Robert Stanfield, 89; Former Leader of Canadian Conservatives

Robert Lorne Stanfield, 89, a former leader of Canada’s conservative party, died Tuesday at the Montfort Hospital in Ottawa after a lengthy illness, said Lowell Murray, a Canadian senator who was a longtime friend.

Stanfield led the Progressive Conservatives from 1967 to 1976 against a formidable opponent, Pierre Trudeau. His party lost every election under his leadership.

In his later years, Stanfield was regarded as the conscience of the conservatives, representing their more liberal side on social issues.

“He was a very quiet, thoughtful, very impressive man who radiated strong moral authority,” former conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said Wednesday from Paris.

Stanfield was a successful premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967, but his slow speaking style, which belied his sharp wit, did not translate well onto the national scene.

A photograph of him fumbling a football during the 1974 federal election campaign seemed to galvanize public sentiment against him. Stanfield’s awkward style contrasted sharply with that of the dashing, more youthful Trudeau.