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Prime ministers and premiers who died while in office

by Maurice Y. Michaud (he/him)

Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (1890–1959)
© Photo — Public domain

Whether it was expected or not, the passing of a premier or prime minister while in office is a marking event in any jurisdiction’s history. In addition to the federal level, this event has occurred in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Québec. The second and last Canadian prime minister to die in office was John Sparrow David Thompson 130 years ago, and the last provincial premier to do so was Daniel Johnson Sr. 57 years ago.

It is especially striking when it happens to three premiers in a row, as was the case in British Columbia between 1887 and 1892 (Smithe, Davie, and Robson). However, given that only 18 of the 343 persons who reached the top legislative position in their government have died in office, it is surprising to notice that successive passings have occurred several times in Canadian history.

• There were five Canadian prime ministers in the 7th Parliament (1891–1896).
  1. First, the Conservative John A. Macdonald died in office at the age of 76 on June 6, 1891, only three months after he had been re-elected.
  2. The Governor General, The Lord Stanley of Preston, designated as his replacement the Leader of the Government in the Senate, anglo-Quebecker John Abbott, aged 70 at the time.
  3. In poor health, Abbott resigned in late 1892 to cede the position to a former Nova Scotia premier and current MP for Antigonish, the younger John S.D. Thompson. But a fatal heart attack struck him down at the age of 49, while he was on a trip to England on December 12, 1894.
  4. Mackenzie Bowell from Ontario then replaced Thompson for a year-and-a-half.
  5. Finally, on May 1, 1896, one of the Fathers of Confederation, Sir Charles Tupper from Nova Scotia, became the parliament’s fifth prime minister, only to lose the position the following month when the Liberals won their first general election in 18 years.
      
• In British Columbia, Premier John Oliver, who replaced Premier Harlan Brewster who had died in office on March 1, 1918, also died in office on August 17, 1927.
   
• And in Québec, Premier Paul Sauvé, the successor of Premier Maurice Duplessis who had died suddenly on September 7, 1959, also died suddenly on January 2, 1960. Oddly, Sauvé’s successor, Premier Daniel Johnson, died in office as well on September 26, 1968, but given that Jean Lesage served as premier between Johnson’s first and second term, he was arguably the third in a row Union Nationale premier to have died in office. And as if things were not going badly enough for the UN, Johnson’s successor, Jean-Jacques Bertrand, died in office on February 22, 1973, at the age of 56, although he was no longer the leader of the UN by then.

CA BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL YT NT NU NW ∑ 2 5 1 0 0 1 4 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 18
Who	Details
1 George Hathaway (1813–1872)		1872 New Brunswick Death date 5 July 1872 Age at death 58 years 11 months Party Conservative Party of New Brunswick
2 William Smithe (1842–1887)		1887 British Columbia Death date 28 March 1887 Age at death 44 years 8 months Party Government (B.C.)
3 A.E.B. Davie (1847–1889)		1889 British Columbia Death date 1 August 1889 Age at death 41 years 8 months Party Government (B.C.)
4 John A. Macdonald (1815–1891)		1891 Canada Death date 6 June 1891 Age at death 76 years 4 months Party Conservative Party of Canada
5 John Robson (1824–1892)		1892 British Columbia Death date 29 June 1892 Age at death 68 years 3 months Party Government (B.C.)
6 John Thompson (1845–1894)		1894 Canada Death date 12 December 1894 Age at death 49 years 1 month Party Conservative Party of Canada
7 Félix-Gabriel Marchand (1832–1900)		1900 Québec Death date 25 September 1900 Age at death 68 years 8 months Party Quebec Liberal Party
8 Arthur Peters (1854–1908)		1908 Prince Edward Island Death date 29 January 1908 Age at death 53 years 5 months Party Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island
9 James Whitney (1843–1914)		1914 Ontario Death date 25 September 1914 Age at death 70 years 11 months Party Liberal-Conservative Party of Ontario
10 Harlan Brewster (1870–1918)		1918 British Columbia Death date 1 March 1918 Age at death 47 years 3 months Party British Columbia Liberal Party
11 John Oliver (1856–1927)		1927 British Columbia Death date 17 August 1927 Age at death 71 years Party British Columbia Liberal Party
12 James Stewart (1874–1933)		1933 Prince Edward Island Death date 10 October 1933 Age at death 59 years 8 months Party Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island
13 Walter Lea (1874–1936)		1936 Prince Edward Island Death date 10 January 1936 Age at death 61 years 11 months Party Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island
14 William Aberhart (1878–1943)		1943 Alberta Death date 23 May 1943 Age at death 64 years 4 months Party Social Credit Party of Alberta
15 Angus Macdonald (1890–1954)		1954 Nova Scotia Death date 13 April 1954 Age at death 63 years 8 months Party Nova Scotia Liberal Party
16 Maurice Duplessis (1890–1959)		1959 Québec Death date 7 September 1959 Age at death 69 years 4 months Party Union nationale
17 Paul Sauvé (1907–1960)		1960 Québec Death date 2 January 1960 Age at death 52 years 9 months Party Union nationale
18 Daniel Johnson (1915–1968)		1968 Québec Death date 26 September 1968 Age at death 53 years 5 months Party Union nationale