George Drew
George Alexander Drew (1894 - 1973) was a Canadian conservative
politician who founded a Tory dynasty in Ontario that lasted 42 years.
Drew, a former mayor of the City of Guelph, became leader of the Conservative Party of Ontario in 1938. At this time, the province was in the firm grip of Liberal Premier Mitch Hepburn.
The Liberal government went through a series of crises during the war due to Hepburn's feud with William Lyon Mackenzie King and the federal Liberals. These crises led to Hepburn's resignation.
In 1943, the Tories, now called the Progressive Conservatives, won a minority government, narrowly beating the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation led by Ted Jolliffe. (Jolliffe and Drew had attended the same high school in Guelph Ontario, the Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute).
Drew won by responding to the mood of the times, and running on a relatively left-wing platform, promising such radical reforms as free dental care and universal health care. Drew himself, however, was somewhat reactionary, and was prone to make anti-Semitic, anti-French-Canadian, and anti-Catholic comments.
While his government did not implement much of its promised platform (including Medicare or denticare), it did establish the basis for the Tory regimes that followed by trying to steer a moderate course. Drew's government also introduced the Drew Regulation in 1944, which made it compulsory for Ontario schools to provide one hour of religious instruction a week.
Drew was strident in his criticism of the federal Liberal government of William Lyon Mackenzie King, attacking its leadership in the Canadian war effort, chastising it during the Conscription Crisis of 1944 for not instituting full conscription, and accusing it of attempting to centralize power.
The Drew government called an election in 1947 in an attempt to get a majority government. By exploiting increasing Cold War tensions, they were able to defeat Jolliffe's CCF by stoking fears about communism. While the Tories won a majority in the legislature, Drew himself was defeated in the Toronto riding of High Park by CCFer and Temperance crusader "Bible Bill" Temple. Temple targeted Drew over his softening of Ontario's liquor laws.
While it would have been easy enough for Drew to re-enter the legislature by running in a by-election, Drew decided to enter federal politics. "Colonel Drew" (as he liked to be called) won the 1948 federal Progressive Conservative leadership convention, defeating John Diefenbaker on the first ballot. Drew won a seat in the House of Commons in a by-election. As leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party, he became Leader of the Opposition.
In the 1949 and 1953 federal elections, Drew's Tories were defeated handily by the Liberals, led by Louis St. Laurent. Drew alienated potential supporters in Quebec when he called French-Canadians a 'defeated race'. His support for conscription during World War II also hurt his prospects among French-Canadian voters. In declining health, Drew resigned as Progressive Conservative leader in 1956, and was succeeded by John George Diefenbaker.
