Nova Scotia’s 20th premier, John Buchanan, was remembered Friday as a consummate politician with an uncanny ability to connect with people, as friends and political dignitaries gathered to celebrate his life.
Buchanan, who died Oct. 3 at the age of 88, served as premier from 1978 to 1990, winning four consecutive majorities for the Progressive Conservatives.
His casket, draped in Nova Scotia’s provincial flag, was led into Dalhousie University’s Rebecca Cohn Auditorium by eight red-coated Mounties and a lone piper, as his wife of 65 years, Mavis, and his five children looked on.
“He was the finest street politician I have ever seen, and he was the best that Nova Scotia has ever produced,” friend and former cabinet colleague Roland Thornhill told the gathering.
“He was a gregarious person who had an exceptional ability of remembering people. Remembering their names, who they were and where they were.”
READ MORE: Former N.S. premier John Buchanan dies at 88
Among those in attendance were former Tory premiers John Hamm and Rodney MacDonald, a noted Cape Breton fiddler who played his own musical tribute during the service.
Current Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil recalled Buchanan’s kindness upon their first meeting and the ex-Tory premier’s gentle jibe that McNeil’s grandfather had once voted for him in 1970.
“I would say to the Senator … my grandfather might have voted for you, but I can guarantee you one thing: He didn’t tell my grandmother.”
The story, which McNeil said would be retold several times over the ensuing years, drew laughter from the bipartisan crowd. McNeil said he appreciated the connection Buchanan made with him and said it captured the essence of Buchanan’s political success.
“It wasn’t because he was pursuing elected office. It wasn’t because he was looking for higher office. It was because he actually cared about the person he was talking to and how he could make that interaction better for the person that he met.”
Current Tory Leader Tim Houston, called Buchanan “a great Nova Scotian and a great man.”
He also remarked on Buchanan’s ability to connect, joking that Buchanan was often late for events because he had stopped to talk to people.
“He never forgot a name, he never forgot a face, and his warmth was a true magnet to people,” Houston said.
A Halifax lawyer before entering politics, Buchanan joined the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives at the request of then-premier Robert Stanfield.
He was first elected to the legislature in 1967 and later held various cabinet posts before being elected party leader in 1971.
He led the Tories to an emphatic defeat to the Gerald Regan Liberals in 1974, before being elected as premier in September 1978 at the age of 47.
The victory led to perhaps the most enduring image of the man.
On the morning after the win stood with his wife in the middle of the Armdale Rotary in west-end Halifax, waving at rush hour traffic with a sign that read “Thank You.”
It was a public gesture that was remarked upon several times at Friday’s service, including by Ernest Johnson, Buchanan’s friend of 60 years.
“He always said he was elected to serve the people, and over the years he did just that,” Johnson said.
Buchanan served 16 years in the Senate after stepping down as premier in 1990 as controversy engulfed his government. In the years following his time in power, he was also heavily criticized for financial policies that massively ballooned Nova Scotia’s net debt.
Johnson defended his friend’s record.
“He built schools … he built hospitals,” he said. “It was what the people wanted. They wanted better education, they wanted better health care, and he delivered.”
Nova Scotia’s third-longest serving premier, Buchanan was sworn into the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada along with several other premiers by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his role in the patriation of the Constitution in 1982.
This report by The Canadian Press was originally published Oct. 11, 2019.
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