On today’s date in 1953, Liberal leader Louis St. Laurent won that year’s federal election to capture his party’s fifth consecutive majority government.
In victory, St. Laurent said the Liberals would ensure all Canadians have “a fair share of the bounties with which Providence has endowed our favoured land.”
“As he entered the hall, the crowd stood on the chairs and cheered,” reported the Globe and Mail on Aug. 11, 1953, a day after St. Laurent’s victory. “Someone had a noisemaker that sounded like a police siren and sounded it continuously for some minutes.”
In the 1953 general election, the Liberals earned 171 seats to the Progressive Conservative’s 51 seats as the latter – led by former Premier of Ontario George Drew – formed the official opposition.
12th PRIME MINISTER
The 12th prime minister of Canada (from 1948-57), St. Laurent had a strong base in the Catholic francophone community, from which he had given support to former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.
St. Laurent’s platform on foreign policy transformed Canada from isolationist – with a relatively insignificant role in world affairs – to an active “middle power.”
He died in Québec on July 25, 1973, at the age of 91. He’s buried in Saint Thomas d’Aquin Cemetary in Compton, Qué.
During the 1970s, Shell Canada featured St. Laurent in its medallion set, “The Prime Ministers of Canada 1867-1970,” which included 15 medals featuring each Canadian prime minister between 1867 and 1970. The set was issued for distribution from Shell dealers across Canada.