Gordon Minto Churchill

Gordon Churchill was a towering figure in Progressive Conservative politics — one of John Diefenbaker's most loyal cabinet ministers who served as Minister of Trade and Commerce in the 1957 government. When the party establishment moved to oust Diefenbaker as leader in 1967, Churchill refused to go along. In February 1968, after the leadership review crisis that nearly split the party, Churchill broke away and sat as an Independent Progressive Conservative, unable to accept Robert Stanfield's new direction for the party. Churchill's loyalty to Diefenbaker was legendary; he organized the "prairie fire" of 1957 that swept the Liberals from power.

Churchill did not seek re-election in the June 1968 election that brought Pierre Trudeau to power. His defection was a final salvo in the bitter Diefenbaker wars that had consumed the Progressive Conservative party throughout the 1960s. Churchill had served in both World Wars and in Parliament since 1949 — his departure marked the end of the old Diefenbaker guard. He was later appointed to the Senate in 1972, serving until his death in 1985.