Have any PMs been Olympians?

No, they haven’t. But two came very close. Lester Pearson enjoyed a prolific and competitive hockey career, particularly during his years studying at Oxford, playing for Switzerland in the European championships in 1922. The following year, he was approached to play for England’s hockey team in the 1924 Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France. He turned it down, having just accepted a job as a lecturer at the University of Toronto.

John Turner won the national 100-yard and 200-yard dashes in 1947, ultimately running the 100 in 9.7 seconds. Then, in February 1948, he injured his knee in a car accident. He trained hard to run in Canada’s Olympic trials that spring, but collapsed on the track, ending his chance to compete in the Summer Olympic Games in London.

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How many Prime Ministers were editors?

Newspaper editors among past PMs were Alexander Mackenzie (Lambton Shield), Mackenzie Bowell (Belleville Intelligencer), Charles Tupper (British Colonist), and Wilfrid Laurier (Le Défricheur).

John A. Macdonald founded the Toronto Mail, William Lyon Mackenzie King edited the government’s Labour Gazette, Pierre Trudeau was heavily involved with Cité libre, Joe Clark wrote for the Albertan and various other publications, and John Turner edited his high school and university papers.

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Turner staggers his resignation

1990: John Turner steps down as the Leader of the Opposition and his interim replacement is Liberal MP Herb Gray. However, Turner continues to serve as leader of the Liberal Party.

It’s an unusual parsing of the jobs; no one has really passed the Leader of the Opposition role on to someone else in his own party before. Turner won’t resign as party leader until June 22 that same year.

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How many PMs have received the Order of Canada?

There have been eight.

Since the creation of the Order of Canada on July 1, 1967, only two former Prime Ministers have not received it. John Diefenbaker was still an MP at the time of his death in 1979; sitting politicians are ineligible for the honour. Paul Martin stepped down as an MP in 2008; presumably he’ll receive the recognition in the next few years. His father was made a Companion of the Order in 1976.

For the record, PM Companions have been Louis St. Laurent, Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell and Jean Chretien.

Interesting side note: Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party and a sitting politician, belongs to the Order. She received the honour before entering politics.

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Catholics predominant in past 30 years

Five of the seven Prime Ministers still living are Roman Catholics. Although, historically, most Catholic leaders tended to be French Canadians, that profile began to disappear by the late 1970s. Of the five living Catholic PMs — Joe Clark, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin — only one is French Canadian.

For the record, we have had 9 Roman Catholics (the others are Thompson, Laurier, St. Laurent, Trudeau), 4 Anglicans (Abbott, Tupper, Borden, Campbell), 3 Presbyterians (Macdonald, Meighen, King), 3 Methodists/Uniteds (Bowell, Bennett, Pearson), 2 Baptists (Mackenzie, Diefenbaker), and 1 Christian & Missionary Alliance (Harper) in the Prime Minister’s office.

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Job preparation is the law

Interested in being the Canadian Prime Minister? Consider becoming a lawyer. That’s the exactly the kind of job training two-thirds of the country’s leaders had prior to their shift into politics. Prime Ministers called to the bar were Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir John Abbott, Sir John Thompson, Sir WIlfrid Laurier, Sir Robert Borden, Arthur Meighen, R.B. Bennett, Louis St. Laurent, John Diefenbaker, Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell, Jean Chretien, and Paul Martin.

All five Prime Ministers named John were lawyers.

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Which cabinet had the most Prime Ministers?

The cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald in 1987-88 included John Abbott (Without Portfolio), John Thompson (Justice), Mackenzie Bowell (Customs) and Sir Charles Tupper (Finance).

The next largest collection of PMs-to-be was in the cabinet of Lester Pearson in 1967-68. They were Pierre Trudeau (Justice), John Turner (Consumer & Corporate Affairs) and Jean Chrétien (Without Portfolio, then National Revenue).

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Trudeaumania creates election win

1968 — In his first test since becoming Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau wins Canada’s 28th federal election, defeating the Progressive Conservatives under their new leader, Robert Stanfield.

Benefiting from a national attack of Trudeaumania, he attracts enough votes to gain majority government status. Other former and future PMs re-elected are John Diefenbaker, John Turner and Jean Chrétien.

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Diefenbaker’s Tories lose more than 90 seats

1962 — Prime Minister John Diefenbaker wins Canada’s 25th federal election, but loses the country’s biggest majority he acquired in the last election four years ago. He now faces a minority government after the three opposition parties all make impressive gains.

The Liberals under Lester Pearson double their number of seats in the Commons, with one of new successful MPs being Toronto lawyer John Turner, representing St. Lawrence-St. George.

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Turner second PM born in England

1929 — A son is born to Leonard and Phyllis Turner in the London, England suburb of Richmond. John Turner grows up to become the first Canadian Prime Minister born outside the country since Mackenzie Bowell 90 years earlier.

Like Bowell, Turner moved to Canada from England as a young boy. He was three when his father died and his mother moved back to her hometown of Rossland, British Columbia.

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