John W. Dafoe Family: : Archives & Special Collections : Libraries : University of Manitoba

John Wesley Dafoe was born March 8, 1866 in Combermere, in the Ottawa Valley. His parents, Calvin and Mary Dafoe, had moved there from Zion’s Hill, near Belleville, in 1865, to start homesteading. However, their farming efforts proved disappointing since the rocky soil made cultivation virtually impossible. Consequently, Calvin Dafoe became a lumberjack who spent the winter and spring felling trees and preparing them for the trip down the river, and the summer toiling to make his farmland productive. John Dafoe’s family was Methodist by religion and Conservative politically. John was always the “different” one in his family. Instead of being interested in the land and in farming, he preferred reading and studying. His mother, who was better educated than her husband and who had wanted very much to further her own education as a child, encouraged John to read and learn as much as possible. At age thirteen he was sent to Arnprior, Ontario to attend school. He returned two years later and started teaching at Bark Lake, fifteen miles from his parents’ homestead. While there, he became acquainted with the writings of Richard Cobden, John Bright and Sir Archibald Alison. The liberalism of Cobden and Bright, in marked contrast to Alison’s ultra-conservatism, was apparently a major factor in influencing his youthful decision to become the first Liberal in a family of firmly-entrenched Conservatives. Another factor in his decision may have been the agricultural platform of the Liberal party in the 1880s, which received strong support amongthe English-speaking Protestants of rural Canada.

In 1883, anxious to leave the backwoods of Bark Lake, John Dafoe took a job as a cub reporter under Hugh Graham of the Montreal Star. In 1884 he was sent to Ottawa as a parliamentary reporter, a job which he at first found difficult because he lacked first-hand information about the issues affecting the country at the time. Over the next two years, however, Dafoe learned a great deal about both Canada and journalism. At the same time, he made many life-long friends, including Sir Wilfred Laurier (1841-1919) and several otherpolitical figures of the day.

In December of 1885 Dafoe became editor of the Ottawa Evening Journal, but resigned six months later and moved west to Winnipeg to work as a reporter for the Manitoba Free Press. Dafoe so enjoyed the prairies that in 1888 he convinced his family to leave Combermere and move to Manitoba. They homesteaded on land near what is now Killarney. While in Winnipeg, Dafoe became steadily more aware of the problems facing the country. He seemed particularly concerned with the struggle to build more rail-lines to the south and west, and with the Manitoba Schools Question. Both of these issues were to be of some importanceto him in later years.

In 1890 he married Alice Parmalee, whom he had met seven years earlierin Ottawa. The Dafoes would have seven children.

In 1892, he was offered , and accepted , the editorship of the Montreal Herald. While with the Herald, he considerably sharpened his editorial skills. He also became increasingly supportive of the Liberal party. After the Montreal Herald went bankrupt in 1895, Dafoe became editor of the Family Herald. He stayed there for the next six years, during which time its circulation doubled.

In 1898 Clifford Sifton (1861-1929), then Minister of the Interior in Laurier’s cabinet and a former Attorney-General of Manitoba, purchased the Manitoba Free Press. In searching for an editor, he had in mind someone who not only loved western Canada, but would also be a strong western spokesman for the Liberal party. Dafoe seemed the ideal candidate and was offered the position in 1901. Dafoe, then only thirty-five years of age, returned happily to Winnipeg to assume his new post, which he would fill with distinction forthe next forty-two years.

As an editor without equal in Canada, Dafoe wrote tirelessly and became a prominent spokesman on a great number of issues relevant to the Canadian experience during the first half of the twentieth century. A biographical sketch such as this can only take note of some of his many concerns andconvictions.

It might accurately be said that the one major concern of John W. Dafoe was Canadian nationalism. He very much wanted to see Canada assume its rightful place among the world’s community of nations. He repeatedly criticized Canada’s constitutional dependancy upon Britain and opposed the Alaska Boundary Settlement in 1903 with the United States, convinced that Britain had not negotiated in Canada’s best interests. Dafoe resented the fact that the Governors-General were all titled Britons and that the Canadian governmenthad little, if any, opportunity to recommend Canadians for the position.

Dafoe was a staunch advocate of Liberal party politics, especially in his earlier years. He took particular delight in criticizing Conservative policies on both provincial and federal levels. His written attacks against the Conservatives in the 1903 provincial election were so acerbic that Rodmund Roblin (1853-1937), Premier of Manitoba at the time, brought a libel suit against him. This running feud between Roblin and Dafoe continued for many years. During the next three provincial elections, Dafoe continued to criticize Roblin and his fellow Conservatives. The 1911 election, waged mainly on the question of reciprocity, was won decisively by the Conservatives, in part because of their anti-reciprocity platform. During the provincial election of 1914, several charges were made in the Free Press about the Conservative government. Though Roblin and his Conservatives won by a narrow majority, two months later the government was forced to resign over charges of graft in the construction of the new Legislative Buildings. The Liberals formed the nextgovernment.

Although Dafoe understood that the circumstances leading to World War I represented a threat to freedom and democracy, he also realized that the war represented a threat to freedom and democracy, he also realized that the war represented an opportunity for Canada to participate in action which would assert its independent nationhood. With respect to Canada’s involvement in the war, Dafoe travelled to Ottawa to try to convince Prime Minister Robert Borden (1854-1937) of the necessity of conscription and of organizing a Union or bipartisan Government for the duration of the war. Partly as a result of these talks and partly because of his visit to England early in 1917, Borden introduced a Military Service bill and approached Laurier, Leader of the Opposition, about forming a Union Government. Laurier looked upon both of these issues with disfavour, not because he disapproved of Canada’s involvement in the war, but because he believed conscription would irreparably divide French and English Canada. It was due to these questions that Laurier split with Sifton, Dafoe and other English-speaking Liberals. Dafoe was convinced that the future of the country depended on the outcome of the war. To Dafoe, conscription would ensure high levels of enlistment, while a bipartisan government would establish much-needed unity amongst Canadians. In October 1917, a Union Government was established under Borden, with ten Liberals and thirteen Conservatives. Three weeks later a general election was called, with conscription being the major issue. As might be expected, Dafoe took a very active part in the campaign. Borden won the election, but lost all but three seats in Quebec. Within a year the war ended and Borden chose Dafoe to accompany him to London and Paris as a Press Officer to the Peace Conference. While Dafoe was in London, he continued to urge recognition of Canada as a responsible, self-reliant, independent member of the British Commonwealth - not a half colony. With Borden he tried to gain recognition of Canada’s right for self-determination. Murray Donnelly, in Dafoe of the Free Press stated, “he believed with his whole heart and mind that the harsh measure of conscription in 1917 had been justified, and that out of the crucible of war, out of a life-and-death struggle, Canada had found her placein the great allied group of free nations.”

With respect to post-war activities, Dafoe was a staunch supporter of the League of Nations and of Canada’s independent membership in the League. To Dafoe, the League would do much to renew the democratic process. He was highly critical of the French obsession with security and the American demand for reparations. Dafoe felt that there should be not only universal disarmament, but also international tariff reductions to help balance the world economy. He also urged that all war debts and reparations be cancelled. Hefeared that unless these ideas were implemented another war was inevitable.

During these years Dafoe attended several international conferences of major significance such as the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, and Imperial Press Conferences held in Australia in 1925, and Great Britain in 1930. At all these Conferences he supported every effort that would promote greater autonomy for the Dominion. Not surprisingly, he found the Statute of Westminster (1931) most satisfying, since it gave Canada almost total autonomy and, in effect, completed the development of her nationhood while keeping Canada within theCommonwealth.

During the years between the two wars, Dafoe involved himself in and wrote upon other issues and events central to Canada’s history. In 1919 he took a firm stand against the leaders of the Winnipeg General Strike. Later he helped found the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, which operated under the auspices of the Institute of Pacific Relations. In 1927 he delivered a series of lectures on Canada at the University of Chicago. In 1929, owing to the death of Sir Clifford Sifton, Dafoe became, in effect, publisher as well as editor of the Free Press The economic destitution of the depression of the 1930s, with all its tragic consequences, was a phenomenon Dafoe found as deeply troubling as it was inexplicable. After much study, he decided that economic nationalism, high tariffs and exorbitant reparation demands all contributed tothe causes of the depression.

In 1937 the Federal Government established the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations to investigate the causes of and cures for the nation’s interprovincial problems. Dafoe sat on the Commission along with N. Rowell, J. Sirois, R. A. MacKay and H. F. Angus. After travelling across Canada for two years and receiving little co-operation, the Commission’s report was represented at the Dominion-Provincial Conference in January 1941. Though rejected at the time, many of its concepts have since been partially implemented, such as the federal government’s involvement in the health and hospital services area and various equalizationpayment programs with the provinces.

In the years before the outbreak of World War II, Dafoe tried repeatedly to warn the world of the risk, but this was a time of isolation and people seemed unaware of the danger. As it became increasingly apparent that Hitler entertained belligerent and imperialistic ambitions, a spontaneous isolationist movement sprang up in Canada. Like the United States, Canada did not want to become involved in another war, especially in light of the anarchy that seemed to be spreading universally. Dafoe, who had always been a staunch supporter of peace by international treaty and security pacts, and who believed in the peaceful settlement of disputes, was increasingly perturbed as events unfolded. With the outbreak of World War II, he responded with a profound sense of disappointment and disgust. Not surprised at the course of European events, Dafoe nonetheless condemned the war. Unlike his stand in World War I, Dafoe opposed Canada’s involvement and, up until his death, protested againstwhat he considered to be the senseless loss of lives.

On January 9, 1944, at the age of seventy-seven, Dafoe died suddenly in Winnipeg. Few Canadians have been more widely known and respected both in Canada and throughout the world. He was a journalist/statesman of enduring stature, and a devoted husband and father. His advocacy of an independent Canada, equality within the Commonwealth, constitutional reform, free trade, international peace efforts and education have become well-known. Stubborn but true to his convictions, Dafoe opposed fascism, communism, colonialism and imperialism. He loved his family, his career, his city and his country, and brought to all of them a single-minded devotion that will be longremembered.

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Scope and Contents of the Papers

The John W. Dafoe Collection of his personal and political papers contains materials which give great insight into his life and thought. Included in the collection are diaries, correspondence, speeches, editorials, articles,memoranda, reports and newspaper clippings.

There are two diaries, one kept in 1919 while he attended the Paris Peace Conference and the other in 1923 while at the Imperial Conference. Bothdiaries abound with comments and reflections.

The most important and interesting part of the collection is the enormous amount of correspondence ranging from 1896 to 1944. On May 21, 1998 Archives & Special Collections acquired a second accrual from John W. Dafoe’s grandson Christopher. This acquisition filled one of the few gaps in the Collection as it contained lengthy correspondence between Dafoe and his wife Alice and to a lesser degree with his children between the years 1905-1942. They include letters home from the Paris Peace Conference, the various Imperial Press Conferences and the Rowell-Sirois Commission. Dafoe’s letters to his friends and associates are most complete after World War I. They include over two hundred correspondents from all over the world, from individuals involved in journalism, law, politics, business, teaching and banking. Most of his correspondence deals with public affairs, economic and political issues as well as international activities. Between 1896 and 1906, there is a series of letters between Dafoe and Sir Wilfred Laurier on the Manitoba Schools Question and the Manitoba Franchise Act. The Reciprocity Treaty of 1911 is discussed in letters between Dafoe and Sir Wilfred Laurier, Sir Clifford Sifton and Sydney Fisher. Dafoe pronounced his views on Laurier’s and Borden’s naval policies in letters to Laurier, Homer Greenwood, J. E. Atkinson and Arthur Hawkes. In 1917 Dafoe corresponded with W. A. Atkin, V. T. Bertram, J. A. Calder and Laurier about the formation of a Union Government. During the 1920s the progress of Dafoe’s thoughts about Canada’s claim to self-government is revealed in letters to Sifton, Loring Christie, O. D. Skelton, J. S. Ewart, Sir Robert Borden, HenriBourassa, George M. Wrong and Hume Wrong.

The 1930s and the outbreak of the depression saw the election of the Conservative government under R. B. Bennett, and Dafoe’s thoughts of the events of the time can be seen in his correspondence with reporter Grant Dexter. Dafoe was concerned with the growth economic nationalism throughout Canada and the world, a concern he expressed in letters to J. M. Macdonnell, Harry Sifton, W. D. Gregory, Lord Beaverbrook and R.J. Deachman. He also opposed the scheme for railroad amalgamation, and letters expressing his views were exchanged with H. J. Symington, John Stevenson, Harry Sifton and T. B. Robertson. Dafoe also felt the need for the reinvigorating of the Liberal party, as was made clear in correspondence with Vincent Massey, Norman Lambert, Mackenzie King and Harry Sifton. In foreign affairs, his letters to Clifford Sifton, Duncan Hall, J. T. Shotwell, E. C. Carter, Lord Lothian, Sir A. Zimmern, F. T. Holgate, J. S. McLean and G. V. Ferguson reveal how critical he was of the appeasement policies of Britain and France. He discussed Canada’s participation in the war with G. V. Ferguson, Clifford Sifton, T. A. Crerar, Grant Dexter, Chester Bloom, J. T. Shotwell and B. K.Sandwell.

The great bulk of his personal and professional correspondence is included in the section of the collection entitled “Correspondence”. Correspondence pertaining to the Rowell-Sirois Commission, the Institute of Pacific Relations and other specific events is scattered throughout the rest of the collection. A full index to correspondentsis provided.

Sixty-six speeches, mostly of a political nature, range in date from 1911 to 1943. These include speeches given at University Convocations, the League of Nations Society, Charactered Accountants’ conventions and various clubs and institutes. Topics range from “Canadian National Unityand the New Order”, to “The Modern Newspaper.”

There is also a collection of his writings, including his Free Press editorials from July to October of 1917, a number of handwritten notes onvarious topics and a series of newspaper, journal and magazine clippings.

Twenty-five memoranda, most of which deal with some phase of government life, are also included. These memoranda are not items of correspondence but are, rather, reports and research compilations on a variety of subjects. Running in date from 1892 to 1942, they bear such titles as titles as “Life in Washington”, “ The Covenant of the League of Nations”, “Memo of Suggested Plan for Dealing for Dealing with Railway Situation in Canada”, “The Coup d’Etat, “ A Foreign Policy for Canada” and “ Combined WarAdministration”.

Newspaper clippings about John Dafoe include reviews of his books: Over the Canadian Battlefields: Notes of a Little Journey in France in March, 1919 Toronto: Thomas Allen, c.1919),Clifford Sifton in Relation to His Times, Toronto: Macmillan, c.1931), and Canada: An American Nation (New York: Columbia University Press, c.1935). There are also a number of articles on Dafoe theman, the editor and the adviser of prime ministers.

A Testimonial Dinner was given in 1943 to celebrate Dafoe’s sixty years journalism. Of this dinner, the programme, seating arrangement, Dafoe’s speech, messages from absentees and numerous press clippings are found in the collection. His seventieth birthday celebrations are equally welldocumented.

Miscellaneous materials include pamphlets, a copy of a decree by King George V, three articles in various subjects, the Dafoe family tree reaching back six generations and a copy of 1955 MacLean’s “Flashback” on Dafoe. There is a signed document by U.S. President Herbert Hoover appointing Dafoe to an International Commission Re: Treaty of Reconciliation between the United States and Germany in the second accrual. The latter accrual also contains a two tape recording about Dafoeproduced in Winnipeg by Ken Black and broadcast January 4, 1959.

Materials relevant to his death include memorials written by friends and peers, obituaries and letters about Dafoe, and a hand-written, semi-biographical sketch of Dafoe’s early years written by his sister, Mrs. E. Emerson. The second accrual contains condolence telegrams fromMacKenzie King, Vincent Massey and Sir William Mulock to Alice Dafoe.

The photograph collection contains several photographs of the RowellSirois Commmission as well as several of John W. Dafoe.

The material consists of a two tape recording about Dafoe produced inWinnipeg by Ken Black and broadcast January 4, 1959.

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Organization of the Papers

This collection is organized into 12 series

DIARIES, 1918-1923
CORRESPONDENCE, 1857-1948
ROWELL - SIROIS COMMISSION, 1933-1940
INSTITUTE OF PACIFIC RELATIONS, 1936-1939
IMPERIAL CONFERENCES, 1909-1937
PARIS PEACE TALKS, 1918-1919
“UNION NOW”, 1940
CANADIAN GENERAL COUNCIL OF BOY SCOUTS, 1935-1940
SPEECHES, 1911-1943
PUBLISHED WRITINGS, 1917-1976
HANDWRITTEN NOTES BY DAFOE 1930-1940
ASSORTED MATERIALS, 1916-1944
PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION (PC 3), 1925-1944
TAPE COLLECTION (TC 89), 1959

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No restrictions on the material.

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