The Harper Conservatives have shown a strong penchant for naming things after Tory prime minister John Diefenbaker.McKague
First a Diefenbaker ice-breaker, now a Diefenbaker award. Two of them, actually.
If there's one name Stephen Harper's Conservatives keep going back to, it's that of John G. Diefenbaker, Canada's 13th prime minister. He's on top of the Tory icon list.
On Tuesday, the Tory government announced the creation of a John Diefenbaker Defender of Human Rights and Freedom Award, designed to recognize contributions to human rights. There may be some confusion: Former prime minister Brian Mulroney created a John Diefenbaker Award, a grant to a German scholar to work in Canada.
In 2008, Mr. Harper announced the next Coast Guard ice-breaker would be called the John Diefenbaker. Last September, he announced a $1.3-million grant for the University of Saskatchewan's Diefenbaker Canada Centre.
Mr. Diefenbaker had human-rights credentials. He passed the Bill of Rights, and pushed 1961 racial-equality rules in the Commonwealth that forced out apartheid South Africa.
But it's no secret that Mr. Harper's Conservatives came to Ottawa determined to build Tory symbols in a national scene they see as dominated by Liberals. They changed red government graphics to blue. A Diefenbaker rights award links human rights to the Tory legacy.
There's a Pearson building (Ottawa) and a Pearson airport (Toronto) and the Governor-General hands out the UN Association of Canada's Pearson Peace Medal. But fewer symbols have Tory names, especially those more recent than Sir John A. Macdonald. For the Harper Tories, post-war Tory choices are few: former prime minister Joe Clark is no fan of Mr. Harper's circle; Mr. Mulroney is still a divisive figure. So it's Hail to the Chief.
John G. Diefenbaker Award
The Canada Council for the Arts gives this honour each year for a German scholar to work at a University in Canada.
CCGS John G. Diefenbaker
Canada's next big ice-breaker is to bear the Chief's name.
Diefenbaker Canada Centre
The federal government ponied up $1.3-million for renovations to the University of Saskatchewan's Diefenbaker museum.
John Diefenbaker Defender of Human Rights and Freedom Award
A new award will be presented each year to a Canadian or non-Canadian for exemplary contribution to promoting human rights and freedom.