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What did Kennedy do for the history of this country?(Canada)
nationalnewswatch.com ^ | Nov 20, 2013 | CP staff

Posted on 11/20/2013 6:46:51 AM PST by headsonpikes

WASHINGTON - John F. Kennedy's personal pollster came to Canada with an assumed name, the blessing of the president and a secret objective: help defeat the Diefenbaker Tories.

Canadians might be surprised by the extent to which political events in this country were shaped by the charismatic U.S. leader, famously assassinated 50 years ago this week.

Helping to elect the Pearson Liberals, for starters, who would go on to introduce a new national flag, expand the welfare state and create medicare, the old-age pension system, and the royal commission on bilingualism.

The Liberals got tactical support, with state-of-the-art polling. Diplomatic rockets rained down on their opponents. And in the heat of an election campaign, the opposition leader was invited to the White House as an honoured guest.

The perceived interference became so acute that a fuming John Diefenbaker eventually took the extraordinary step of recalling Canada's ambassador to the U.S.

That diplomatic riposte failed to stop the Diefenbaker Conservatives from disintegrating, through internal divisions and a non-confidence motion that focused specifically on relations with the U.S.

Did Kennedy play a determining role?

"I think he played a very major role in Canadian history," John English, Pearson's biographer and a one-time Liberal MP, said in an interview.

"He definitely influenced Canadian history through the 1962-63 election period. There's no doubt that his animosity to Diefenbaker made his position very difficult not only with the broader public, but within his own party."

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalnewswatch.com ...


TOPICS: Canada; Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: canada; diefenbaker; kennedy; pearson
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This is a good overview of the politics of the time.
1 posted on 11/20/2013 6:46:51 AM PST by headsonpikes
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To: Squawk 8888

ping


2 posted on 11/20/2013 6:48:33 AM PST by headsonpikes (Mass murder and cannibalism are the twin sacraments of socialism - "Who-whom?"-Lenin)
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To: headsonpikes

The world would be a much better place had Old Man Joseph K. been sterile


3 posted on 11/20/2013 6:56:42 AM PST by A_Former_Democrat ("I was all for Obamacare until I found out I was paying for it,")
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To: headsonpikes

The world would be a much better place had Old Man Joseph K. been sterile


4 posted on 11/20/2013 6:56:42 AM PST by A_Former_Democrat ("I was all for Obamacare until I found out I was paying for it,")
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To: headsonpikes

Kennedy was assassinated, that’s about it.


5 posted on 11/20/2013 6:59:05 AM PST by svcw (Not 'hope and change' but 'dopes in chains')
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To: headsonpikes

lets see now could itbe screwed Monroe..along with the rest of the brothers


6 posted on 11/20/2013 7:01:30 AM PST by PLD
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To: Clive; exg; Alberta's Child; albertabound; AntiKev; backhoe; Byron_the_Aussie; Cannoneer No. 4; ...
To all- please ping me to Canadian topics.

Canada Ping!

7 posted on 11/20/2013 7:01:31 AM PST by Squawk 8888 (I'd give up chocolate but I'm no quitter)
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To: headsonpikes

So JFK played a major role in turning Canada left.


8 posted on 11/20/2013 7:01:50 AM PST by Fiji Hill (Io Triumphe!)
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To: A_Former_Democrat

...or if he and his wife had been into abortion.


9 posted on 11/20/2013 7:02:58 AM PST by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: svcw

“Kennedy was assassinated, that’s about it.”

You’re right-—the “Died Young Syndrome”.

Instant sanctification.

.


10 posted on 11/20/2013 7:03:01 AM PST by Mears
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To: headsonpikes
I don't think Pearson or Diefenbaker were good for Canada. I didn't like either one. That said, I don't appreciate US involvement in domestic Canadian politics.

Ironically, the best PM of that time would have been an American capitalist who sat in the commons as a liberal, C.D. Howe.

11 posted on 11/20/2013 7:03:38 AM PST by Former Proud Canadian (Cruz/Palin 2016)
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To: headsonpikes
JFK lowered taxes and gave a great inaugural Speech.

I can not imagine a Democrat uttering those words today.

President Kennedy's inaugural address in Washington D.C. In his speech President Kennedy urges American citizens to participate in public service and "ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country." Democrats today will ever utter those words today nor vote to reduce taxes

The only part they accept that is he was weak at foreign policy.

12 posted on 11/20/2013 7:05:04 AM PST by scooby321
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To: headsonpikes

If Kennedy hadn’t run like a rabbit at the Bay of Pigs Khrushchev never would have found the courage to move missiles into Cuba. Kennedy’s supposed finest hour, the Cuban Missile Crusis was a self-imposed near disaster. It was a product of his cowardice.


13 posted on 11/20/2013 7:05:15 AM PST by muir_redwoods (Don't fire until you see the blue of their helmets)
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To: headsonpikes
I remember.

He demonstrated the value TV would be for politics. He was telegenic.. that is the lone reason that made him a "great" president.

14 posted on 11/20/2013 7:06:35 AM PST by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: headsonpikes
So much for the fantasy that JFK was a closet conservative.
15 posted on 11/20/2013 7:09:23 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Who knew that one day professional wrestling would be less fake than professional journalism?)
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To: Former Proud Canadian

C.D. Howe, eh? That d*mned Liberal!

My old man would have chased you around the yard!

Cheers!

In the aftermath of the Dief debacle and Liberal triumph, I was a Davie Fulton supporter, which I acknowledge to have been a futile gesture.


16 posted on 11/20/2013 7:11:15 AM PST by headsonpikes (Mass murder and cannibalism are the twin sacraments of socialism - "Who-whom?"-Lenin)
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To: All

I think conservatives let the Left off easy on JFK.

” Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity to yield and INCREASED... flow of revenues to the federal government “

...JOHN F. KENNEDY...(what Democrats used to be)

We should hammer them on the fact that the Leftists have taken over their Party.

Hell Kennedy was to the right of Reagan and Bush on foreign policy. He actually supported fighting for freedom everywhere and sent 15,000 advisers and Special Forces he invented just for Vietnam, to fight for freedom in Vietnam.

Think about it.

He was George W Bush before Bush an without a 9-11 to provoke him.


17 posted on 11/20/2013 7:13:43 AM PST by rbmillerjr (Ted Cruz...2016-24 ...A New Conservative Era)
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To: scooby321

The speech may have had some catchy lines but it was not a great speech. Kennedy stated that we held the power to end poverty for mankind. Christ said the poor are with you always but here was JFK saying that with innovative progressive initiatives (proper liberal programs, foreign aid, the UN) poverty would be a thing of the past worldwide.


18 posted on 11/20/2013 7:19:48 AM PST by Monterrosa-24 (...even more American than a French bikini and a Russian AK-47.)
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To: headsonpikes
Liberal meant something else then. C.D. helped win the war and was partially responsible for the growth of manufacturing in Canada.

Dief killed the Arrow, Howe would have built it. What kind of a nation would we be now if we had built the Arrow?

19 posted on 11/20/2013 7:22:38 AM PST by Former Proud Canadian (Cruz/Palin 2016)
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To: PLD

“.. it be screwed Monroe.. along witht he rest of the brothers”.

He screwed Monroe’s brothers?!! /s


20 posted on 11/20/2013 7:32:09 AM PST by momtothree
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