NOUMOFF o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-15 published
Professor played a role in defeat of
SSAINTURENT government
By M.J. STONE
Special to The Globe and Mail Friday, August 15,
2003 - Page R5
Nearly four decades after Louis
SSAINTURENT had been Prime Minister
of Canada, McGill professor James
MALLORY was surprised to discover
how influential he had been in the defeat of Mr.
SSAINTURENT's
Liberals in 1957. The revelation occurred in 1992 when the cabinet
papers of the
SSAINTURENT government, which had been sealed for
35 years, were made available to the public.
Unknown to Professor
MALLORY, a radio interview he gave in the
wake of the 1957 election had caught the Prime Minister's ear.
The Liberals had been reduced to 105 seats in the House, seven
fewer than the Conservatives. But the Grits were still in a position
to form a minority government with the aid of the 25 elected
members of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, later to
become the New Democratic Party.
Mr. SSAINTURENT found himself at a crossroads. While his party
was clearly in decline, the Conservatives were on the rise and
many questioned whether the Liberals still had a legal mandate
to govern. When Mr.
SSAINTURENT arrived in cabinet that morning,
Prof. MALLORY's radio interview was still ringing in his ears.
Prof. MALLORY, who died in Montreal on June 24, said in the interview
that if the Liberals continued to govern it would result in a
constitutional crisis. He believed it was the responsibility
of John DIEFENBAKER and the Conservatives to form a government.
The cabinet papers clearly reflect Prof.
MALLORY's influence
over the Prime Minister that morning. Mr.
SSAINTURENT demanded
a copy of the
MALLORY interview and after carefully studying
the radio transcripts, he handed the rule of government over
to the Tories.
Highly regarded as the foremost expert in Canadian legal and
federal structures, Prof.
MALLORY was often called on to advise
governments about constitutional procedures. McGill professor
Charles TAILOR/TAYLOR said another good example occurred in 1979.
"Joe CLARK's
Conservatives had just lost a parliamentary vote,"
Prof. TAILOR/TAYLOR recalled. "The governor-general, Ed
SCHREYER, telephoned
McGill's political science department, looking for Jim. It caused
something of a stir when he couldn't be found immediately.
SCHREYER
was frantic for
MALLORY's advice. The governor-general was unsure
how to proceed.
"Jim was eventually found and consulted. His advice was that
the Conservatives should call an election -- exactly what Joe
CLARK did."
The son of a county sheriff, James Russell
MALLORY was born on
February 5, 1916. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the
University of New Brunswick in 1937 and later studied law at
Edinburgh and Dalhousie universities.
He met his American-born wife, Frances
KELLER, in Scotland, and
the couple married in 1940. They had two sons: James and Charles.
Prof. MALLORY joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan
in 1941. Later, he taught at the University of Toronto and Brandon
College before moving to McGill in 1946.
A respected scholar and lawyer, Prof.
MALLORY was an "old-school"
professor who taught at McGill for 45 years. His reputation as
a constitutional expert was solidified in 1954 when he published
Social Credit and the Federal Power in Canada. The quintessential
text mapped out the constitutional parameters of federal/provincial
relations.
"James MALLORY was a discreet and modest man," McGill professor
Sam NOUMOFF recalled. "He had a profound understanding of morality
and he was incapable of self-promotion. He worked on university
committee after committee while holding many teaching responsibilities.
"Jim wasn't the sort of man who sought public approval, he just
did things because they were the right thing to do."
His son James, who lives in Britain, summed up his father's idealism:
"He had a bloody-minded stubbornness. It would manifest sometimes
in allowing discussions to go on and on. Then he would do exactly
what he intended to do in the first place. Somehow it never impaired
his reputation as a genuine democrat."
Prof. MALLORY was the founder of both the Canadian Studies program
at McGill and the Canadian Association of University Professors.
After retiring in 1982 he was appointed professor emeritus and
continued to teach for another 10 years. In 1964, he was elected
to the Royal Society of Canada and was later awarded the Queen's
Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977.
In 1995, McGill founded the James R. Mallory lecture series,
a one-day event that features a special guest who lectures about
Canadian issues. Past guests have included Bob
RAE,
Peter
WHITE/WHYTE
and Phyllis
LAMBERT.
The organizers of the event say that this
year's lecture will focus on Prof.
MALLORY's legacy.
Prof. MALLORY died 11 weeks after the death of his wife on what
would have been their 63rd anniversary.
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