Sydney Earle Smith, the veteran President of the University of Toronto, was tapped by rookie PM John Diefenbaker to be the latter’s Secretary of State for External Affairs in 1957. Prime Minister Diefenbaker learned of his minister’s death while he was in the House. “I sent a note to the Prime Minister on the floor of the House, and he came behind the curtains immediately. The Prime Minister was stunned and profoundly upset. “When the shock wore off, Prime Minister Diefenbaker appointed British Columbia’s Howard Green as Smith’s replacement.
