Yesterday I said that if Harper is elected in Canada he would be the first Westerner. I was wrong, as a number of readers (thanks John and Tom, for example) have pointed out. Here is one e-mail:

"Stephen Harper would be Canada’s 6th PM from Western
Canada and second from Calgary, Alberta (Richard Bennett was PM from
1930-35).

However, you’re right to hypothesize that he may very well be the 1st PM
from the West of any consequence in Canadian history. The last three,
John Turner (from Vancouver, 1984), Kim Campbell (Vancouver, 1993), and
Joe Clark (rural Alberta, 1979-80), held minority governments that
failed to last longer than 18 months while the other one, John
Diefenbaker (from Saskatchewan, 1957-63) is considered more of a blip in
a century of mostly Liberal (and eastern) rule."