An Ethnic Coalition: the Liberal Party of Canada and the Engagement of Ethnocultural Communities, 1959-1974 by Thirstan Falconer B.A., University of Waterloo 2010 M.A., University of Waterloo 2012 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Department of History © Thirstan Falconer, 2017 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee An Ethnic Coalition: The Liberal Party of Canada and the Engagement of Ethnocultural Communities, 1959-1974 by Thirstan Falconer B.A., University of Waterloo, 2010 M.A., University of Waterloo, 2012 Supervisory Committee Dr. Penny Bryden, (Department of History) Supervisor Dr. Jordan Stanger-Ross, (Department of History) Department Member Dr. Matt James, (Department of Political Science) Outside Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Penny Bryden, (Department of History) Supervisor Dr. Jordan Stanger-Ross, (Department of History) Department Member Dr. Matt James, (Department of Political Science) Outside Member During the 1960s and 1970s the Liberal Party of Canada sought to engage ethnocultural communities in an effort to win federal elections. The author argues that the Liberal Party’s relationship with ethnocultural communities in Metro Toronto during the 1960s was characterized by indifference. Though it adopted a programme that encouraged the courting of ethnocultural communities, the Pearson-led Liberal Party showed limited interest in recognizing ethnocultural communities as a part of the party’s electoral coalition. The efforts of Andrew Thompson, the Liberal Party’s Ethnic Liaison Officer during the Pearson years, were separated from the rest of party’s organization and campaign structure. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau ended Pearson’s lost decade and strengthened party bonds with ethnocultural communities. Trudeau welcomed ethnocultural communities to the Liberal Party, declared Canada as multicultural, and distributed patronage to leaders of non-English and non-French communities. This dissertation differentiates between groups and categories, and critically analyzes how people and organizations do things with categories. This dissertation argues that Thompson and the Liberal Party grouped ethnocultural communities as “ethnic groups” and “ethnic voters” in order to simplify diverse and unbounded peoples they did not understand. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ................................................................................................................ ii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 Historical Scholarship .............................................................................................................. 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 25 Expanding the Liberal Party’s Electoral Coalition ............................................................. 31 Chapter 2: Immigrants Welcome: Public Opinion in the English-Canadian Press on Immigration During the St. Laurent Era, 1949 to 1958 .......................................................... 36 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 36 Calls for Immigration ............................................................................................................. 42 The Press, the Canadian Business Community, and Immigration .................................... 50 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 3: Liberal Party Reforms and the Ethnic Liaison Officer, 1957 to 1961 ................ 56 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 56 Ethnocultural Communities in the 1957 and 1958 Federal Elections ................................ 59 Liberal Party Reform ............................................................................................................. 70 Enticing Votes From Ethnocultural Communities .............................................................. 75 Unpacking “Ethnic Groups” and “Ethnic Voters” ............................................................. 82 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 4: Andrew Thompson and the Liberal Party’s Appeal to Ethnocultural Communities in Metro Toronto, 1961-1963 ............................................................................. 90 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 90 Ethnocultural Communities, Conservative Strategy and the Liberal Response .............. 91 The Liberal Party, the Ethnic Press Before the 1962 Federal Election ............................. 97 The 1962 Federal Election .................................................................................................... 104 The 1963 Federal Election .................................................................................................... 112 Homogenizing “Ethnic Groups” and “Ethnic Voters”? ................................................... 120 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 123 Chapter 5: The Politics of Patronage and Power: the new Pearson Government, New Canadian Publications, and the Canada Ethnic Press Federation, 1963-1965 ................... 125 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 125 Patronage Appointments, Favours, and Representation .................................................. 126 Liberals and Ethnocultural Advertising: New Canadian Publications ........................... 138 Lester Pearson, Andrew Thompson and “Doing Being Ethnic” ...................................... 150 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 153 Chapter 6: Re-engaging Ethnocultural Communities Under Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, 1966- 1968 ................................................................................................................. 156 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 156 Ethnocultural Priorities? Allan O’Brien As National Organizer and Senator Thompson ................................................................................................................................................. 159 v The Ethnic Press in the Final Pearson Years ..................................................................... 162 The Immigration Points System .......................................................................................... 168 The Leadership of Pierre Trudeau ...................................................................................... 170 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 180 Chapter 7: A Clash between Continuity and Change: Pierre Trudeau and the Liberal Party’s Approach to Ethnocultural Communities, 1968-1974 ............................................. 181 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 181 Doing Things Differently?: Pierre Trudeau, the Prime Minister’s Office, and Liberal Party Headquarters .............................................................................................................. 182 Appealing to Ethnocultural Communities Through Policy Proposals ............................ 185 Multiculturalism and the 1972 Federal Election ................................................................ 191 Influencing Ethnocultural Communities in Minority Government ................................. 198 The 1974 Federal Election and After .................................................................................. 205 The CCCM as Group-making ............................................................................................. 212 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 215 Chapter 8: Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 217 Appendices ................................................................................................................................