Party leader Robert Manion advocated a wartime national unity government for Canada.
For this reason, most Conservative candidates appeared on the ballot as the "National Government" option.
As it happened, Liberals under William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government and did not invite other parties into a wartime coalition.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto (1903) before moving to Alberta to work as a teacher.
He then moved to Wetaskiwin to co-found the firm of Odell & Russell, and worked as a barrister and solicitor.