Wilf Gardiner: on his father
James Wilfrid (Wilf) Gardiner (1924-2002)
On his Father:
Wilf Gardiner, Jimmy Gardiner’s son, provided Nathaniel Benson, author of None of it came easy: The story of James Garfield Gardiner, with a review of his father’s character and career in 1955. Excerpts from the review follow:
“I am enclosing a short review about Dad which I trust may be helpful. Of course, it is written by a son which makes it doubly difficult, but I’ll attempt to be as fair as possible…
As a teacher, his greatest asset is the example he can set others. He never asks anyone to do anything he is unwilling to attempt himself. In his own living he presented an example to his students as well as to his family which is a very difficult task for any modern individual to follow.
As a speaker, he has few equals… It is his knack of speaking without notes which has won … his greatest applause from audiences. Also, his ability to make his crowd feel that he knows what he is talking about, is another instrument which he uses to good advantage.
His greatest virtue is his tenacity in sticking to certain principles in which he believes. Whether in the field of moral living or principles of national life, he has always led a straight life. He has been willing even to meet defeat, rather than surrender his principles. The greatest example of this virtue was the election of 1929 in Saskatchewan when he defended the principle of freedom of religion in his own province, when it was not the popular stand to take, particularly among those of his own faith. He has, on more than one occasion, taken what appeared to be the unpopular side of an argument – but it never hurt his stand with the people, because they came to know that he stood by his beliefs, and so often he has proven right that many came to believe that when he took a stand, it would be right.
His tremendous loyalty is probably his second greatest virtue. Many men, taking the knocks from his own party and supposed followers over the years, would have come to the point where they would call it quits. However, the tremendous loyalty to a belief has helped hold Gardiner to a course, no matter how tough the going. His word has always been a password to those who knew him best.
Unlike King, Gardiner was never a compromiser. This was the main thing that stood in the way of his winning the political leadership in the Federal field of politics …
His greatest achievement has probably been in the fact that for 41 years, with virtues that would defeat many a politician, that he was able to obtain the support of his own people throughout the years. Feared by political opponents and also by many supporters, no one could say he was “beloved”. Blunt and forthright, he is not a diplomat: however, through sheer determination and with a loyalty … he has won support that has been accorded few public men in the world. His has been a political achievement which has made possible for his people of Western Canada to enjoy most of the benefits they do to-day. … His greatest political achievement was the defeat of the Anderson Government in Saskatchewan in 1934.
His greatest administrative feat was as Minister of War Services when he organized National Registration with the help of one of his loyal followers, T.C. Davis, as his Deputy Minister. This achievement proved, if any ever did, that a Minister can achieve much more with men with him in the administrative strata who are loyal, both personally and politically. It helps to destroy the argument of a non-political administration. …
Probably the finest impression Dad ever made on people was at a meeting in his own home town in 1928. The meeting took place during the heat of the Ku Klux Klan campaign and was a debate between Mr. Gardiner and Dr. Hawkins, a Klansman from South Carolina. … Those who were there say that Jimmy Gardiner was at his best, and when the meeting was completed, he had won the crowd, and even the admiration of his bitter foe who remarked that he was a much bigger man than he himself had thought previously. … although the Liberals had to accept defeat in 1929 because of these battles, they finally won a greater fight in 1934 because of this battle on Liberal Principles and the right of all men to worship as they desire.
Gardiner’s greatest service to Western Canada and Saskatchewan has been as ambassador to the rest of Canada … he has travelled the country from end to end in years gone by and carried the story of Saskatchewan and its problems to all corners of the country. He has given Saskatchewan a voice in the affairs of Canada out of proportion to its population. …
His greatest service to Canada has been his job of giving the agricultural industry a voice in the Government of Canada …
Anecdotes about a man like Mr. Gardiner are difficult to relate. Because of his ability to speak without notes, often the best of his addresses were never related to the public. His press relations and publicity were never of too much importance to him, and his greatest wish was to get as close to the people as possible. He was not a man given much to the use of humor, which rules out a lot of quotations of a humorous nature that might be used in the case of many men in public life. Mr. Gardiner has one pet saying, and that is when anything goes wrong, he uses the word ‘sugar’ where others would use a word considered much more colourful …
His life has been interrupted with many sad moments – and he has through everything maintained a strong heart and increased desire to be of service to his country.”