When it comes to local federal elections, there is no bigger upset in the books than the 1984 Stormont-Dundas election when a political neophyte kayoed an incumbent heavyweight.
It was akin to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” or the “Miracle Mets” in 1969 or Les Canadiens and Ken Dryden stunning the Bruins in 1971.
Cornwall insurance broker Norm Warner, the Conservative candidate, went into the race against Ed Lumley as a huge underdog. Warner, riding the Brian Mulroney tidal wave that swept the country, came out the winner with 46 per cent of the vote, while the former mayor and Liberal cabinet minister came up short with 41 per cent of ballots cast.
Lumley had been touted as a possible contender for the federal Liberal party leadership. He had held a total of seven cabinet portfolios. To this day there are folks who will tell you that Cornwall and the rest of the riding threw away the chance of being represented by a prime minister.
But the infamous fickle finger of fate, as it sometimes does, intervened to alter the course of local political history.
Warner served just one term. He did not seek re-election. In 1988, Bob Kilger put the riding back in the Liberal fold. But Kilger too, who claimed 63.45 per cent of the vote in 1993, became victim of an upset. In 2004, Guy Lauzon re-took the riding for the Conservatives, and it has been a solid wall of Tory blue ever since. It shows no signs of cracking.
An argument could be made that voters did Lumley a back-handed favour in 1984. Back in private life, he became one of the country’s most influential corporate figures and served on several corporate boards, among them Magna International, Bell, CNR and Air Canada. He was vice-chair of BMO Nesbitt Burns and had a 12-year tenure as University of Windsor chancellor.
Before Lumley answered the call from the federal Liberals in 1974, Premier William Davis tried to convince him to run for the provincial Conservatives with the promise of a high cabinet position. Despite wearing different political uniforms, Davis and Lumley remained close friends. That friendship circle included former prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, who one summer during their university days worked with Lumley on a Coca-Cola truck in Windsor, their hometown.
HITS AND MISSES Trump’s hatched-wielder-in-chief Elon Musk, born in South Africa, has strong ties to Canada. His mother was from Saskatchewan and he lived in Canada for seven years. He attended Queen’s University for two years…Trump said there is nothing Canada has that the Excited States needs. Really? Let’s start with cheaper eggs. Number of egg seizures by U.S. border security has skyrocketed in the last month…Not convinced that flying a helicopter couple of times a day up and down the St. Lawrence River is going to scare off illegal activity…Hard to find a more useless organization than the United Nations…Question for Liberal candidates: Why have homelessness and reliance on food banks skyrocketed over the last four years?…So much for the “Axe the Tax” campaign slogan…The one thing the Sarah Good Liberal camp has going for it in the uphill battle to win the riding is having veteran Liberal strategist/ campaigner Denis Sabourin at the helm.
MARCH 1961 – City and area fires took a toll in March 1961. In the city, a blaze destroyed a Montreal Road home, leaving a mother and eight kids – aged five weeks to 12 years – homeless. A two-storey frame home on Prince Albert Street was destroyed by fire. The City Smoke Shop and six upstairs apartments on Second Street East were destroyed by fire. An adjacent grocery store had extensive smoke and water damage. A century-old home in Eamer’s Corners known as the Johnston homestead was destroyed. Outside the city, a family of seven was homeless when fire destroyed a farm house on the Second Concession of Osnabruck Township…RCAFA Wing 424 was honoured by the national body for outstanding membership growth and accomplishments. Membership during 1960 increased to 150 from 20…Arthur Jack Fry was the new Hotel Dieu Hospital business manager. A native of England, he served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Fry would become the hospital administrator…Holy Cross Grade 8 French public speaking winners were Andre Lalonde and Yvette Marion…Dedication of the new First Baptist Church at York and Third streets was held. The site was once home to the McGill chair factory…Lt. Col. James Miller was appointed Cornwall Collegiate Cadet Corp commanding officer. Major George O’Dair was second-in-command and Major Peter Morgan was battalion quarter master…The Cornwall Operatic Society production of H.M.S. Pinafore played before sell-out audiences (three performances) at Cornwall Collegiate auditorium…The annual Richelieu Club bread blitz raised $2,548…Winchester downed Cornwall Ironmen 10-6 to win the ODHA junior final. Gary Barnett, Norm McMartin, Jim McDonald, Gilles Leger, Elmer Cain and Ken Duffy had the Ironmen goals. Gilles Bourbonnais, four, and Doug Casselman, three, led Winchester. … Montreal coach Toe Blake was fined a record $2,500 for going out on the ice and punching referee Dalton McArthur. Blake was upset over a penalty goal that led to Chicago’s game-winning goal. Ironically, as a player, Blake won the Lady Byng trophy for gentlemanly conduct…Fire alarm boxes at 11 sites around the city were disconnected.
TRIVIA ANSWER Roy Rogers was born Leonard Slye in Cincinnati in 1911. He died in 1998 at age 86.
TRIVIA Gabby Hayes had, at different times, the sidekick role to cowboys Hop-a-Long Cassidy and Roy Rogers. What was his real first name?
QUOTED “Los Angeles is home to the three white lies: 1) The Ferrari is paid for; 2) The mortgage is assumable, 3) It’s only a cold sore.” – Comedian Milton Berle
