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| Saskatchewan Premier Jimmy Gardiner, a headline maker and farmers' friend |
Gardiner had an exceptionally long career in public life. In fact, he had two careers of almost equal length, from 1914 to 1935 in provincial politics, and from 1935 to 1958 in federal. In Saskatchewan he sat as a back-bencher, cabinet minister, premier, and leader of the opposition. In Ottawa he served as minister of Agriculture, minister of National War Service, and a leading member of the opposition.
What has impressed me most about the Ontario born (Hibbert Twp., Huron County, 1883) Gardiner, however, was the fact that he was a prolific writer. He wrote long detailed letters to both supporters and critics, explaining his policies with painstaking care. He put down his own longhand and texts of countless cabinet memoranda and speeches, and unlike most of his cabinet colleagues, rarely gave speeches drafted by others.
When Gardiner visited the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain, he reported his impressions in a long vivid memoir. He also collected the details of his son Edwin's death at Dieppe and produced a private chronicle that is both touching and admirable. He wrote three books that have been a well-kept secret publicly.
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| Ontario Historical Plaque honors the life of James G. Gardiner. |
One of the books, None of it Came Easy, was published in 1955 as the work of Nathaniel Benson, who did in fact prepare the final manuscript for publication after it became apparent that B.T. Richardson, the initial choice of author, would be unable to complete the work because of other commitments. The first draft of lengthy sections of that book, used as basic material by Benson, exist in Gardiner's own handwriting in his personal papers in the Saskatchewan archives.
Most fascinating for me, however, is book Number One. Before their careers have actually begun, unlike Gardiner, few politicians have ever set down so clearly their ideals and aspirations, enshrined in an autobiographical novel.
Most fascinating for me, however, is book Number One. Before their careers have actually begun, unlike Gardiner, few politicians have ever set down so clearly their ideals and aspirations, enshrined in an autobiographical novel.
The Politician: or, The Treason of Democracy, was written while 27-year-old Gardiner was an undergraduate student at Manitoba Teacher's College in 1910, four years before he contested the first of his 15 successful elections. It was edited by Norman Ward and eventually published posthumously in 1975 (13 years after his death). Many years earlier the book had been rejected as a novel by a publisher who did not understand its historical significance
While autobiographical, the work is typical of its time in emphasis on morality, on how virtue is rewarded and evil overthrown. But more importantly, it is Gardiner's own assessment of himself on the threshold of his long, record-setting career in politics. It is a unique document, extraordinarily revealing of a sensitive young man's view of himself and his world at a critical time in Canadian history.
As a key figure in the Liberal party at both levels of government, Gardiner's influence permeated the country's politics for nearly half a century. He was present at the founding of the Province of Saskatchewan in 1905, and participated in the exuberant period of western settlement before the First World War. His public policies helped to ease the ravages of regional drought and depression some 20 year later.
He held public office during two world wars, both of which witnessed strong campaigns for conscription which he passionately opposed. The nativist revolt in Saskatchewan in the 1920s led by the Ku Klux Klan, which he likewise condemned, contributed to his only election defeat.
Gardiner was a principled politician and that understandably, won him friends and enemies. First and foremost he was a party man, who believed that only through unremitting attention to the details of organization and administration could responsible government be assured
Throughout his lifetime he was a strong church and family man. He pioneered in the movement which culminated in the formation of the United Church of Canada in 1925; his home church at Lemberg, Sask., where he taught Sunday School for many years, was a union church by 1919. He married his cousin Etta in 1912, but she passed away five years later. He then married Violet McEwan, who had come to Lemberg to teach school and to play the church organ (the union resulting in four children). Son Wilfred would go on to become a Saskatchewan cabinet member.
On his deathbed, Gardiner was interviewed for several hours by Una MacLean, then of the Glenbow Foundation, Calgary. In those final days (he lapsed into a coma before interviews were completed) he was still talking enthusiastically about seeking another nomination.
Jimmy Gardiner died nine years before I came to Saskatchewan as Managing Editor of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. I regret never having met him, but his name was still household in those days, just not with my Nineth Street next door neighbor -- a man by the name of John George Diefenbaker.
The Gardiner Dam, Saskatchewan’s largest piece of infrastructure, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017. Located 25 kilometres north of Elbow, the dam was built between 1958 and 1967. Sixty-four metres tall and 5,000 metres long, the dam was officially opened in July of 1967 as part of Canada’s centennial celebrations, along with the Qu’Appelle River Dam.
Together, the dams created Lake Diefenbaker, a 225-kilometre long reservoir. The lake serves a multitude of purposes, including power generation, irrigation, recreation, wildlife habitat, and flood control. Because the dam supports renewable energy, the province also touts it as a means of helping to reduce SaskPower’s greenhouse gas emissions. Some 60 per cent of the population depends on the South Saskatchewan River and Lake Diefenbaker for water.
Its namesake, former premier James Gardiner fought a long time for construction of a dam on the South Saskatchewan River. But it wasn’t until after his political defeat in the 1958 general election that the project broke ground. A cost-sharing agreement was signed by then-prime minister John Diefenbaker, Gardiner’s arch-opponent, and the then-new premier Tommy Douglas in 1958. The dam opened in 1967. Fifty years later, the Gardiner Dam remains one of the largest earth-filled dams in the world. If built today, it would cost more than $1 billion.
While autobiographical, the work is typical of its time in emphasis on morality, on how virtue is rewarded and evil overthrown. But more importantly, it is Gardiner's own assessment of himself on the threshold of his long, record-setting career in politics. It is a unique document, extraordinarily revealing of a sensitive young man's view of himself and his world at a critical time in Canadian history.
As a key figure in the Liberal party at both levels of government, Gardiner's influence permeated the country's politics for nearly half a century. He was present at the founding of the Province of Saskatchewan in 1905, and participated in the exuberant period of western settlement before the First World War. His public policies helped to ease the ravages of regional drought and depression some 20 year later.
He held public office during two world wars, both of which witnessed strong campaigns for conscription which he passionately opposed. The nativist revolt in Saskatchewan in the 1920s led by the Ku Klux Klan, which he likewise condemned, contributed to his only election defeat.
Gardiner was a principled politician and that understandably, won him friends and enemies. First and foremost he was a party man, who believed that only through unremitting attention to the details of organization and administration could responsible government be assured
Throughout his lifetime he was a strong church and family man. He pioneered in the movement which culminated in the formation of the United Church of Canada in 1925; his home church at Lemberg, Sask., where he taught Sunday School for many years, was a union church by 1919. He married his cousin Etta in 1912, but she passed away five years later. He then married Violet McEwan, who had come to Lemberg to teach school and to play the church organ (the union resulting in four children). Son Wilfred would go on to become a Saskatchewan cabinet member.
On his deathbed, Gardiner was interviewed for several hours by Una MacLean, then of the Glenbow Foundation, Calgary. In those final days (he lapsed into a coma before interviews were completed) he was still talking enthusiastically about seeking another nomination.
Jimmy Gardiner died nine years before I came to Saskatchewan as Managing Editor of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. I regret never having met him, but his name was still household in those days, just not with my Nineth Street next door neighbor -- a man by the name of John George Diefenbaker.
The Gardiner Dam, Saskatchewan’s largest piece of infrastructure, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017. Located 25 kilometres north of Elbow, the dam was built between 1958 and 1967. Sixty-four metres tall and 5,000 metres long, the dam was officially opened in July of 1967 as part of Canada’s centennial celebrations, along with the Qu’Appelle River Dam.
Together, the dams created Lake Diefenbaker, a 225-kilometre long reservoir. The lake serves a multitude of purposes, including power generation, irrigation, recreation, wildlife habitat, and flood control. Because the dam supports renewable energy, the province also touts it as a means of helping to reduce SaskPower’s greenhouse gas emissions. Some 60 per cent of the population depends on the South Saskatchewan River and Lake Diefenbaker for water.
Its namesake, former premier James Gardiner fought a long time for construction of a dam on the South Saskatchewan River. But it wasn’t until after his political defeat in the 1958 general election that the project broke ground. A cost-sharing agreement was signed by then-prime minister John Diefenbaker, Gardiner’s arch-opponent, and the then-new premier Tommy Douglas in 1958. The dam opened in 1967. Fifty years later, the Gardiner Dam remains one of the largest earth-filled dams in the world. If built today, it would cost more than $1 billion.
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