George M. Abbott, "Pattullo, the Press, and the Dominion-Provincial Conference of 1941," BC Studies 111 (Autumn 1996), pp. 37-59

Read 12 Oct 2026. How Duff Pattullo's refusal of the Rowell-Sirois report at the conference of January 1941 was received in Ottawa, in the press and in his own cabinet.

• King's diary, 15 January 1941: "They all think Pattullo particularly stupid, having had his speech printed before leaving BC"; "I understand all his cabinet is against the position he is taking"; Ottawa now had "the pledge of the provinces to let us take their revenues if we need them, a tremendous achievement."
• The press: the Vancouver Sun and Daily Province called him "chief of the wrecking crew"; most other British Columbia papers were milder.
• The cabinet: against King's diary, Abbott finds it behind him: John Hart wrote the province's critique of the plan, and George Weir said it would set social services back "25 years"; Ilsley's own figures showed British Columbia losing $3,611,000 under it. No collusion with Hepburn or Aberhart is found.
• The historians: before Fisher, most were critical (Ormsby, "rejected for his parochialism"; Martin Robin, "a petty obstructionist"); Fisher (p. 330) calls him "absolutely correct" about undue centralization, and Abbott reinforces that reading.

See Duff Pattullo, 22nd Premier of British Columbia: what did he get right, and what did he get wrong?.