The man who saved Canada’s Conservatives from political irrelevance

Before Pierre Poilievre, before Brian Mulroney, there was one leader who made the federal Conservatives an electoral force to be reckoned with. Before John Diefenbaker, Canada had begun to resemble a Liberal one-party state. Bob Plamondon, author of the new book “Freedom Fighter: John Diefenbaker’s Battle for Canadian Liberties and Independence,” talks with Brian Lilley about how Dief became a political sensation bigger than any other prime minister; how he stood against the Soviets, while standing up to America; and championed equality before it was fashionable. And Plamondon explains how the three-time prime minister created the blueprint for the common-man conservatism that animates the party even today, turning the Tories “from a party of losers into a party of winners.” (Recorded June