Former Prime Minister Sir Mackenzie Bowell could neither forgive or forget. This was all too apparent on the night of October 25, 1900 when he took to a stage in Carleton Place, Ontario to vigorously campaign against one of his former cabinet minister, John Haggart. The latter had been one of the cabinet ministers that threw Bowell and his government into crisis when he resigned citing the PM’s poor leadership. Six others joined Haggart, leading Bowell, as legend has it, to describe his former ministers as a “nest of traitors.”
Both men appeared at an election rally with Bowell making it clear to Lanark South voters that their MP should not be re-elected. This public airing of grievances between two Tories was, shall we say, rare.
“Sir Mackenzie Bowell had a good reception,” the press reported. “He expressed regret at the situation that compelled him to appear on the platform against Mr Haggart, whom he had at the risk of his own reputation defended on the platform and in the committee room in the past.”
Bowell continued his remarks. “I have studiously avoided doing anything that would injure, the party, and were it not that two candidates were supporting the same policy I should not' be here. If my appearance will elect …. and leave John Haggart at home I shall be glad to lend my aid. Imbecile as they say I am, I challenge that gentleman to say one word against my public or private character. Insults that were heaped upon me by and through those men require that I should explain my position In the party. I am here simply as an Individual member of the party, nor do I arrogate to myself, as does. Imbecile as they say I am, I challenge that gentleman to say one word against my public or private character. Insults that were heaped upon me by and through those men require. that I should explain my position In the party. I am here simply as an Individual member of the party, nor do I arrogate to myself, as does Mr. John Haggart, the title of one of the leaders.”
And Bowell, who held Canada’s top political job from 1874 to 1896, was just getting started.
“I have risen from the printer's devil, old fool as they say I am, to the highest and have not sought any of -these positions,” Bowell told the audience made up of Haggart’s constituents. “I am not then, evidently the stupid old idiot that these gentlemen have represented me. There Is no name that is held in greater contempt …. than the name of Hon. John Haggart, and one or two others. Such names are as a wet blanket to the enthusiasm of the Conservatives of Toronto and the west. Whether I ever used the expression "The ‘nest of traitors’ or not is immaterial, for I certainly should' have used It. John Haggart may have brains, but if he only had applicability, and above all, honesty, he might succeed.”
Unfortunately for Bowell, his intervention had little impact on Lanark South voters. Haggart was returned to Parliament as he had been since 1872 and would remain a MP until his death in 1913. The unbroken record of service in the Commons was second only to that of the great Sir Wilfrid Laurier in longevity.
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.