The following excerpt is from Freedom Fighter: John Diefenbaker’s Battle for Canadian Liberties and Independence by Bob Plamondon, published by the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy. Foreword by Jean Chrétien. 

John Diefenbaker was a man of modest means with an aversion to debt. As a child, he witnessed the consequences of his family’s increasing indebtedness, which became a severe burden and worry. To economize, his family ate largely out of their garden. Because the water from their well had high alkalinity, a family member had to trek to a neighbouring farm twice a week to gather and then haul away a barrel of water on a stoneboat. When he rode a horse, it was bareback, as there was no money for a saddle. In the winter, he would wake up to a wash basin with water that turned to ice in the night.