The MOST HATED Canadian (still)

OH, OUR BELOVED ARROWS being torched, and cut-up—

Well Chief, Dief, this IS your legacy.

That 1963 cover of Newsweek says it all. Decline and fall.

You may have given the aboriginal people the vote, and you had an impressive quip about being Canadian…but THIS is all you are remembered for. And cursed.

Destroying the Arrow (and the Iroquois).

And ultimately Avro Canada.

Oh, and by the way, that 1959 Herb Nott flyover photo (shown above) was finally published after being suppressed for nearly two months! The Canadian public saw for the first time that the Arrows were being cut-up! The public outrage was enormous! The directive to do it quietly and quickly had ultimately failed!

The town of Neustadt, Ontario proudly declares that you were born there on a 50ish style sign leading into town. But the rest of the province feels…well, it’s not fit to print all that blue language, here.

The province of Saskatchewan commemorates you, John G, as their son most proud, honouring you even, with an official Diefenbaker Day. But my dad, also born in the province of Saskatchewan, always referred to you as that know-nothing, small-town, prairie lawyer.

You will forever be vilified by true Canadians.

Not only for canceling the Arrow and the Iroquois, but for destroying any remnants of them as well. While you said you never knew, nor ordered their destruction, someone in your cabinet did and you should have known what was going on, Mr. Joke PM.

Peter Zuuring, author of the wondrous pictorial : The Arrow Scrapbook, notes the real reason for their destruction by the Diefenbaker government:

“"It (The Arrow and Iroquois) was a Liberal project and the Conservative government got rid of it. And they're thinking, `What if the Liberals get back into power and want to resurrect it?'

They didn't want the embarrassment so that's why they tried to eradicate everything to do with the Arrow."

DIEFENBAKER dreamed and schemed to make Canada the breadbasket of the world. Somehow, he never noticed our breadbasket was already full.

Right then and there, but full with advanced aerospace technology!

Canada could have farmed that out to the world, alongside agrarian offerings.

But combine and hay bale, was all you understood.

Jack. Stupid Ass.

And remember Dief could rationalize anything. Years later, he would still think canceling the Arrow and Iroquois was the right thing to do! HE HAD NO BUSINESS SENSE whatsoever!! $379 million had been spent on all Avro related projects to date by the Canadian Government and a deal from the French for $120 million purchase was ready to be signed, but totalitarian John Diefenbaker scuttled it all!!!!

The money was in the machine, the symbols were lining up for jackpot…nope, now's the time, let's just walk away!!!

In the history of Canada I DON'T think there has been anyone more adjectively stupid than this.

Just when Canada was about to reclaim ONE THIRD of our Avro investment…he stopped it all. The RECOUP.

He shoulda' been shot and pizzed on.

Should my political party ever ascend to power, all Diefenbaker monuments and statues will be smashed and properly destroyed for the hypocrisy they represent. All trace of Diefenbaker will be wiped from the national archives, post haste!

AVRO CANADA would be undissolved and work immediately commence on the CF-105 Arrow Mark V overseen by Bombardier Canada.

Canada needs to position itself maturely in the new millennium, taking steps toward independence and becoming self-reliant…it is our destiny—


TRIVIA: Why did ya do that?

"A Future Prime Minister Rescues a Former Prime Minister"

In 1965, while vacationing in Barbados, John Turner (future Prime Minister of Canada [1984] ) noticed that former Prime Minister and then-current Leader of the Opposition John G Diefenbaker, staying at the same hotel, was struggling in the strong surf and undertow.

Turner, being a competitive swimmer during university days, jumped in and pulled Diefenbaker to shore, saving his life.

Again John, why did ya do that?



© Herb Nott
© Newsweek
© SPIR (post-production)
© Paul Cardin