One of the great sprinters in UBC history, Turner was one of the three fastest men in Canada between 1947 and 1949. He led UBC to two Pacific Northwest Conference track championships and his Canadian-best in the 100 and 200 yards qualified him for Canada's 1948 Olympic team. A popular, active student, he was the Sports Editor of the Ubyssey, graduating from UBC at age 19 with a Rhodes Scholarship. Later he served Canada as Prime Minister.
John Turner enrolled in Arts at UBC in 1945 at the age of 16, having attended high school in Ottawa. While in high school, “Chick” was well known as a track man winning the Canadian junior championship in both the 100 yard and 200 yard dashes.
In his first year at UBC, Turner concentrated on swimming and journalism as he swam for the UBC swim team while reporting sports for the Ubyssey, exhibiting throughout the year a unique literary style.
Turner was promoted to Associated Sports Editor of the Ubyssey in his second year, providing entertaining and informative reading; “Capozzi, who played his size 62 heart out for the Chiefs…”, “… a galaxy of winged lightnings have signified their intentions to run” and a reference to Vancouver’s Crystal Pool as “ the Beach Street Reservoir.” This was the year Turner joined the UBC track team, with the Ubyssey reporting he was a “deciding influence on the track team which won its first Pacific Northwest Conference title in May 1947.” This team, trained by Johnny Owen and coached by Ken MacPherson, defeated seven other schools from Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Turner was one of the four members of the UBC mile relay team (Olympian Ez Henniger was another) whose “eleventh hour” victory assured UBC its championship.
In June of 1947, at a track meet in Seattle, Turner recorded the fastest time by a Canadian in the 100 yard dash, covering the distance in a UBC record 9.8 seconds. His was among the top Canadian performances of 1947 in 220 yards as well, with a 23.1 clocking at the 1947 Canadian track and field championships. In May of 1947 he proved to be the best in Canada in the 220 yards finishing first in 22.8 seconds at a Vancouver race.
In 1947/48, Chick was described by the Ubyssey as the “UBC star sprinter” as the Blue and Gold track team progressed with optimism through the track season toward the Olympic trials in 1948. In May of 1948, UBC won its second consecutive Pacific Northwest Conference track championship at a meet in Walla Walla Washington. Turner, an integral part of this team, won the 100 yard final in a time of 9.8 seconds which turned out to be the second fastest Canadian time of the year. His time for the 220 yards at this PNW meet was 21.8 seconds, the fastest 220 recorded by a Canadian in 1948. He completed the UBC track season by running Canada’s sixth fastest 200 meters at a pre-Olympic meet in Vancouver with a clocking of 22.5. However Turner was unable to compete at the 1948 Olympics, for which he qualified, due to an injury. While running and studying this year, Turner continued to write his sports column for the Ubyssey and conduct his own sports show on UBC radio.
Turner fondly recalls that year of 1948. “The best race I was ever in was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1948. Must have been 100,000 people in the stands.” Turner was up against the fastest sprinters in the world and finished fourth. “My time was about 9.6 but never officially recorded because I didn’t win. Geez, it was phenomenal to be in that race.”
During Turner’s final year at UBC, 1949, he recorded in a meet with the University of Washington at UBC, another 9.8 timing in the 100 yards, the second year he topped the nation in this distance. It was also during this graduating year of 1949 that the Ubyssey announced “Jargon-Jaded Pubster New Rhodes Scholar.”
According to the Ubyssey, the 19 year-old rolled sportsmanship, scholarship and leadership – the threefold Rhodes ideals – into a handsome package that made him undoubtedly the university’s most popular student. The paper further pointed out that Turner still sprinkles his vocabulary with mystifying jive talk that makes him sound more like a student of Cab Calloway than Professor Henry Angus. “Hey, snappy pair of kicks” he’ll tell you, “who ya featuring tonight?” Big fleet-footed “Chick” will be on his way to Oxford University next term to study law for two years.
Turner as an athlete was one of the three fastest men in Canada from 1947 through 1949 and ranks with Howie McPhee and Harry Warren as UBC’s all-time great 100 meter/yard sprinters.
From UBC Turner went to Oxford where he studied law and in 1954 was called to the Quebec Bar. In 1962, described as tirelessly outgoing yet pragmatic with ideals, Turner ran successfully for the federal Liberals and later served as Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Minister of Justice and Minister of Finance.
Just after the death of UBC’s Johnny Owen in 1965 Turner returned to UBC to dedicate and officially open the site for the John Owen Pavilion, now the Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Centre. It was Turner’s idea and his influence that made this facility and tribute a reality. In 2007, Turner returned to the UBC campus once again, to receive the UBC Alumni Award of Distinction.
When Pierre Trudeau retired in 1984, Turner was elected Liberal leader thus becoming Prime Minister, however the Liberals were defeated in the ensuing federal election. He did however remain Liberal leader and leader of the opposition until 1990 at which point he retired to once again resume his legal career.
Researched and written by Fred Hume, UBC Athletics Historian
