Prime Minister Louis St.-Laurent was on the campaign trail on this date in 1953, seeking another majority mandate from Canadian voters. At a campaign rally Uncle Louis sounded off on the tax cutting plans of Republicans south of the border.
“Once upon a time in another land a political party had been out of office so long it was willing to try any kind of hot air to blow its way in,” St.-Laurent said referring to American Republicans. “Now it so happened that the government of that other land had not been paying its way…Well, this political party that had been out of office so long didn’t bother about these cold facts. Oh no, it just went merrily along promising to balance the budget and reduce taxes by… eliminating all the mink coats in the country.”
The PM wasn’t finished.
“And the people believed them and put them into office,” he said. “Well, I can’t tell you what happened to the mink coats but… they are begging people to not ask them to keep their promises to reduce the taxes they need… to meet the cold facts of life.”
The US Ambassador to Canada officially protested St.-Laurent’s venture into American domestic politics. His concerns, as they say in diplomacy, were noted.
By the way, St-Laurent and his Liberals won the election.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.