Oldal 174 [174]
OCR
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 nomination 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 ¢
