In Ottawa 60 years ago Wednesday, an unlikely hero took to the stage at the city’s Coliseum. He was 61, a loner and a man more familiar with Prairie farmlands than banking towers and hours. Canada’s Tory establishment feared and loathed him but that didn’t matter on Dec. 14, 1956 because the day belonged to John Diefenbaker.
“I have one love – Canada; one purpose – Canada’s greatness; one aim – Canadian unity from the Atlantic to the Pacific,” Diefenbaker told the convention in his afternoon speech accepting the party’s leadership.
It came after he, running for leader for the third time, …read more
Source: Ottawa Citizen
