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Subtly, Diefenbaker cashed in on the anti-American sentiment that the pipeline debate stirred up: "If foreign investments are to remain predominant in resource industries, Canada would tend to become a purely extractive national economy." As the campaign progressed, his audiences became bigger and more demonstrative. Keeping a man-killing schedule of daylight speaking tours and nights of travel by train and airplane, he seemed to live on chicken sandwiches and cat naps grabbed in moving automobiles. He explained his knack for dropping off to sleep easily: "You just clench your back teeth." On his six-week, 20,000-mile campaign tour, he astonished his staff by gaining 8 lbs.
Newspapers and politicians admired the try, but almost to a man they gave Diefenbaker no chance. The Gallup poll forecast a Liberal walkaway. Instead, the Tories raised their hold on the House of Commons from 50 seats to 111 (including one member gained in a recent by-election). The Liberals were cut down from 167 to 105 members. Independents, plus the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (socialist) and the rightist Social Credit Party picked up 48, thus denying the Tories a majority.
One night a week after the election, as John Diefenbaker and Olive sat down to chicken sandwiches and ice cream in Ottawa's Château Laurier hotel, a telephone call came from Government House. While Olive wept softly with excitement, John was informed that on the following day Governor General Massey would ask him to form a new government of Canada.
Canada First. As the course and aims of the new government emerged in the past two months. Canadians seemed increasingly pleased with the change of faces in Ottawa. Even Liberal newspapers found little to carp about, and leaders of the opposition parties promised not to "obstruct" the new government. On Oct. 14, Queen Elizabeth II will read a government policy statement to the new 23rd Parliament, and Diefenbaker will then present his legislative program to a hostile majority in the House of Commons. The opposition parties could join forces at any time to overthrow his government and force a new election. Far from holding any terrors for Diefenbaker, that is a situation he may even invite, perhaps early next year, by proposing legislation he knows the opposition cannot accept. For Diefenbaker can reasonably hope that the Tories would win the election, quite possibly with a clear majority in the House.