View source for Robert James Manion

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1881–1943)}}
{{Inline|date=January 2023}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name             = Robert James Manion
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|MC|size=100%}}
| image            = MP Robert Manion.jpg
| caption          = Manion in 1938
| office           = [[Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| term_start       = 14 November 1938
| term_end         = 25 March 1940
| predecessor      = [[R. B. Bennett]]
| successor        = [[Richard Hanson (Canadian politician)|Richard Hanson]] 
| office1          = Leader of the [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative Party]]
| term_start1      = 7 July 1938
| term_end1        = 13 May 1940
| predecessor1     = R. B. Bennett
| successor1       = Richard Hanson (acting)
| riding2          = [[London (federal electoral district)|London]]
| parliament2      = Canadian
| term_start2      = 14 November 1938
| term_end2        = 25 March 1940
| predecessor2     = [[Frederick Cronyn Betts]]
| successor2       = [[Allan Johnston (politician)|Allan Johnston]]
| riding3          = [[Fort William (federal electoral district)|Fort William]]<br />{{small|([[Fort William and Rainy River]]; 1917–1925)}}
| parliament3      = Canadian
| term_start3      = 17 December 1917
| term_end3        = 13 October 1935
| predecessor3     = ''Riding created''
| successor3       = [[Dan McIvor (politician)|Dan McIvor]]
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1881|11|19}}
| birth_place      = [[Pembroke, Ontario]], Canada
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|1943|07|02|1881|11|19}}
| death_place      = [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| spouse           = {{Marriage|Yvonne Desaulniers|1906}}
| party            = [[Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)|Conservative]]
| otherparty       = [[Unionist Party (Canada)|Unionist]] (1917-1921)
| children         = 3
| residence        = 
| alma_mater       = [[Queen's University, Kingston]]<br />Ontario and at the [[University of Edinburgh]]
| occupation       = [[Physician]]
| profession       = 
| allegiance       = {{flag|Canada|1868}}
| branch           = [[Canadian Army]]
| serviceyears     = 1916-1918
| rank             = [[Captain (Canadian army and air force)|Captain]]
| unit             = 
| commands         = 
| battles          = [[World War I]]
}}

'''Robert James Manion''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|MC}} (19 November 1881 &ndash; 2 July 1943) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] politician who led the [[Canadian Conservative Party (historical)|Conservative Party of Canada]] from 1938 to 1940.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Profile |url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Profile?personId=7199 |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=lop.parl.ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=LibriVox |url=https://librivox.org/author/14193?primary_key=14193&search_category=author&search_page=1&search_form=get_results&search_order=alpha |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=librivox.org}}</ref> Prior to his leadership of the party, he served in [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Arthur Meighen]] and [[R. B. Bennett]]'s cabinets.

A [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] prior to [[World War I]], Manion was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] in [[1917 Canadian federal election|1917]] as a member of the pro-[[conscription crisis of 1917|conscription]] [[Unionist Party (Canada)|Unionist Party]] led by Prime Minister [[Robert Borden]]. After the war, he served as a Conservative [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] until his defeat in [[1935 Canadian federal election|1935]]. In [[1938 National Conservative leadership convention|1938]], Manion was elected leader of the Conservatives, which was shortly relabeled as [[Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)#National Government label|National Government]]. Despite his pro-conscription stance in World War I, Manion campaigned against conscription in [[Canada in World War II|World War II]] in the [[1940 Canadian federal election|1940 federal election]]. Manion also ran on a platform of forming a wartime [[coalition government|coalition]] [[national unity government]]. In the election, the National Government lost in a landslide, keeping their seat count exactly the same as in the 1935 federal election. Manion also lost his seat of [[London (federal electoral district)|London]], and subsequently resigned as leader. Shortly after, Manion was appointed director of [[civil defence|Civilian Air Raid Defence]]. He died in 1943 in [[Ottawa]].

==Early life==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2023}}
Manion was born in [[Pembroke, Ontario]], of Irish Catholic descent, the son of Mary Ann (O'Brien) and Patrick James Manion. He studied medicine at [[Queen's University, Kingston]], Ontario, and at the [[University of Edinburgh]] before settling in his hometown of [[Fort William, Ontario|Fort William]], [[Ontario]], where his parents had lived since 1888.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert James Manion |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robert-james-manion |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}}</ref> 

In 1915, he enrolled in the [[Canadian Army Medical Corps]]. Attached to the 21st Canadian Battalion, he was awarded the [[Military Cross]] for heroism at the battle of [[Vimy Ridge]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-08 |title=Captain Robert James Manion |url=https://tbayworldwarone.com/2017/12/08/robert-james-manion/ |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=World War One Thunder Bay Centennial Project |language=en}}</ref>

==Political career==
{{Moresources|section|date=January 2023}}
Manion was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] during the [[Conscription Crisis of 1917|conscription]] [[1917 Canadian federal election|election of 1917]] as a [[Unionist Party (Canada)|Unionist]] [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Fort William, Ontario]]. A member of the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] before the war, he supported Conservative Prime Minister [[Robert Borden]]'s pro-conscription Union government that was formed as a result of the [[Conscription Crisis of 1917]]. Manion remained with the [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative Party]] after the war. The new prime minister, [[Arthur Meighen]], appointed him Minister of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment in 1921. He spent most of the 1920s on the [[Official Opposition (Canada)|opposition]] benches, except for a few months in 1926 when he served as a minister in the second Meighen administration, including the position of Postmaster-General.

Following the [[1930 Canadian federal election|federal election of 1930]], the new Conservative Prime minister [[R. B. Bennett]] appointed Manion Minister of Railways and Canals. However, the economic crisis of the [[Great Depression]] destroyed the Bennett government, and Manion, with many others, lost his seat in the [[1935 Canadian federal election|1935 election]]. According to historian [[Roy Piovesana]], Manion's loss was partly attributable to his failure to cultivate his Fort William riding. 

===Conservative Party leader===
Despite not having a seat, Manion won the [[1938 National Conservative leadership convention|Conservative leadership convention]] with backing of an "improbable coalition"<ref name=plam>Plamaondon, Bob, "A Compassionate Conservative", National Post, 8 April 2009.</ref> of Orange Order delegates from Ontario and delegates from Quebec. Conservative Party members hoped that his [[Catholicism]] and marriage to a [[French-Canadian]], Yvonne Desaulniers, would help the party in [[Quebec]] where the perception of the Tories as being anti-French and anti-Catholic [[Orange Order in Canada|Orangemen]] had hurt their prospects. Manion entered the House of Commons through a [[by-election]] in 1938 in [[London (federal electoral district)|London]]. 

Following his by-election win, Manion subsequently campaigned against [[conscription]] despite the fact that he had joined the [[Unionist Party (Canada)|Unionists]] in 1917 because he favoured the draft. Manion moved the Conservatives to the left and was criticized as a socialist due to his call for action against unemployment and his desire to, in his words, "bring a greater measure of social justice to all our citizens."<ref name=plam/>

He hoped to come to power due to the criticism the King government was facing after the brokerage of an agreement with the [[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]] [[Premier of Quebec]], [[Maurice Duplessis]] in which he promised federal funds for unemployment relief in Quebec in exchange for the Union Nationale's support for the Conservatives in the federal election. The onset of [[World War II]] and the re-emergence of conscription as an issue in Canada stymied Manion's hopes. In the [[1939 Quebec general election|1939 Quebec election]] the federal Liberals warned that the Duplessis government's support for Manion would lead to conscription, despite Manion's claims that he opposed mandatory military enlistment.<ref name=plam/> The defeat of the government of Maurice Duplessis in [[Quebec]] dashed Manion's hopes of building an electoral alliance with the conservative [[Premier (Canada)|premier]]. As well, his stand against conscription turned much of the Tory base in Ontario against the leader.

====1940 federal election====

King had promised Manion that he would not call an election due to the war but reversed his pledge and called a [[1940 Canadian federal election|March 1940 general election]] taking  Manion's Tories by surprise and unprepared.<ref name=plam/> They campaigned under the name "[[National Government (Canada)|National Government]]" with the platform of forming a wartime [[coalition government]]. King and his Liberal Party were quite popular, especially after his government helped Canada recover from the depression. Therefore, the Liberals won a second consecutive landslide [[majority government]], the renamed Tories were unable to make any gains from their 1935 result, and Manion failed to win his seat, leading to his resignation as party leader two months later.{{fact|date=January 2025}}

==Later life==
After his election loss, Manion was appointed director of [[civil defence|Civilian Air Raid Defence]]. He died in 1943 in [[Ottawa]].{{cn|date=January 2023}}

==See also==
*[[Conscription Crisis of 1944]]
*[[Liberal-Unionist]]

== Archives ==
There is a Robert James Manion [[fonds]] at [[Library and Archives Canada]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Finding aid to Robert James Manion fonds, Library and Archives Canada|url=http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000000079.pdf}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*[https://archive.org/details/surgeoninarms00maniuoft Manion, Robert James. A surgeon in arms. Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, 1918.]
*Manion, R.J. Life is an adventure. Toronto : Ryerson Press, 1936.
*Naugler, Harold Adelbert. R.J. Manion and the Conservative Party 1938-1940. M.A. thesis 1966, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont.
*Piovesana, Roy H. Robert J. Manion member of Parliament for Fort William 1917-1935. Thunder Bay : Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, 1990.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{FadedPage|id=Manion, R.J. (Robert James)|name=R.J. (Robert James) Manion|author=yes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Robert James Manion |sopt=t}}
* {{Gutenberg author|id=49843}}
* {{Librivox author |id=14193}}
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=7199}}

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{{Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Manion, Robert James}}
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1943 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Ministers of railways and canals of Canada]]
[[Category:Canadian military doctors]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Canadian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Leaders of the opposition (Canada)]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:People from Pembroke, Ontario]]
[[Category:Postmasters general of Canada]]
[[Category:Unionist Party (Canada) MPs]]
[[Category:Liberal-Unionist MPs in Canada]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Politicians from Thunder Bay]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]