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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Lock of hair may show Dief is man's dad

Surprising discovery can be used by Torontonian to prove paternity

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 09/1/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 | Last Modified: 09/1/2012 4:52 PM | Updates

George Dryden believes John Diefenbaker is his father. A newfound lock of hair can be tested to see if he's right. (THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES)

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Former prime minister John Diefenbaker (THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES)

SASKATOON -- A man who believes John Diefenbaker may have been his father is getting another chance to prove his theory.

The Diefenbaker Canada Centre in Saskatoon has discovered a lock of hair labelled as belonging to Canada's 13th prime minister.

George Dryden of Toronto has been trying for more than a year to establish whether he is Diefenbaker's illegitimate son.

He earlier had DNA tests done on some artifacts at the centre -- such as a hatband and hairbrush -- but the results were inconclusive.

"This looks to be a much more promising avenue for Mr. Dryden," centre director Michael Atkinson said Friday after the discovery was announced.

He said the centre has left word with Dryden about the surprise find and its decision to allow testing of a portion of the hair. But staff has not yet received a response.

Atkinson said the centre underwent significant renovations during the past 18 months and its collection was moved to two storage locations. While moving the items back, staff manually catalogued the inventory.

That's when workers found a small, unmarked box. Inside were three locks of children's hair that appeared to have been taken as keepsakes. A sample of blond hair, at least five centimetres long, was attached to the name John G. Diefenbaker.

Another sample belongs to his brother, Elmer. The third sample is unidentified.

Atkinson said when he was told about the hair, he was floored. "I actually wanted to lay my eyes on the hair samples because I couldn't frankly believe it."

He said he's a bit embarrassed because the centre told Dryden last fall it didn't have any hair or other samples suitable for DNA testing.

"We had been through what I understood was a very thorough assessment of the collection and we had in good faith told Mr. Dryden and everybody else that we didn't have any samples."

However, the museum decided it would let Dryden test some of its other artifacts in the slim hope they contained some Diefenbaker DNA. But they had been handled by too many people over the years.

Atkinson said the centre's computer database of items did not list the hair. "I think probably Mr. Dryden will be excited."

Dryden claims his mother had an affair with the former Conservative prime minister in the 1960s. Diefenbaker held the title from 1957 to 1963 and it has always been assumed he had no children.

He died in 1979.

Dryden, who bears a strong resemblance to the leader, has said there were longtime family whispers about his paternity. Late last year he found out the man he believed was his dad was not his biological father.

Dryden has spoken out against the centre during his paternity quest. He has said he wanted a Utah company to perform further DNA tests but the centre refused because the tests involve putting a solution on the artifacts that could discolour them.

He also said he has information Diefenbaker's brain was removed and preserved in formaldehyde after his death and he believes the museum knows about it.

Atkinson said the centre does not have Diefenbaker's brain.

"We don't expect to find Mr. Diefenbaker's brain just because we have found a lock of his hair," Atkinson said, adding all the inventory has been examined and catalogued.

"There are no other artifacts."

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 1, 2012 A19

History

Updated on Saturday, September 1, 2012 at 4:52 PM CDT: corrects dates of Diefenbaker's time as prime minister.

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