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John Diefenbaker dies at 83

Broadcast Date: Aug. 16, 1979

The Chief is dead. John George Diefenbaker, Canada's Progressive Conservative prime minister from 1957 to 1963, had a heart attack and collapsed at his Ottawa home today. In this special edition of CBC Radio's The World at Six, contemporaries of "Dief the Chief" pay tribute to one of the most colourful and controversial figures in Canadian politics. "He was a great human force who changed the history of the country," says Prime Minister Joe Clark.

Nowhere are more tears being shed than in Prince Albert, Sask. Many are openly weeping for the proud Saskatchewan son who was elected an MP in 1940 and represented them until his death.

John Diefenbaker dies at 83

• John Diefenbaker designed his own elaborate funeral. After lying in state in Ottawa, his body was carried on a special funeral train to Saskatoon, making stops along the way so people could say farewell. He was buried Aug. 22, 1979, on a hilltop on the University of Saskatchewan campus beside his second wife, Olive. Her remains had been transported from Ottawa, where she was first buried after her 1976 death.

• Many believe the funeral train was inspired by Diefenbaker's friend Winston Churchill. The former British prime minister's body was placed on a barge and floated down the Thames River. Diefenbaker borrowed the title of his funeral plans from Churchill – "Operation Hope Not."

• About 25,000 people filed past Diefenbaker as he lay in state in Ottawa. Thousands more turned out at all hours to see the special three-locomotive train during its 3,000-kilometre journey. Aboard were almost 80 people, including family members, Conservative Health and Welfare Minister David Crombie and representatives of the other federal parties. Also included were 38 reporters and camera operators. Diefenbaker's massive mahogany casket was in a specially converted baggage car.

• In Winnipeg, an estimated 10,000 people waited at midnight in a one-kilometre line to file past the casket. It made the trip draped in a Canadian flag and Diefenbaker's beloved Red Ensign. Winnipegger Don Young told Canadian Press he came "to pay my respects to the greatest Canadian ever born. He will go down in history." In Melville, Sask., an elderly mourner collapsed and died in front of the coffin.

• Diefenbaker's body lay in state for a second time, at the University of Saskatchewan. At the funeral, Prime Minister Joe Clark gave a moving eulogy. Diefenbaker, the perpetual campaigner, Clark said, "mainstreeted through life." He said his predecessor "opened the nation to itself and let us see our possibilities. He changed the vision of our country."

• At the funeral, 34 native people from the Mosquito Reserve pounded drums and sang in Diefenbaker's honour as a tribute to his contribution to native rights. In 1960, Diefenbaker gave native people the right to vote without losing their treaty rights and appointed the first native senator.

• Mary Greschuk, one of 8,000 mourners at the funeral, told the Globe and Mail through tears that it "was the end of a part of Canada. He stood for so much that was solid and good. He was a famous man but he never forgot that ordinary working people built this country."

• Some people felt the Diefenbaker-designed week of mourning was excessive. In a column in the Toronto Star, political commentator Larry Zolf called the funeral a "Las Vegas hurrah" and "pure and unalloyed idolatry." Zolf knew Diefenbaker well from covering him on Parliament Hill. Zolf said a plain Baptist service would have been more fitting for someone who prided himself on his connection with the common man.

• Diefenbaker's friends said his final years were lonely ones, especially after his beloved second wife, Olive, died on Dec. 22, 1976.

• For a detailed look at the life and career of John George Diefenbaker, see the CBC Archives topic Dief the Chief.

Also on August 16:
• 1969: The inaugural Canada Summer Games open in Halifax, N.S.
• 1980: Rev. Lois Wilson is elected the first woman moderator of the United Church of Canada. She serves for two years. In 1998, Prime Minister Chretien appoints her to the Senate.
• 1996: Lunenburg, N.S. is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The award states that the town is “the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America.”

John Diefenbaker dies at 83

Medium: Radio

Program: The World At Six

Broadcast Date: Aug. 16, 1979

Guest(s): Joe Clark, Robert Coates, John Diefenbaker, Glen Green, René Lévesque, Paul Martin Sr., Pierre Elliott Trudeau

Host: Bob Oxley
Reporter: Dan Karpenchuk

Duration: 9:40

Photo: National Archives of Canada

Last updated:
March 13, 2008