Gordon Churchill Gordon Minto Churchill , PC , DSO ( November 8 , 1898 in Coldwater , Ontario – August 3 , 1985 ) was a Canadian politician . He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1946 to 1949 as an independent representative , and in the Canadian House of Commons from 1951 to 1968 as a Progressive Conservative . He was a federal cabinet minister in the government of John Diefenbaker . The son of J . W . Churchill and Mary Shier , Churchill was educated in Port Arthur , Ontario , at United College in Winnipeg and at the University of Manitoba , receiving a Master of Arts degree and a law degree . He worked as a teacher and school principal , and served as president of the Manitoba Teachers ' Society . He also was a member of the law firm of Haig and Haig in Winnipeg , dominated by the family of Conservative politician John Thomas Haig . In 1922 , he married Mona Mary McLachlin . Churchill saw action in both World Wars . He served overseas in World War I from 1916 to 1919 as a Vickers Machine Gunner . During World War II , he served from 1939 to 1945 with the Fort Garry Horse and Commanding Officer ( Lieutenant Colonel ) 1st Canadian Carrier Regiment in Northwestern Europe . In 1945 , he became Dean of Faculty at Khaki University in England . Churchill ' s political career began in January 1946 , when he was elected to the Manitoba legislature in a special by - election for Manitobans in the Canadian Army , who had not been able to cast ballots in the 1945 provincial election . Despite his ties to the Progressive Conservative Party , he served in the legislature as an independent member for the next four years . He resigned from the Manitoba legislature in 1949 to run for the Canadian House of Commons . Running in Winnipeg South Centre , he finished a distant second against Liberal candidate Ralph Maybank . Maybank resigned two years later , and Churchill was narrowly elected over Liberal Norman Wright to replace him . He was returned by a greater margin in the 1953 federal election , and by a significant majority in the 1957 election . Churchill was a key adviser to Progressive Conservative Party leader John Diefenbaker during this peiod , and was widely credited with developing the strategy that propelled Diefenbaker to victory in 1957 . The Liberal Party of Louis St . Laurent had been in power since 1935 , and appeared to have strong popular support . Prior to the 1957 election , Churchill wrote a confidential paper arguing that the Progressive Conservative Party could form government by targeting seats in the English - speaking provinces , and did not need to invest resources in Quebec . Diefenbaker followed this strategy , and won a minority government in 1957 . Churchill was appointed to Diefenbaker ' s cabinet on June 21 , 1957 as Minister of Trade and Commerce . Later in the year , he led a 57 - member trade delegation to the United Kingdom , touring firms throughout the country . The Progressive Conservatives were re - elected with a landslide majority in the 1958 federal election , and Churchill defeated his nearest opponent in Winnipeg South Centre by a margin of almost 20 , 000 votes . Churchill gave approval in 1959 for Canada ' s first commercial power nuclear reactor , a CANDU design , to be built at Douglas Point , Ontario . In addition to holding the Trade and Commerce portfolio , he served as acting Leader of the Government in the House of Commons from January 14 to September 10 , 1960 . On October 17 , 1960 , he was confirmed to this position on a full - time basis . After a cabinet shuffle on October 11 , 1960 , he was named Minister of Veterans Affairs . The Progressive Conservatives were re - elected in the 1962 federal election , but were again reduced to a minority government . Churchill ' s majority against Liberal Ed Russenholt fell to only 2 , 000 votes . After another cabinet shuffle on February 12 , 1963 , he was promoted to Minister of National Defence . He had not served two months in this position when the Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the 1963 federal election . Churchill defeated Liberal clergyman Fred Douglas in a further reduced majority , and served as opposition House Leader in the parliament which followed . Churchill again defeated Douglas by about 2 , 000 votes in the 1965 federal election , which the Progressive Conservatives also lost . During the flag debates of the 1960s , Churchill referred to the new Canadian flag as a " piece of bunting " . The " Ottawa Citizen " quoted him describing Prime Minister Lester Pearson as " a sawdust Caesar , reminding me of Mussolini , trying to force the country to accept his personal choice for a flag . " Churchill remained loyal to John Diefenbaker during the Progressive Conservative Party ' s internal quarrels of the 1960s , and continued to work for Diefenbaker at the party ' s 1967 leadership convention . When Diefenbaker left the race , he sent Churchill as an emissary to Dufferin Roblin ' s camp to accept a Roblin badge . In February 1968 , Churchill attacked new Progressive Conservative leader Robert Stanfield for not forcing an election when the Liberal government of Lester Pearson was unexpectedly defeated in the house . He left the Progressive Conservative caucus on February 27 , 1968 to sit as an Independent Progressive Conservative , and did not run for re - election in the 1968 campaign . He died in Victoria , British Columbia at the age of 86 .