§ 1973 et seq.) A final parliamentary conflict was sparked by the suicide of Canadian Ambassador to Egypt E.H. Norman in the midst of allegations made by a United States Senate subcommittee that Norman had communist links. [53], The Tory campaign opened at Massey Hall in Toronto on April 25, where Diefenbaker addressed a crowd of 2,600, about 200 short of capacity. Two of three district court judges viewed the case as a "frontal attack" by the federal government on the State of Mississippi. With a lame-duck leader, the Liberals were ineffective in opposition. To the shock of St. Laurent staffers, who remained for the Diefenbaker appearance, the PC leader drew an overflow crowd of over a thousand that evening, even though he was an hour late, with announcements made to the excited crowd that he was slowed by voters who wanted only to see him or shake his hand. [98], The Socreds proposed an increase in the old age pension to $100 per month. [126] The new Minister of Labour, Michael Starr, was ticketed three days in a row for parking in the minister's spot. 2 (1987): 449–505. "[123] Tom Kent of the Winnipeg Free Press, a future Liberal deputy minister, wrote that though the Liberal record had been the best in the democratic world, the party had failed miserably to explain it. So far as the crowds mean anything, that posture is a brilliant success at one-night stands. [25], Diefenbaker was the favourite throughout the leadership campaign. A criminal contempt charge is punitive, or intended to punish the defendant for his or her behavior. The act initiated a greater federal role in protecting the rights of African Americans and other minorities. In fact, he had embarrassed Senator Douglas while playing a role in the defeat of the 1956 civil rights bill. [76] St. Laurent denied Opposition claims that he would resign after an election victory, and the 75-year-old indicated that he planned to run again in 1961, if he was still around. [98] The Socreds' election programme was based on the demand "that Government get out of business and make way for private enterprise" and on their hatred of "all government-inspired schemes to degrade man and make him subservient to the state or any monopoly". [104] He refused to be made up for the telecasts, and insisted on reading his speech from a script. The amended bill passed the Senate on August 7, 1957, by a vote of seventy-two to eighteen. In a 1960 ruling the Supreme Court upheld the commission's hearing process as constitutional and described the commission as an exclusively investigative body. As he had in previous elections, he spoke to small groups of children regarding Canadian history or civics. In 1965 the Voting Rights Act was enacted to address many of the enforcement problems under the 1957 act. [60] When reduced to the written word, however, Diefenbaker's rhetoric sometimes proved to be without much meaning. Brownell introduced legislation on these lines on 11 March 1956, seeking an independent Civil Rights Commission, a Department of Justice civil rights division, and broader authority to enforce civil rights and voters' rights, especially the ability to enforce civil rights injunctions through contempt proceedings. These transcriptions may contain human errors. "[74] He indicated that his campaign would open April 29 in Winnipeg, and that the Prime Minister would spend ten days in Western Canada before moving east. Nine cabinet ministers, including Howe, Marler, Garson, Campney and Harris were defeated. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which were ratified in 1868 and 1870 respectively, granted Congress the power to enforce civil rights with legislation, and it is this power that serves as the constitutional basis of the act. At Parliament's dissolution in April 1957, it had 23 MPs, from five different provinces. It lost in district court, but on appeal, the court of appeals ordered the district court to issue an injunction against the discriminatory use of a questionnaire and oral questioning to disqualify applicants unless complete records were kept and all questioning complied with federal law. The commission likewise proved to be an effective watchdog, and its reports led not only to a strengthening of the division but also set the stage for further civil rights legislation in the 1960s. They called for the reversal of the government's tight money policies, and for low income loans for small business and farmers. The Liberal Party had governed Canada since 1935, winning five consecutive elections. Harris indicated that no more could be returned for fear of increasing inflation. Minister of External Affairs Lester Pearson played a major part in the settlement of that dispute, and was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role. Major Acts of Congress. The Tories gained 29 seats in Ontario. [23] The Tories attacked Pearson for, as they said, being an errand boy for the United States government; he responded that it was better to be such a lackey than to be an obedient colonial doing Britain's will unquestioningly. [38], The institution of the welfare state was by 1957 accepted by both major parties. The Civil Rights Division was slow to mature. If we wanted to get away with it, who would stop us? [82] The strategy backfired while addressing children in Port Hope, Ontario. Judge Brown went on to discuss the long history of voting discrimination in Mississippi, which resulted in registration of less than five percent of adult African Americans. Civil servant and future Liberal minister Mitchell Sharp asked C.D. It asked for income tax exemptions to be increased to meet the cost of living, and a national housing programme to make home ownership possible for every Canadian family. 86) amended the Civil Rights Act of 1957 to strengthen the voting rights of African Americans. "[43] Diefenbaker referred to the conduct of the government in the Pipeline Debate more frequently than he did any other issue during the campaign. [51] Grosart appointed a national campaign committee, something which had not been done previously by the Tories, but which, according to Grosart, provided the organizational key to success in 1957. Sheppard, Steve "Civil Rights Act of 1957 To register to vote, for example, many states required that applicants take a voter qualification test. "[30] Late that evening, St. Laurent went to the Château Frontenac hotel for a televised speech, delivered before fifty supporters. [129], Even in reporting the election result, newspapers suggested that Diefenbaker would soon call another election and seek a majority. These two aspects of the bill would become the key sacrifices needed for a compromise with the Southerners. [111] Maclean's, which printed its postelection issue before the election to go on sale the morning after, ran an editorial noting that Canadians had freely chosen to reelect the Liberal Party. Last Update: June 23rd 2020 This facility allows you to display the current polling division under which you are registered. . [29] Diefenbaker toured a nation in which Liberal support at the provincial level had slowly been eroding. Caro, Robert A. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1987. [47] Liberals responded that with the country prosperous, there was no point to a change. In contrast to Diefenbaker's whistle-stop train touring, with a hasty speech in each town as the train passed through, the Liberals allowed ample time for "Uncle Louis" to shake hands with voters, pat their children on the head, and kiss their babies. [71] Diefenbaker was even more confident in public; after he concluded his national tour and returned to his constituency, he addressed his final rally in Nipawin, Saskatchewan: "On Monday, I'll be Prime Minister. 634) began a new era in civil rights legislation and enforcement after more than three-quarters of a century of congressional inaction. [83], St. Laurent and the Liberals suffered other problems during the campaign. The Tories had last governed Canada under R.B. Judge Brown issued a long and powerful dissent, stating that no state or nation "can survive if, professing democratic rule of the governed, it flagrantly denies the voting right through racial or class discrimination." 1957 Federal General Election - Library and Archives Canada The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, and the Struggle for Civil Rights. [58] He spent 39 days on the campaign trail, eleven more than the Prime Minister.[59]. The road of the Liberal party, unless it is stopped—and Howe has said, 'Who's going to stop us? The sixth week opened with a major rally in Ottawa, before St. Laurent returned to the Maritimes and Quebec, and the final week was spent in Ontario before St. Laurent returned to his hometown of Quebec City for the election. [44] St. Laurent initially dealt with the question flippantly, suggesting in his opening campaign address that the debate had been "nearly as long as the pipeline itself and quite as full of another kind of natural gas". "[54] The slogan, coined by Grosart, sought to blur Canadian memories of the old Tory party of Bennett and Drew and instead focus attention on the party's new leader. The Ottawa Citizen stated that the defeat could be attributed to "the uneasy talk ... that the Liberals have been in too long. [114], The Conservatives did well in Atlantic Canada, gaining two seats in Newfoundland and nine in Nova Scotia, and sweeping Prince Edward Island's four seats. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Howe was defeated by Fisher, and told the media that some strange disease was sweeping the country, but as for him, he was going to bed. [87] Liberal partisans interceded, and in the ensuing fracas, Hatton fell from the platform, audibly hitting his head on the concrete floor. The division initiated its first lawsuit against the Dallas County, Alabama, Board of Registrars in 1961. They were convinced that the public still supported their party, and that no expensive promises need be made to voters. It proposed cash advances for farm-stored wheat, short and long-term loans for farmers at low interest rates, and government support of prices, to assure the farmer a full income even in bad years. In early November, the Suez crisis erupted. [88] Hatton was not seriously injured, but, according to Newman, "the accident added to the image of the Liberal Party as an unrepentant arrogant group of old men, willing to ride roughshod over voters". Although neither senator was a particularly strong leader, it appeared that they had public opinion and Senate votes on their side. St. Laurent suggested that the Tories had performed badly as an opposition in the debate, and suggested that the public give them more practice at being an opposition. '—will lead to the virtual extinction of parliamentary government. Diefenbaker responded to this by delivering what Dick Spencer (who wrote a book on Diefenbaker's campaigns) considered his greatest speech of the 1957 race,[67] and which Newman considered the turning point of Diefenbaker's campaign. The Prime Minister argued that the cost of campaign promises made by the Progressive Conservatives would inevitably drive up the tax rate.