Daniel Roland Michener (April 19, 1900 – August 6, 1991) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the 20th governor general of Canada from 1967 to 1974.
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 Queen Elizabeth II on the recommendation of Prime Minister Lester 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.
On October 15, 1962, Michener was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.[2] He then served on the boards of various corporations and charities and sat as Chancellor of Queen's University.
Youth and education
Daniel Roland Michener was born in Lacombe, Alberta (then part of the Northwest Territories), to Senator Edward 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]
Michener attended the University of Alberta, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Rhodes Scholarship that took him to Hertford College at the University of Oxford. There, he played for the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club and met Lester B. Pearson, who was his lifelong friend. After completing his Master of Arts and Bachelor of Civil Law degrees,[1] Michener returned to Canada, settled in Toronto and practised law. At the same time, he acted as the general secretary for the Rhodes Foundation in Canada between 1936 and 1964 and sat as chairman of the Manitoba Royal Commission on Local Government.[1]
On February 26, 1927, in St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Church, Michener married Norah Willis; the couple had three daughters.[3]
Political career
Michener first ran for political office in Ontario's 1943 election as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of St. David, but was defeated by William Dennison of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF).[5] Michener ran in St. David again in the 1945 election and defeated Dennison this time[6] Michener was then appointed to Premier George Drew's cabinet as provincial secretary and registrar of Ontario, being responsible for formalizing cabinet procedures, including agenda and minutes. In the 1948 provincial election, Dennison took St. David back from Michener.
Michener then tried to enter federal politics in the 1949 election but was unsuccessful. He tried again in the election of 1953 and was elected in the riding of St. Paul's. In 1956, the Progressive Conservative party chose John Diefenbaker as its leader at its leadership convention, and in the election the following year the Tories attained a minority government. Michener was appointed speaker of the House of Commons, after the post was turned down by Stanley Knowles.
Governor General of Canada
Michener was immediately recalled from India and, on March 29, 1967, Queen Elizabeth 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.
Only ten days after Michener was made viceroy, he opened Expo 67 in Montreal. The exposition, held on the 100th anniversary of Confederation, attracted fifty-three heads of state and numerous other dignitaries; as the representative of Canada's head of state, Michener greeted and held audience with each of them. Among the guests were United States President Lyndon B. Johnson; Princess Grace of Monaco; former US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy;
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:
- Appointments
- 🇨🇦 June 4, 1945 – June 7, 1948: Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP)
- 🇨🇦 August 10, 1953 – June 18, 1962: Member of Parliament (MP)
- 🇨🇦 October 15, 1962 – August 6, 1991: Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (PC)
- 🇨🇦 April 17, 1967 – January 14, 1974: Knight of Justice, Prior, and Chief Officer in Canada of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (KStJ)[20]
- January 14, 1974 – August 6, 1991: Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (KStJ)
- 🇨🇦 April 17, 1967 – January 14, 1974: Chief Scout of Canada
- 🇨🇦 1967 – August 6, 1991: Honorary Member of the Royal Military College of Canada Club
Archives
There is a Roland Michener fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[27]
See also
- Lacombe, Alberta residents
External links
References
- The Michener Institute > About Michener > Biography of D. Roland Michener The Michener Institute, 2007, retrieved March 11, 2009^
- Privy Council Office. Information Resources > Historical Alphabetical List since 1867 of Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada > M Queen's Printer for Canada, October 30, 2008, retrieved March 11, 2009^
- A History of the Campus and Its People > People in Queen's History > Chancellors since 1877 > The Rt Hon Daniel Roland Michener (1900–1991)