from leading the Liberal party in 1967, the party ultimately took the unprecedented step of choosing a female to replace him. The 67-year-old Phyllis Turner was an economist-turned-politician whose husband, journalist Leonard Hugh Turner, had died reporting on a riot in Manitoba 1941. Keeping her husband’s name, she eventually was elected Premier of British Columbia over incumbent Lieutenant-Governor Frank Mackenzie Ross in 1956 and again in 1960 before election to parliament in 1965. While initially popular, Turner failed to lead handle the energy crisis of the 1970s, and was frequently ridiculed by the media for frequent gaffes. Alleged animosity toward Conservative politicians from Manitoba threatened to open up old wounds as well. After the liberals were forced into a minority government after the late 1973 federal elections, Turner attempted last effort to curb Canada’s debt crisis by calling for a tax plan that would increase tariffs and taxes on the rich. It Economic Reform Act passed in 1974, but the economy continued to slide. Remarks concerning the shipping industry that she made right after the Wreck of the
Northern Cloudscratcher incident (which left dozens dead) were seen as insensitive, and an attempt to pass an insurance plan failed miserably. In 1975, Turner lost a party confidence vote, and she promptly announced her resignation, effective August 30th. Turner returned to British Columbia, where she served as the Head Chancellor at the University of British Columbia from 1977 to 1985.
1975: 19) Joseph James Guillaume Paul Martin (June 23, 1903 – November 10, 1975)
A lifelong politician, Martin had always wanted to become PM, running for party leadership in every leadership election since 1944. Finally, at the age of 72, he obtained said title, albeit in the midst of numerous national issues. Ironically, his time as PM would be short-lived. Flying back to Ottawa from a Commonwealth of Nations meeting in London, Martin’s plane was struck by lightning as it passed through a storm. The pilot attempted an emergency landing as it approached Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland, but they came in too fast, and they sliced into the ground. The plane soon turned to its side a rolled twice before coming to a stop two-and-a-half miles away from where it had hit earth. Only Martin’s secretary survived, albeit with a severe injuries and several lacerations requiring months in hospitals. Martin, a far-left politician, has since been romanticized by liberals whom imagine his administration would have been one of lasting greatness had it not been cut short.
1975-1977 / 1978-1995: 20) Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000)
When he was a younger man, Pierre Trudeau had no plans and no will to become a politician. He saw how time-consuming it was for his father, and decided at university to become an academic instead. Fate had other plans. His 1965 eulogy at his father’s funeral led to widespread speculation that Trudeau, by then a law professor, would himself become Prime Minister someday. Trudeau found the offer “disgusting” as political campaigns “
a bad taste in [his] mouth.” However, in the late 1960s and 1970s, Trudeau’s advocacy for liberal policies, along with his support of Phyllis Tuner for leadership in 1970, lead to him being offered a position in Turner’s cabinet ministry. Trudeau reluctantly accepted. In 1975, enough friends and family members convinced Trudeau to become Martin’s successor. His dislike of the campaign and admittedly difficult time working with the House of Commons, though, lead to him losing the job to the Conservative leader. However, during the subsequent 17 months as opposition leader, Trudeau gradually “learned the ropes;” by the time he re-entered office, he was more than ready for the tasks waiting for him. Trudeau ended up becoming Canada’s longest-serving Prime Minister ever at just over 19 total years in office, breaking Macdonald’s longstanding record. Trudeau’s uninterrupted 17 years as PM have been somewhat polarizing. Supporters praise his intellect and his success in reforming Canada’s tax structure and liberal domestic policies, along with passing laws concerning air travel safety and nature conservation (such as the Environmental Protection Act, which sets limits as to where companies can drill for oil and natural gas, among other things). Critics of Trudeau, on the other hand, claim he was too authoritarian and supported the suppression of regional identities and cultures; more claim he is only popular and served as PM for so long was because he presided over a period of great economic prosperity. At 75, Trudeau lost re-election and immediately stepped down as Liberal leader, famously stating “my work here is done. He spent the last years of his life in his native Quebec with his longtime wife, Canadian actress Margot Kidder.
1977-1978 / 1995-present (mid-2001): 21) Joseph Harris Harper (b. September 20, 1927)
A man of humble origins from the province of New Brunswick, Harper became enamored with politics after Prime Minister Diefenbaker shook his hand at a campaign event in Moncton, NB in 1941. After spending some time as an accountant, Harper was elected to parliament in 1952 and slowly climbed the Conservative party ranks. He became known for having an aptitude for planning policy logically and meticulously. In 1975, right before turning 48, Harper won party leadership. His first time in office was controversial, though, after he attempted to make Canadians be taken more seriously internationally when he deployed troops to Jamaica to help oust the dictatorial reign of the social Von Herman, whom had seized the island in a bloody coup. While Herman was successfully overthrown, the incident was seen at home as “bizarre” “unnecessary” and “a distraction from other issues.” Despite actively campaigning, Harper lost re-election in 1978. He was convinced to step down as party leader in 1979, but continued to serve in parliament. Harper then survived political experts in a stunning comeback – he re-obtained the Conservative Party’s leadership in 1992, and defeat the longtime incumbent Trudeau in an upset. Harper’s second time in office has since primarily focused on economic management, farming innovation, coercion of foreign companies to do business with Canada, and ending province-level corruption and budget misuse. Harper, now in his seventies, is popular, but may retire soon.
(Disclaimer: as an American with little knowledge of how Canadian politics work, some processes and terms may be inaccurate. My apologies in advance.)