A dead prime minister steals the show from Trudeau and Mulroney — by literally being dead.
This documentary short is a portrait of Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and 13th prime minister of Canada, John George Diefenbaker (1895-1979). Diefenbaker's political career spanned 6 decades. When he died in 1979, his state funeral and final train trip west became more a celebration of life than a victory for death.
Direction
Canning turns a funeral into unexpectedly moving political poetry.
Production
1979 state funeral footage that's somehow intimate, not stiff.
Director
William Canning
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Diefenbaker's 1957 upset victory ended 22 years of Liberal rule — the 'Diefenbaker Revolution' reshaped Canadian conservatism. The funeral became a weird reunion of warring Tory factions.
Pierre Trudeau and Diefenbaker despised each other in life; Trudeau skipping Dief's 1979 memorial service was considered a snub. His presence here suggests political calculation or genuine respect — historians still argue.
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