Seite 174 [174]
CANADIAN LANDSCAPES/ PAYSAGES CANADIENS
In the end the final results of the August 9" byelection in Cartier were:
Fred Rose (LPP) 5,789 (30.42%)
Paul Massé (BP) 5,639 (29.63%)
Lazarus Phillips (Lib.) 4,181 (21.97%)
David Lewis (CCF) 3,313 (17.41%)
Moses Miller (Ind.) 109 (0.57%)
The LPP’s victory over the Bloc Populaire by 150 votes could have different
explanations, but this author takes the view that Rose’s winning margin was
aided by two factors. First, Rose received anywhere from 500 to 800 French
Canadian votes in the riding. In contrast, Massé received hardly any Jewish
votes, and, in four polling stations, received none. Secondly, the voter turnout
was only 50%. The low voter turnout meant many Liberals stayed home, which
worked in favor of the LPP (The Gazette, August 11, 1943, 11,17); and the LPP
was more organized and had plenty of enthusiastic volunteers to get out the
vote on election day.
The epilogue of the making of Fred Rose, M.P., is mixed, but flows from the
events of August 1943. For the Bloc Populaire their victory in the byelection
of Stanstead and a close second in Cartier foretold only small winnings in the
future — 4 seats in the 1944 Quebec provincial election and two seats in the
June 1945 federal election. These seats were usually won by well-known French
Canadians, like Laurendeau, and were fought on the issue of conscription.
Once WWII and conscription ended, Bloc Populaire lost their raison d’ötre
and their seats in the following elections too.
The Cartier byelection was also an omen for David Lewis and the CCF.
Lewis took defeat in Cartier hard. He later wrote, “The result of the byelection
was a Shocker for me: first, that the Communist won and, second, that I came
last...[It] so affected me that when it was later suggested that I seek the nom¬
ination in Winnipeg North... I refused. My reasons were simply that I could
not take another Cartier campaign...” (Lewis 232). In fact, Lewis only won his
first seat to Parliament in the 1962 federal election. The relationship between
the Liberals and LPP became closer after August 1943, and “the unofficial
Liberal—Labour coalition...gave the communists both a more respectable
public image and the opportunity to gain on the CCF” and for both parties,
“There was an undercurrent of sarcasm but an acceptance of bedfellows”
(Weisbord 126-127). This understanding foretold the humiliating defeat of the
CCF in the Ontario provincial election of June 4, 1945, and their disappointing
results in the federal election held one week later, when the King Liberals were
re-elected. As for Fred Rose, one must conclude this paper with the words
spoken by his mother after he came home jubilant from his byelection victory,
¢ 172 ¢