Dinner honouring Rt. Hon. John G. Diefenbaker, PC, QC, MP

Admin History/Bio: John G. Diefenbaker was born in Neustadt, Ontario on Sept. 18, 1895 to William and Mary. He joined the Canadian Officers' Training Corps and served as lieutenant with the 105th Saskatoon Fusiliers' Regiment between the years 1916-1917. Afterwards, he returned to school in Saskatchewan and became a lawyer starting up a practice in Wakaw.; He married Edna Brauer, then after her death, he remarried in 1953 to Olive E. Freeman Palmer. He had no children.; John G. Diefenbaker was elected to the house of Parliament in 1940 and won the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1956. The Party won the 1957 election and John G. Diefenbaker became Canada's 13th Prime Minister. He was defeated in 1963 by the Liberals, and in 1967 Diefenbaker was replaced as the P.C. leader by Robert Stansfield.; During his reign as Prime Minister, he initiated the Canadian Bill of Rights, which was later adopted in 1960. John G. Diefenbaker died on Aug. 16, 1979.; The 1973 Negev dinner, along with the erection of the John G. Diefenbaker Parkway in Israel, was the Toronto Jewish Community's recognition of his humanitarian efforts and his commitment to Israel.

Scope and Content: File consists of photographs documenting the Negev dinner held in honour of John G. Diefenbaker at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.; The programme for the evening included speeches and presentations from the following guests: Robert R. Hall, Rabbi David Monson, Leona Finkler, Cantor Joseph Cooper, Hon. Allan Grossman, Ambassador Theodor Meron, James F. Kay, Bernard M. Bloomfield, Philip G. Givens, Murray B. Koffler, and David L. Dennis.

Name Access: Bloomfield, Bernard M.; Cooper, Cantor Joseph; Dennis, David L.; Diefenbaker, John G., 1895-1979; Finkler, Leona; Givens, Philip G.; Grossman, Allan, 1910-1991; Hall, Robert R.; Kay, James F.; Koffler, Murray B.; Meron, Theodor; Monson, Rabbi David; Palmer, Olive E. Freeman [Diefenbaker]