Editing C. D. Howe (section)

== Politics ==

=== Election and prewar ===
[[File:Mackenzie King Cabinet.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A group of men pictured in two rows, with the front row seated|The 1939 Mackenzie King Cabinet; Mackenzie King in centre front row, Howe, second from the right in the rear row]]

In 1933, the Liberal Party was in opposition and considered Howe as a potential candidate for the House of Commons in the upcoming election. Howe, feeling political activism was bad for business, had not publicly expressed political views.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|pp=23–24}} [[Norman Platt Lambert]], a Liberal Party official and friend of Howe, brought him to a meeting with Liberal Party leader [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] on 20 January 1934. The two men were impressed with each other and, according to Lambert in his diary, Howe wanted a guaranteed Cabinet position were he to run in the new [[Port Arthur (federal electoral district)|riding of Port Arthur]].{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=55}} Mackenzie King accepted this deal{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=10}} and on 14 October 1935, Howe was comfortably elected to the Commons from Port Arthur, amassing a majority of 3,784. Across the country, the Liberals won a landslide victory, with 173&nbsp;seats in the House of Commons to the Conservatives's 40.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=10}}{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=62}} Mackenzie King appointed Howe to two [[Portfolio (government)#Canada|portfolios]]: [[Minister of Railways and Canals (Canada)|Minister of Railways and Canals]] and the first [[Minister of Marine (Canada)|Minister of Marine]]. Howe was the only engineer in Cabinet, which was dominated by lawyers,{{sfn|Harbron|1980|p=24}} and was the first engineer to serve in a Liberal government.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=66}}{{efn|Howe's portfolios were combined in late 1936 into the new [[Department of Transport (Canada)|Ministry of Transport]].{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=81}}}}

After Parliament assembled in early 1936, Howe sought to have it pass legislation to reform local port authorities. Individual ports were run by Boards of Harbour Commissioners, appointments to which were often politically influenced. A [[Royal Commission]] in 1932 had recommended the positions be abolished, and Howe's bill was to establish a [[National Harbours Board]].{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=24–26}} The debate in the House went smoothly until Howe angered the opposition by declaring that, during Bennett's government, the Conservatives had been corrupt. Despite what became a much more bitter debate, Howe's bill carried.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=27–32}} According to Leslie Roberts in his biography of Howe, "This was the Howe the country would soon come to know much better, the Howe on the rampage, the Howe who is impatient of criticism and deplores the debates and delays inherent in the parliamentary system."{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=30}}

Howe worked to place the government-dominated [[Canadian National Railways]] (CNR) on a sound financial basis and introduced legislation to form the CNR into a [[crown corporation]].{{sfn|Smith|1986|pp=33–34}} Although the opposition complained that Howe was becoming power-mad, they had little quarrel with the proposed reorganization itself, and it was passed into law.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|p=30}} In June 1936, Howe brought in legislation to establish another crown corporation, the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]], which passed into law with little debate or opposition.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|p=30}} Howe also worked to increase airline coverage in Canada; in 1936, many Canadians wishing to fly long distances by air would journey through the United States. The Liberals proposed legislation to establish a government-financed corporation, with half the stock to be owned by the CNR and half by the privately owned [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] (CPR).{{sfn|Render|1999|pp=250–251}} The CPR balked at the deal, and the remaining stock was taken up by the CNR{{sfn|Harbron|1980|pp=35–36}} and [[Trans-Canada Air Lines]] was founded in May 1937.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=49–50}} For the rest of his political career, Howe kept Trans-Canada Air Lines in his ministerial portfolio,{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=113}} considering it his "progeny and generally promoted its interests".{{sfn|Stevenson|1987|p=198}}{{efn|Trans-Canada Air Lines changed its name to [[Air Canada]] in 1965, and is still in operation.<ref>''CBC News'', 14 May 2004{{fcn|date=January 2024}}</ref>}}

=== Second World War ===
[[File:C.D. Howe and Gen. Pearkes.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Three men standing in front of a building named "Wolfe Garage"|L–R: [[George Pearkes|Major-General G. R. Pearkes]], VC and Howe, during memorial service for General James Wolfe, 1 January 1941.]]

On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, starting WWII. Mackenzie King recalled Parliament into session beginning 7 September; during this session, [[Canadian declaration of war on Germany|Canada declared war on Germany]] and created a [[Department of Munitions and Supply]].{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=63–64}} It was some months before the department was established; in the meantime Howe supervised the War Purchasing Board. Howe worked to persuade many of his business contacts to work for him or for other government departments. Roberts suggests that no "political minister" could have done that, as many of Howe's recruits were Conservatives.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=72–73}} According to historian and author [[Michael Bliss]], "[f]or Howe and other entrepreneurial spirits interested in the creative uses of government power, the war was a kind of ultimate megaproject, a great development job. Money didn't matter, production did."{{sfn|Bliss|2004|p=165}}

In [[1940 Canadian federal election|the 1940 election]], Howe had little trouble being re-elected, and 184&nbsp;Liberals were returned to Ottawa, the greatest total by any party to that point.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=126–127}} Mackenzie King appointed Howe as [[Minister of Munitions and Supply]]. Liking his job at Transport, Howe was reluctant to move, but the Prime Minister persuaded him.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=128–129}} The function of the new department was the complete mobilization of all Canadian resources to support the war effort.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|p=37}} Howe initially retained the Transport portfolio as well; on 8 July 1940, he turned over responsibility for that portfolio to [[Arthur Cardin]], although Howe retained control of the CBC and Trans-Canada Air Lines.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=80}}

[[File:CD Howe first tank.png|thumb|right|Three men, including the Hon. C. D. Howe and Brigadier [[Kenneth Stuart]], inspecting the first Canadian-built [[Valentine tank]] at Angus Shops of the [[Montreal Locomotive Works]] (MLW), 27 May 1941.]]

Howe's department was assisted by "[[One-dollar salary|dollar-a-year]] men", top managers in Canadian business{{sfn|Stewart|1998|p=43}} loaned to the government by their companies for a token payment of one dollar a year while their firms maintained them on their payrolls.{{efn|The "dollar-a-year club was also derisively known as "Howe's Boys". The [[Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) was bestowed on 13 of "Howe's Boys" in 1946.{{sfn|Stewart|1998|p=43}}}} Even before the department was formally established, Howe's representatives were surveying the country for essential war needs, with the department accumulating huge reserves of [[strategic material]]s.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=85}} During the [[World War II|Second World War]], Howe established 28&nbsp;Crown Corporations of various responsibilities including secret projects and manufacturing the machine tools the rest of Canadian industry needed to continue operations. These corporations were responsible to Howe and Parliament received no word of their activities unless Howe mentioned them.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=82–83}}

With Canadian industry reorganized to supply the British war effort, Howe decided he needed to journey to Britain to discuss matters with the customers. He embarked on the S.S. ''Western Prince'' in December 1940. This was an intensely dangerous trip; Germany was attempting to blockade Britain and there were many German submarines in the North Atlantic. One of those submarines sank the ''Western Prince'' on 14 December. Howe survived the sinking and eight hours in a lifeboat. [[Gordon Wallace Scott|Gordon Scott]], his aide, was killed trying to climb from the lifeboat to the rescuing ship. Howe professed coolness in the incident, but later told the [[The Guardian|Manchester ''Guardian'']] that he considered every hour that he lived from that day onwards to be borrowed time.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|pp=44–45}}

While on tour of British industrial plants, Howe was shown the [[Avro Lancaster]] four-engined heavy bomber, which he subsequently championed for Canadian production.{{sfn|Stewart|1991|pp=23–24}} On his return, Howe expropriated the troubled [[National Steel Car|National Steel Car Ltd.]] plant which was beset with management problems, setting up [[Victory Aircraft|Victory Aircraft Limited]] as a Crown corporation, removing the executives and installing [[J. P. Bickell]], one of Howe's "dollar-a-year club" as the new president and chairman of the board.{{sfn|Stewart|1991|p=24}} Victory Aircraft recovered its momentum and went on to become one of Howe's greatest industrial successes, producing Avro aircraft under license, including the Lancaster.{{sfn|Stewart|1991|p=14}}

[[File:C.D. Howe in aircraft factory.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A man and a woman looking at a piece of machinery|Howe speaks to a worker at an aircraft factory, March 1941]]

According to Roberts, "What Howe started in 1940 was an Industrial Revolution, so widespread that most Canadians were unaware of its extent or of its penetration into the country's economy."{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=87}} Although there had been increases in production throughout the first three years of the war, the minister's efforts truly bore fruit in 1943, in which Canada had the fourth-highest industrial production among the Allies, trailing only the US, [[Soviet Union|USSR]], and Britain. By 1944, Canada had produced over 600&nbsp;ships for the war effort, 1,100&nbsp;aircraft, and over half a million cars and trucks, of which 31,000 were armoured. According to Roberts, Howe's actions swung Canada's economy from agriculture-based to industrial, a change that became permanent.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=119}}

==== "What's a million?" ====
During the debate on Howe's war spending estimates in 1945 (which totalled $1.365&nbsp;billion), Howe answered an Opposition question on whether such a large sum could be reduced: "I dare say my honourable friend could cut a million dollars from that amount, but a million dollars from the War Appropriations Bill would not be a very important matter."{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=155}} Saskatchewan Tory MP [[John Diefenbaker]] spoke the following day, and alleged that Howe had said, "We may save a million dollars, but what of it?"{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=240}} Howe angrily denied the quote, accusing Diefenbaker of being "a past master of distortion"—language he was forced to withdraw as [[Unparliamentary language|unparliamentary]]. Diefenbaker sharpened the anecdote over time, and it emerged in its final form as Howe saying, "What's a million?" Even Liberals who knew that Howe had made no such statement agreed that it was just the sort of thing he could have said.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=240}} In the years to come, "What's a million?" would be a mocking Tory attack on the Liberals, most often directed at Howe.{{sfn|Smith|1995|p=165}}

=== Postwar ===

==== Mackenzie King years ====
[[File:C.D. Howe c. 1940.jpg|thumb|alt=See caption|Howe watches a scientist test the curve of a lens by [[interference (wave propagation)|interference]] fringes at the Instruments Division in the Canadian Arsenals Ltd. optical plant]]

In October 1944, Mackenzie King appointed Howe Minister of Reconstruction.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|p=48}} Howe had an excellent reputation for his successful overhaul of the Canadian economy, and Mackenzie King feared he would return to the private sector to amass another fortune in business. Among those who urged Howe to remain was the [[Minister of Justice (Canada)|Minister of Justice]], [[Louis St. Laurent]], with whom Howe forged a strong relationship.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=141}} The Prime Minister obtained a dissolution of Parliament in April 1945 and in the ensuing election, the Liberals obtained a bare majority.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=148–149}} Howe was intensively involved in Liberal fundraising,{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=198}} and campaigned nationally for its candidates. He was easily returned in Port Arthur, taking just over half of all votes cast, with the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] (the predecessor of the [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]]) a distant second.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=202–203}}

Howe favoured a quick transition to a peacetime economy. Most industries in which there were no shortages were released from government controls in late 1945. Labour leaders, fearing unemployment, wanted to keep wartime government plants in production; Howe opposed such proposals. When union members who were laid off from the [[Research Enterprises Limited]] (R.E.L.) confronted Howe on a golf course, the minister stated, "R.E.L. was a war-time plant. The war is through, the plant is through, and your union... what happens to your union is up to you. Get the hell off of the course."{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=206}} In disposing of redundant government property, Howe found that saddles and harnesses had been stored since the end of the [[Boer War]] and men had been employed to safeguard and polish them for over 40 years. He strove to eliminate such anachronisms.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=153}} However, Howe was slower to release economic controls. According to Roberts, "although he worked to return the country's economic power to private hands, he often seemed as loath to surrender his own dictatorial powers over it as he was to submit to Parliament".{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=151}} In November 1945, Howe's wartime portfolio was merged into his new responsibility to form the Department of Reconstruction and Supply.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=158}}

Howe was determined to support technologically advanced industries and wanted Canada to continue the production of aircraft after the war. His Director-General for Aircraft Production, Ralph Bell, disagreed with him, noting that Canada had no aircraft engine manufacturer and that despite the presence of manufacturing plants and skilled workers, there was no guarantee that they could sell their products. Howe took steps to keep aircraft manufacturers in business, allowing the British [[Hawker Siddeley Group]] to take over Victory Aircraft as A.V. Roe Canada ([[Avro Canada]]),{{sfn|Stewart|1998|pp=45–46}} while [[Canadair]] was sold to the US-based [[General Dynamics Electric Boat|Electric Boat Company]] (later [[General Dynamics]]).{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=190}}

After the war, Mackenzie King recommended to the British government that two Cabinet ministers be appointed to the [[Imperial Privy Council]], but not Howe. When the honours were announced on New Year's Day 1946, Howe told the Prime Minister that he felt his war service was being slighted and threatened his resignation. Mackenzie King arranged for Howe to receive the honour in June. This created more ill feelings among other members of the Cabinet; two more were elevated in the 1947 New Year's Honours, after which the Prime Minister refused to consider any more.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=209–211}}

In February 1947, Mackenzie King fell ill with pneumonia and, after recovering, spent a month on vacation in the United States, with St. Laurent (by then [[Minister of External Affairs (Canada)|Secretary of State for External Affairs]]) as Acting Prime Minister.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=204}} In July, [[Minister of National Defence (Canada)|Minister of National Defence]] [[Brooke Claxton]] warned Mackenzie King that the issue of the Prime Minister's age and the uncertainty of the succession was causing political difficulties for the Liberals. Mackenzie King consulted Howe, who bluntly stated that it was best that Mackenzie King resign while still retaining his full faculties and before a crisis erupted. After the talk, the Prime Minister decided that he should retire within a year and that St. Laurent, who had recently threatened to leave Cabinet and return home to Quebec, should be the successor.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|pp=210–211}} Howe was among those who persuaded St. Laurent not to resign. He also helped persuade St. Laurent to stand for the leadership, offering to remain in Cabinet to assist him following his withdrawal.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=215}}

==== St. Laurent government's first mandate====
[[File:C.D. Howe at Seaway.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Two men are attaching a piece of metal to a pipeline. A crowd is gathered behind them|Howe and Vermont Governor [[William Henry Wills (politician)|William H. Wills]] join the US and Canadian segments of an oil pipeline]]

On 20 January 1948, Mackenzie King announced his intent to resign and a Cabinet reshuffle; both St. Laurent{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=225}} and Howe convinced the Prime Minister to move Howe, who had not enjoyed his work at the Ministry of Reconstruction and Supply, to become [[Minister of International Trade (Canada)|Minister of Trade and Commerce]].{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=218–219}} Howe publicly announced that he was "not available" to stand for the leadership and that he was supporting St. Laurent. The Quebecer was elected Leader of the Liberal Party in August, and Mackenzie King resigned on 15 November.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=163}} 

In October 1948, the Progressive Conservatives also elected a new leader, [[Premier of Ontario|Ontario Premier]] [[George A. Drew]].{{sfn|Smith|1995|pp=167–168}} St. Laurent called an election for June 1949, and Howe again was successful in fundraising from corporate backers, including CPR and [[Eaton's]]. Drew had used Howe's record as an election issue, accusing him of being power-mad and selling off Crown Corporations for bargain prices, but the allegations got little traction. According to Howe, the only result of Drew's attacks "was to give me a record majority in Port Arthur!"{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=242–243}} The Liberals won a huge victory, taking 190&nbsp;seats to 40 for the Tories, and Howe again won Port Arthur easily.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=242–243}}

In early 1950, St. Laurent considered recommending the appointment of Howe as governor general. The governor general had previously been a [[Peerage of the United Kingdom|British peer]]; many nationalists wanted a Canadian to hold the post, and St. Laurent agreed. The governor general, [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|The Viscount Alexander]], was due to retire by 1953. St. Laurent saw this as a way of allowing his friend and colleague to step away from politics for a quieter life. The minister was willing to take the post, but the position unexpectedly opened early when Alexander was appointed to [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|the British Cabinet]]. Howe decided he still had work to do as a minister and was reluctant to exchange real power for the nominal power of the governor generalship. St. Laurent recommended the appointment of Canadian-born [[Vincent Massey]], who was duly appointed by [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George VI]].{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=259}}

Canada entered the [[Korean War]] in 1950.{{sfn|Bliss|2004|p=178}} Howe saw it as the wrong war in the wrong place, and thought that Canadian troops should not be sent. Nevertheless, he spent the summer of 1950 at his desk, making plans to implement government controls on the booming economy. In September 1950, Howe tabled a bill allowing him to reallocate scarce materials such as steel from the civilian sector to military use. The bill passed, but not before the Opposition had charged that Howe had "an enormous appetite for power".{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=253}} Late in the year, the Government decided on a massive rearmament program. The [[Canadian Commercial Corporation]], the Crown Corporation which handled government purchases, was felt to be inadequate for the task, so the Cabinet decided on a new department to handle procurement.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=255}} St. Laurent introduced a bill in February 1951 creating a Department of Defence Production and announced that on passage, Howe would add that responsibility to his portfolio.{{sfn|Fraser|1967|p=127}} The opposition parties objected to the Defence Production Act, stating that there was no emergency justifying the powers Howe wanted. According to Roberts, Howe sought to implement rearmament by getting "full power for himself and running rights over everyone and everything to get an urgent job done".{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=179–181}} Backed by the overwhelming Liberal majority, the bill passed and the Department was established on 1 April 1951.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=183}}

Despite Avro Canada's success in producing the [[Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck|CF-100]], Canada's first jet fighter for the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] (RCAF), aircraft development had proven to be a time-consuming and expensive process. The projected next generation aircraft, Canada's first supersonic jet interceptor, the [[Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow|CF-105 Arrow]], was a more daunting project in terms of financial commitment and a leap in technological prowess. Howe wrote in a letter to Defence Minister Claxton in 1952 that "I am frightened for the first time in my defence production experience."{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=266}}

St. Laurent's supervision of his ministers was minimal at the start of his tenure, and decreased as the years passed. With the Opposition few in numbers, ministers did as they wanted, and when Howe was accused by Tory MP [[Howard Charles Green|Howard Green]] in 1951 of being willing to end tariffs if the people would let him, Howe replied, "Who would stop us?  Don't take yourself too seriously. If we wanted to get away with it, who would stop us?"{{sfn|Newman|1963|p=36}}{{sfn|Bliss|2004|pp=181–182}} 

The government spent much of early 1953 in enacting the remainder of its legislative program. St. Laurent scheduled an election for 10 August; Drew attempted to exploit a Defence Ministry scandal at the [[Petawawa, Ontario]] army base, where an investigation earlier in the year had found frauds which included placing horses on the payroll. The Liberals lost 20 seats from their 1949 high-water mark, but still constituted almost two-thirds of the House of Commons, and no minister was defeated. Howe was again easily elected for Port Arthur.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=278–281}}

==== St. Laurent government's second mandate ====
[[File:TransCanada pipeline.png|thumb|left|alt=See caption|Map showing the Trans-Canada pipeline (in green)]]

Beginning in 1954, Howe planned for pipelines to take Alberta's [[natural gas]] to market. There were US-backed proposals to build pipelines directly to the United States; Howe wanted a route passing north of the [[Great Lakes]] which could supply Toronto and Montreal.{{sfn|Bliss|1994|pp=527–528}} Two rival groups contended for the approval which Howe had the power to grant; Howe forced the groups to work together on the route he wanted.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=283–285}}

In March 1955, St. Laurent tabled legislation to make the Department of Defence Production permanent and extend the extraordinary powers of the Minister.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|pp=396–397}} Fearful of another damaging confrontation between Howe and the Opposition, the Cabinet agreed that St. Laurent would guide the bill through, but after the first day of debate St. Laurent, who was prone to depression, absented himself.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=299}} Tory frontbencher [[Donald Fleming]] contended that the extension could make the minister "the virtual dictator of the economy".{{sfn|Thomson|1967|pp=396–397}} With St. Laurent absent (or when present, silent), Howe took charge of the bill, and according to his biographers, [[Robert Bothwell]] and [[William Kilbourn]], "utterly failed to perceive that the bill and his manner of defending it were a godsend to the opposition".{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=299–300}} When Howe alluded to the Avro Arrow project and that he "was out on a limb for $30 million", which gave him "the shudders", the Opposition met the statement with jeers and cries of "What's a million?"{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=301}} In early July, Howe left town for a long weekend, after asking St. Laurent and Minister of Finance [[Walter Edward Harris|Walter Harris]] to maintain his stand while he was gone, although he gave Harris the authority to do as he saw fit. Without informing Howe, St. Laurent contacted Drew, and the two men agreed that the minister's powers would expire in 1959 unless sooner renewed. The amended bill passed the Commons in Howe's absence, and when he returned, he furiously accused Harris of making a deal behind his back. However, when Howe was told that it had been the Prime Minister's decision, he accepted it.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|pp=401–403}} Howe had earlier turned down an Opposition offer to agree to a three-year extension of his ministerial powers, saying "That would mean coming back to Parliament in three years, and I've more to do with my time than amusing Parliament."{{sfn|Newman|1963|p=37}} The extension was allowed to expire in 1959, although by then, Howe had left office.{{sfn|Newman|1963|p=37}}

The pipeline project was wracked with financing difficulties. The pipeline company wanted the Government to guarantee the loans needed to build what would become known as the [[Trans-Canada Pipeline]], but Cabinet refused, fearful of the political implications of giving a large sum of government money to a US-dominated corporation. Howe was embittered by this decision, and grumbled that he was now part of "a government which has fallen into the hands of children".{{sfn|Harbron|1980|pp=55–56}} A solution was proposed by Howe's deputy minister, [[Mitchell Sharp]]:  the Government and the province of Ontario would themselves build the most expensive part of the route, in Northern Ontario, to be reimbursed by Trans-Canada once the pipeline was open for business. This was approved by both governments. By 1956, however, further difficulties had arisen: until the US government granted formal approval for a part of the route which connected to US pipelines, Trans-Canada could not raise enough money to build its portion. The approval was a matter of routine, but the delay would mean that construction on the pipeline could not begin until the spring of 1957.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|pp=55–56}}

Howe was determined that the pipeline not be delayed, and proposed that the government advance money to the pipeline company to ensure construction in 1956. He emotionally pleaded with his Cabinet colleagues, who agreed with both to the proposal and to the use of rarely used [[cloture|closure]] to limit the debate.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=424}} Closure had not been applied in the House since 1932.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=312}} The issue was attractive to the Tories and CCF with an election due within two years; it would allow them to portray Howe as an arrogant dictator, and play to those citizens who disliked the American involvement in the pipeline project.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=420}} If the bill did not receive [[Royal Assent]] by 7 June 1956, options that Trans-Canada held for steel pipe would expire.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=316}}

Bothwell and Kilbourn describe Howe's speech opening the [[Pipeline Debate]] as "probably the best of his career".{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=309}} He told the Commons that waiting a year would be imprudent, given the worldwide shortage of steel pipe, and unfair to those who owned natural gas wells in western Canada, which were presently capped. Howe told the House he believed this to be a great project, "of truly national scope, which we must either launch now or see languish for years to come."{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=309–311}}{{sfn|Bliss|1994|p=483}} He completed his address by giving notice that the following day, the Government intended to invoke closure.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=309–311}} Social Credit, with many members from Alberta, supported the bill, while the Tories and CCF engaged in weeks of bitter debate and parliamentary wrangling.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=218–220}} This culminated on 1 June, dubbed by the Tories "Black Friday", when [[Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada|Speaker]] [[Louis-René Beaudoin|René Beaudoin]] reversed a ruling he had made the previous evening which would have allowed the Opposition to continue the debate past the deadline. The Opposition accused the Speaker of yielding to Government pressure.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|pp=434–436}} The bill passed within the deadline, and construction on the pipeline began immediately.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|p=56}} Howe wrote, "I should not like to face a general election at this moment. Fortunately we do not have to."{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=317}}

In mid-1956, Drew fell ill and resigned as Tory party leader. The leadership convention's choice of Diefenbaker as Drew's replacement prompted delight in some Liberal circles. Diefenbaker had long been a maverick within his party, was little known in eastern Canada, and many deemed him unelectable.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=493}} Although Defence Minister Claxton and the RCAF remained firm supporters of the Arrow program as costs continued to rise, in 1957 the Cabinet's defence committee proposed elimination of the Arrow, a decision that was to be reviewed after [[1957 Canadian federal election|the forthcoming election]] and which was supported by Howe.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=266–267}}

==== 1957 election ====
{{main|1957 Canadian federal election}}

After the election was called in April 1957 for 10 June, Howe raised sufficient money to enable the Liberals to heavily outspend their opponents.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=327}} As there were few Liberal ministers from western Canada, Howe was called upon to make appearances throughout the region. He found that the Manitoba Farmers Union was organizing opposition to the Liberals; at some meetings Howe had difficulty getting heard at all. At other meetings, Howe engaged in well publicised conflicts with audience members. On 19 May in [[Morris, Manitoba]], Howe told one man demanding to speak that when his own party held a meeting, he could ask all the questions he wanted; the man was the head of a local Liberal association. When asked why he did not answer Mackenzie's question, Howe replied, "Look here, my good man, when the election comes, why don't you go away and vote for the party you support? In fact, why don't you just go away?"{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=324–325}}{{sfn|Newman|1963|p=55}} At another meeting, Howe was asked why he did not care about the farmers's economic plight. He responded, "Looks like you've been eating pretty well under a Liberal government" and poked the questioner in the midsection.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=325}}

Diefenbaker used the Pipeline Debate as a major theme in the campaign, one which he mentioned more than any other issue.{{sfn|Meisel|1962|p=59}} In Vancouver, he told the largest political crowd in the province since 1935, "I give this assurance to Canadians—that the government shall be the servant and not the master of the people&nbsp;... The road of the Liberal party, unless it is stopped—and Howe has said, 'Who's going to stop us?'—will lead to the virtual extinction of parliamentary government. You will have the form, but the substance will be gone."{{sfn|''The Vancouver Sun''|24 May 1957}}

Howe was opposed in his riding by CCF candidate [[Doug Fisher (politician)|Doug Fisher]], a local high school teacher. Fisher's campaign was well financed, with support from his party, the unions, and a number of corporate enemies Howe had made throughout his political career. Fisher was able to buy up the key time on the local television station to explain his opposition to the Liberals and his party's proposals—Howe initially scheduled no television appearances. Called back to his riding after the remainder of his disastrous [[Prairie provinces|Prairie]] tour was canceled, Howe found that Fisher's appeals had caused defections among Liberals. Howe managed to get TV time just before the election and according to Bothwell and Kilbourn "treated his viewers to the sight of a tired, harsh old man, telling them that the nice young fellow that they had been seeing on television for the last couple of months was, if not a communist himself, then associated with the communists. No one believed him."{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=328}} Fisher defeated Howe by over a thousand votes.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=328–329}} Howe was gracious in defeat, shaking Fisher's hand at the television station, and assuring the member-elect's mother, long a Howe admirer, that there were many things for him to do.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=328–329}} In the general election, the Tories took the greater number of seats, 112 to 105 for the Liberals.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=329}} St. Laurent could have remained in office until Diefenbaker and the Tories defeated him in the House, but chose not to—a course with which Howe agreed. The Liberals left office on 21 June 1957,{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=330}} with Howe the only remaining minister of those sworn in with Mackenzie King in 1935.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=7–8}}