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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 12:44 AM
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The Best Prime Minister We Never Had

Who would have made a great PM but never got the chance? What would have made them good leaders? What would have been different about Canadian history?

A few that come to mind would be Tommy Douglas, Preston Manning, maybe JS Woodsworth, Robert Stanfield, Paul Martin, Sr (the ideological opposite of his son), Jack Layton...
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 12:46 AM
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Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan View Post
Who would have made a great PM but never got the chance? What would have made them good leaders? What would have been different about Canadian history?

A few that come to mind would be Tommy Douglas, Preston Manning, maybe JS Woodsworth, Robert Stanfield, Paul Martin, Sr, Jack Layton...
Joe Clark, though he was PM for a short time. Never got a chance to do much.
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 12:49 AM
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Think Preston Manning would've been a good PM in that time frame, wouldn't work in todays world but at the time would've loved to see the tax reforms he would've implemented.
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 12:57 AM
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If Rona Ambrose leaves politics after her stint as interim leader of the Conservatives, I'd say she falls into this category.

The "best PM we never had" label is often given to strong-performing NDP leaders. Like Tommy Douglas, Jack Layton, Gary Doer, Stephen Lewis, etc.
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 1:10 AM
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It's kinda nuts to think that the Liberals went almost 120 years between Edward Blake and Stephane Dion. Every leader in between those two became PM (apart from interim leaders like Herb Gray or Bill Graham).
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 1:36 AM
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Paul Martin Jr, the Finance Minister would have been a great leader ... not sure what Paul Martin the PM did with him??
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 2:13 AM
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Joe Clark, though he was PM for a short time. Never got a chance to do much.
Along the same lines I think Kim Campbell would have been pretty good, if she wasn't hung by the mistakes of Mulroney.
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 3:13 AM
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In a similar vein, I feel as if Canada's public finances would have been in a much sounder footing before the reckoning of the early 90s if John Turner had been able to take over for Trudeau around the same time he resigned as Finance Minister in the mid-70s. He might have been a decent PM, but by the time he had the grenade of being PM dropped in his lap, he was too out of touch with the electorate and the party too damaged.

Then again, that would put everything Trudeau did in his last term, like patriation and the Charter, up in the air.
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 3:16 AM
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Along the same lines I think Kim Campbell would have been pretty good, if she wasn't hung by the mistakes of Mulroney.
One thing about Campbell is that she actually had a fairly good honeymoon right after winning the PC leadership, and was competitive with Chretien for quite some time. That campaign in '93 was just immensely awful in a variety of ways.
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 3:25 AM
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How about Jacques Parizeau?
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 3:27 AM
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Ralph Goodale
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 3:30 AM
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How about Jacques Parizeau?
I was contemplating whether or not to include Levesque in my OP
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 3:33 AM
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Paul Martin would have been interesting with a majority too, hung by Chretien.
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 3:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan View Post
Who would have made a great PM but never got the chance? What would have made them good leaders? What would have been different about Canadian history?

A few that come to mind would be Tommy Douglas, Preston Manning, maybe JS Woodsworth, Robert Stanfield, Paul Martin, Sr (the ideological opposite of his son), Jack Layton...
LOL!

Paul Martin jnr. was amazing and Preston Manning isn't fit to run a lemonade stand!
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 4:20 AM
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As a Maritimer, my vote goes to Robert Stanfield, an excellent statesman, a capable administrator and a successful provincial premier. He had the great misfortune of competing against Trudeau the senior and Trudeaumania. He never stood a chance. The media was quite cruel to him as he was the opposite of "hip". It was a shame really............

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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 4:22 AM
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Why don't we broaden this thread to include provincial leaders?

We've got plenty of examples in Ontario. Stephen Lewis (NDP, late 1970s) and John Tory (PC, 2007) both stand out as figures that would have been great Premiers, IMO. I think Ernie Eves could have done a good job too if he hadn't been completely ruined by Mike Harris' baggage.

I also wonder what might have happened in Ontario if Bill Davis hadn't retired in 1984. At the time of his retirement he was still young (only 55 years old) and generally popular. He was this rare figure that could appeal to massive swaths of the political spectrum, from rural social conservatives right through to moderate socialists. I still don't know how the hell he did it. If he hadn't retired he could have remained in office into the early 21st century.
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 4:25 AM
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If John Turner was prime minister NAFTA wouldn't happen.
If Jacques Parizeau was prime minister Canada would have split up.
If Jack Layton was prime minister marijuana would have been legal.

There is always the chance they were saying those things to get elected, but not follow through when in power.
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 4:26 AM
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LOL!

Paul Martin jnr. was amazing and Preston Manning isn't fit to run a lemonade stand!
I was trying to be non-partisan in my OP, but it is accurate to describe Paul Martin Sr and Jr as being on opposite sides of the spectrum within their party. Whether or not you agree with one or another is kind of a separate issue.

I also tried to be ideologically diverse in the people I mentioned in the OP as "PMs that never were".
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Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 4:31 AM
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Basically sums up Stanfield's federal political life


http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/i...IED_887682.jpg
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  #20  
Old Posted Feb 5, 2017, 4:35 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
How about Jacques Parizeau?
Quote:
Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan View Post
I was contemplating whether or not to include Levesque in my OP
Both of them actually got to be PMs, just not federal ones
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