Michener was born and educated in Alberta. In 1917 he served briefly in the Royal Air Force.[1] He acquired a university degree, then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Michener then returned to Canada and practised law before entering politics. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1953, where he served as speaker from 1957 until 1962, and then served in diplomatic postings between 1964 and 1967. After that he was appointed governor general by QueenElizabeth II on the recommendation of Prime MinisterLester B. Pearson, to replace Georges Vanier, and he occupied the post until succeeded by Jules Léger in 1974. Michener proved to be a populist governor general whose tenure is considered to be a key turning point in the history of his office.
Daniel Roland Michener was born in Lacombe, Alberta (then part of the Northwest Territories), to SenatorEdward Michener and Mary E. Roland.[3][4] During the First World War, he served as Cadet Company Commander in the Red Deer Cadet Corps from 1916-1917. On June 25, 1918, he attested for service with the Royal Air Force in Toronto as a 3rd Class Air Mechanic.[1] He was posted to the RAF Recruiting Depot on September 30 as a Private 2nd Class. With the end of the war in November, he was removed from active service on December 22, 1918 and discharged as a Private 2nd Class (Cadet Pilot) on January 4, 1919.[1]
As Speaker, Michener angered Diefenbaker by allowing the opposition a great degree of latitude during Question Period; at one point, on May 25, 1959, Diefenbaker was so flustered that he refused to sit down when called to order by Michener. Actions like these, among others, impressed parliamentary observers and a group of university professors initiated a campaign to make Michener's position as speaker permanent; they proposed that, as is the tradition with the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Michener run as an independent in general elections and that the political parties agree not to run candidates against him. No such agreement, however came to pass, and when Michener ran for re-election in 1962 he was defeated. This was the first time since 1867 that a speaker had lost his riding in an election in which his party formed the government. Michener returned to Toronto and dedicated his time to his law practice, Lang Michener LLP.
In the 1963 federal election the Liberal Party under Michener's old friend, Lester Pearson, won a minority in the House. A year later, Pearson advised Governor General Georges Vanier to appoint Michener to the diplomatic post of high commissioner to India,[7] which Michener took up on July 9, 1964. Six months later Michener became Canada's first ambassador to Nepal.[8] While stationed on those foreign duties, Michener was told by the Prime Minister that he would be considered among the leading candidates for the post of Governor General when he returned to Canada. But Vanier was in poor health and, though he offered to stay on as viceroy through to the end of the Canadian Centennial celebrations, Pearson did not wish to advise QueenElizabeth II to allow it. The night after he conferred with the prime minister about that matter, Vanier died on March 5 at Rideau Hall, leaving Chief JusticeRobert Taschereau as Administrator of the Government in the absence of a viceroy.
Governor General of Canada
Michener was immediately recalled from India and, on March 29, 1967, QueenElizabeth II appointed Michener as the Governor General on Pearson's advice.[9][10] Although he was a Conservative, Liberal members of parliament and cabinet ministers welcomed the selection of Michener; Paul Martin Sr. said, "I don’t think there was anybody inside or outside the public service who could qualify better than Michener... People just felt that this was a good appointment."[11] Michener was sworn in during a ceremony in the Senate chamber on April 17, after one of the shortest periods served by a Governor General-designate.
Michener attending the graduation ceremonies at Alma College in 1972
Within less than a year of his becoming viceroy, Michener found himself faced with a constitutional crisis when Pearson's government was unexpectedly defeated on a tax bill in February 1968. Had the government been unable to pass a full budget bill, then Pearson would have been legally required to resign or ask for a new election, but the conventions relating to lesser financial bills were less clear. After taking much legal advice, Michener decreed that he would not ask for Pearson's resignation unless an explicit motion of no confidence against the government was passed. Opposition leaderRobert Stanfield immediately tabled such a motion, but it ultimately failed after the other main opposition parties, the New Democratic Party and Ralliement créditiste, declined to support the motion. An election nonetheless took place in June of that year, following Pearson's retirement and replacement by Pierre Trudeau.[14]
On July 1, 1967, the Order of Canadawas created, and Michener became the order's first member, as well as the first chancellor and principal companion.[16] As such, he presided over the first investiture ceremony, at Rideau Hall, on July 9, investing 90 people into the order. On a visit to London, United Kingdom, he presented the insignia of the Sovereign of the order to Queen Elizabeth II.[17] On July 1, 1972, the Order of Military Merit was founded and Michener was appointed the first Chancellor and Commander.
Another first was Michener's state visit in 1971 to Trinidad and Tobago; while King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II had both carried out state visits on behalf of Canada and previous governors general had made official visits abroad, no Canadian governor general had ever previously undertaken such a trip. In October of the same year, the Governor General visited Iran to attend the Iranian monarchy's 2,500th anniversary. These voyages initially caused controversy among diplomatic insiders in Ottawa, who viewed it as inappropriate for someone who was not the country's head of state to undertake a state visit. However, the successes of the trip helped end the controversy, and established a precedent thereafter followed in Canada, and adopted by other Commonwealth realms.
Legacy
Though he wore the elaborate court uniform for state occasions, Michener discontinued the practice of women curtseying before the governor general, a move that was rumoured to have been inspired by the refusal of Maryon Pearson, wife of Prime Minister Lester Pearson, to defer thus to her long-time friends.[18] He also fostered links between his position and those of the lieutenant-governors of the provinces by holding periodic meetings with them, starting in 1973. He was, however, criticized for not reacting to Pierre Trudeau's "contemptuous musings" about the Crown and the governor general.[18]
Michener created two awards to be bestowed on Canadians. Reflecting his interest in sport fishing, he formed the Michener Tuna Trophy and, in demonstration of his strong relationship with many reporters and journalists, he founded in 1970 the Michener Award for Journalism. In return, besides being bestowed with a number of honours by both the Queen-in-Council and private organizations, Michener became the second of only two Canadians, after former governor general Vincent Massey, to be presented with the Royal Victorian Chain, a personal gift of the monarch, awarded to him by Queen Elizabeth II for his service.
Retirement and death
After his term as governor general, Michener and his wife moved to Toronto. They lived at 24 Thornwood Road in the Rosedale neighbourhood. Michener remained active in business throughout the country; he sat on boards of directors and promoted Canadian charities and cultural institutions. From 1973 to 1980, he served as chancellor of Queen's University, and he promoted physical activity to school children and seniors alike. To provide an example to follow, he, at the age of 80, climbed to the peak of Alberta's Mount Michener, to participate in the ceremony marking the Alberta Crown-in-Council's naming of the mountain after him. In 1990, he also agreed to allow his name to be used by the Michener Institute.[1]
In the mid-1980s, Michener became a caretaker for his wife after she was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. She died in Toronto on January 12, 1987,[19] and Michener followed on August 6, 1991. Their ashes repose in St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church in Ottawa, directly across Sussex Drive from Rideau Hall.
Honours and arms
Michener's personal awards and decorations include the following:
In front of a demi-lion supporting a representation of the Mace of the House of Commons of Canada Or a Plate charged with a Maple Leaf Gules.[23]
Escutcheon
Azure four bendlets interlaced in saltire between in chief a representation of the Royal Crown Or and in base a Fleur de Lis Or.[23]
Supporters
On the dexter side a Deer Gules attired and unguled Or charged on the shoulder with a Plate thereon a Rose Gules barbed and seeded proper and on the sinister side a Deer Argent attired and unguled Or charged on the shoulder with a Torteau thereon a Square Buckle Argent.[23]
The mace is that of the House of Commons, evoking Michener's time as speaker of that chamber; the lion holding it is drawn from the coat of arms of Alberta, the symbol of the province in which Michener was born; and the maple leaf is the floral symbol of Canada. The Crown represents the Canadian sovereign that Léger represented as viceroy, while the Fleur de Lys is emblematic of French-Canadian culture. The red deer to the left recalls Red Deer, Alberta, of which Michener's father was mayor, and the wild rose affixed to the deer is also the official flower of Alberta. The two medallions beneath the shield signify that Michener was a member of both the Order of Canada and the Venerable Order of Saint John.
^Parker, C.W. (1914). Who's who in Canada: an illustrated biographical record of men and women of the time. Vol. 6–7. Toronto: International Press Limited. p. 960.
^Quebec Bureau (July 24, 1967). "Quebec gives de Gaulle, warm reserved welcome". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. pp. 1, 10.
^Robertson, Gordon; Memoirs of a Very Civil Servant; pp299-301
^Off, Carol (September 24, 2010). "Archived copy". As it Happens. Season 42. Toronto. 35:30–44:50 minutes in. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on September 30, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
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