Hazen Argue - Liberal Party MP and Senator

Liberal Party MP and Senator

Argue crossed the floor six months later to join the Liberal Party arguing that divisions were rife in the NDP and that farmers' interests were overwhelmed by those of labour. He was re-elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) in 1962 but was defeated in 1963 and again in 1965. In 1966, Argue was appointed to the Senate as a Liberal.

When the Liberal Party failed to win any seats in the House of Commons from ridings west of Winnipeg in the 1980 election, Argue was appointed to Pierre Trudeau's Cabinet from 1980 to 1984 as Minister of State (Canada Wheat Board).

In 1989, he became the first senator ever charged with misuse of public funds and fraud. The RCMP alleged that he used public funds to help his wife's bid to obtain the Liberal Party nomination in their Ottawa-area riding, for the 1988 Canadian federal election. The charges were dropped in 1991 by the crown prosecuter, because it became apparent that Argue was near death, as he was bedridden for most of the year with cancer. He died three months later in Regina, on October 2, 1991.

Argue is the only former leader of the CCF or NDP whose portrait is not on the walls of NDP headquarters.