Robert James Manion (November 19, 1881 – July 2, 1943) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician who led the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Co ...

from 1938 to 1940. Prior to his leadership of the party, he served in

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Arthur Meighen Arthur Meighen (; June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and fr ...

and R.B. Bennett's cabinets. A Liberal prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Manion was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

in 1917 as a member of the pro-

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to Ancient history, antiquity and it continues in some countries to th ...

Unionist Party led by Prime Minister

Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known for his leadership of Canada during World War I. Borde ...

. After the war, he served as a Conservative

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

until his defeat in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

. In

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...

, Manion was elected leader of the Conservatives, which was shortly relabeled as National Government. Despite his pro-conscription stance in World War I, Manion campaigned against conscription in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in the 1940 federal election. Manion also ran on a platform of forming a wartime

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...

. In the election, the National Government lost in a landslide, keeping their seat count exactly the same as in the 1935 federal election. Manion also lost his seat of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and subsequently resigned as leader. Shortly after, Manion was appointed director of Civilian Air Raid Defence. He died in 1943 in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

Early life

Manion was born in

Pembroke, Ontario Pembroke is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Pembroke is the location of the administrative headquarters of Renfrew County, though the city itself is po ...

, of Irish Catholic descent, the son of Mary Ann (O'Brien) and Patrick James Manion. He studied medicine at

Queen's University, Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Sus ...

, Ontario, and at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

before settling in his hometown of Fort William,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, where his parents had lived since 1888. In 1915, he enrolled in the

Canadian Army Medical Corps The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Militia Medical Service was established in 1898. It consisted of an Army Medical Service (officers) and an Army Medical Corps (other ranks). ...

. Attached to the 21st Canadian Battalion, he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

for heroism at the battle of

Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

Political career

Manion was elected to the

during the

election of 1917 as a Unionist

(MP) for

Fort William, Ontario Fort William was a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Since t ...

. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

before the war, he supported Conservative Prime Minister

's pro-conscription Union government that was formed as a result of the

Conscription Crisis of 1917 The Conscription Crisis of 1917 (french: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also b ...

. Manion remained with the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

after the war. The new prime minister,

, appointed him Minister of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment in 1921. He spent most of the 1920s on the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

benches, except for a few months in 1926 when he served as a minister in the second Meighen administration, including the position of Postmaster-General. Following the federal election of 1930, the new Conservative Prime minister

R. B. Bennett Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, (July 3, 1870 – June 26, 1947), was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935. Bennett was born in ...

appointed Manion Minister of Railways and Canals. However, the economic crisis of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

destroyed the Bennett government, and Manion, with many others, lost his seat in the 1935 election. According to historian

Roy Piovesana Roy Piovesana (born 1942 in Fort William (Thunder Bay), Ontario; died Jan. 20, 2020Obituary
Blake Funer ...

, Manion's loss was partly attributable to his failure to cultivate his Fort William riding.

Conservative Party leader

Despite not having a seat, Manion won the Conservative leadership convention with backing of an "improbable coalition"Plamaondon, Bob, "A Compassionate Conservative", National Post, April 8, 2009. of Orange Order delegates from Ontario and delegates from Quebec. Conservative Party members hoped that his

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and marriage to a

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...

, Yvonne Desaulniers, would help the party in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

where the perception of the Tories as being anti-French and anti-Catholic

Orangemen Orangemen or Orangewomen can refer to: *Historically, supporters of William of Orange *Members of the modern Orange Order (also known as Orange Institution), a Protestant fraternal organisation *Members or supporters of the Armagh GAA Gaelic foot ...

had hurt their prospects. Manion entered the House of Commons through a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

in 1938 in

. Following his by-election win, Manion subsequently campaigned against

despite the fact that he had joined the Unionists in 1917 because he favoured the draft. Manion moved the Conservatives to the left and was criticized as a socialist due to his call for action against unemployment and his desire to, in his words, "bring a greater measure of social justice to all our citizens." He hoped to come to power due to the criticism the King government was facing after the brokerage of an agreement with the Union Nationale

Premier of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of t ...

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, anti-Communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, he and hi ...

in which he promised federal funds for unemployment relief in Quebec in exchange for the Union Nationale's support for the Conservatives in the federal election. The onset of

and the re-emergence of conscription as an issue in Canada stymied Manion's hopes. In the 1939 Quebec election the federal Liberals warned that the Duplessis government's support for Manion would lead to conscription, despite Manion's claims that he opposed mandatory military enlistment. The defeat of the government of Maurice Duplessis in

dashed Manion's hopes of building an electoral alliance with the conservative

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

. As well, his stand against conscription turned much of the Tory base in Ontario against the leader.

1940 federal election

King had promised Manion that he would not call an election due to the war but reversed his pledge and called a March 1940 general election taking Manion's Tories by surprise and unprepared. They campaigned under the name " National Government" with the platform of forming a wartime

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

. King and his Liberal Party were quite popular, especially after his government helped Canada recover from the depression. Therefore, the Liberals won a second consecutive landslide

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats ...

, the renamed Tories were unable to make any gains from their 1935 result, and Manion failed to win his seat, leading to his resignation as party leader two months later.

Later life

After his election loss, Manion was appointed director of Civilian Air Raid Defence. He died in 1943 in

Bibliography

Manion, Robert James. A surgeon in arms. Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, 1918.
*Manion, R.J. Life is an adventure. Toronto : Ryerson Press, 1936. *Naugler, Harold Adelbert. R.J. Manion and the Conservative Party 1938-1940. M.A. thesis 1966, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. *Piovesana, Roy H. Robert J. Manion member of Parliament for Fort William 1917-1935. Thunder Bay : Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 1990.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manion, Robert James 1881 births 1943 deaths Canadian recipients of the Military Cross Canadian Ministers of Railways and Canals Canadian military doctors Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian Roman Catholics Leaders of the Opposition (Canada) Leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Pembroke, Ontario Postmasters General of Canada Unionist Party (Canada) MPs Liberal-Unionist MPs in Canada Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Politicians from Thunder Bay