Churchill
He arrived in Toronto a celebrity, but at home Winston Churchill's star had fallen. When he spoke at Maple Leaf Gardens on March 3, 1932, the great statesman had entered the Wilderness Years, a time when it seemed his political career was finished, before being revived so magnificently during the Second World War. And so he hit the road, just as he had as a famous young globetrotting soldier and war correspondent back in 1900, embarking on a public speaking tour of North America because he needed the money. Still, Churchill cut quite a figure, greeting reporters in the sitting room of his suite at the Royal York Hotel before the speech. "Mr. Churchill's face is round and pink. His hands are square and pink. His hair, what remains of it, is gold - an astonishingly bright gold. His cigar is long and black," wrote the reporter from the Globe and Mail. Newspaper advertisements that day trumpeted: "An unprecedented event - and unequaled opportunity to hear one of Britain's great men!" Good seats were available for between fifty cents and a dollar. But even with the added attraction of the 48th Highlanders band, the turnout had to be a bit disappointing - just 6,000, less than half of the arena's capacity, and they had to strain to make out Churchill's words through a crackling public address system. "His 'Can you hear me?' made one feel that he was putting through a long distance telephone call. The response made one think he had got a wrong number," wrote John Herries McCulloch in the Toronto Star. Despite those challenges, Churchill managed to get his message across loud and clear: a strong and united British Empire was the best protection against another Great War. "Mark you, England's weakness is the world's danger, and the strength of the Empire guarantees world peace," he said. Churchill closed his speech with a flourish, playing to the many loyalists in the crowd. "The Mother country has revived!," he said. "She is gathering her children around her, and, hand in hand with Canada, will lead the Empire and the world out of the gloom of panic and depression back into the sunlight of prosperity."
-Stephen Brunt
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Toronto Plaques. Full page here.