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They were the last and only premiers to have made the successful transition to federal power.

It hasn’t been for lack of trying.

Between 1942 and 1976, the Conservatives chose three successful provincial premiers as party leaders: John Bracken of Manitoba, George Drew of Ontario and Robert Stanfield of Nova Scotia.

They were proven winners. As Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, points out: “When he became leader, Bracken was the longest-serving first minister in the British Empire.”

But all three fell short of the big prize. Stanfield came close, losing by a whisker to Pierre Trudeau in 1972.

The NDP tried their luck with Tommy Douglas, the legendary CCF premier of Saskatchewan. Their best showing under Douglas was 22 seats in the House of Commons.

Rae, who went from New Democrat MP to New Democrat premier in Ontario in 1990, and lost a bid for the federal Liberal leadership in 2006, says it’s an exaggeration to say there’s a curse on premiers who want to be prime minister, but it is true that making the transition is difficult.

“I still believe it’s entirely possible that someone can have served as a premier and then become prime minister, but for some reason it’s proven difficult,” he said.

Part of it may be that premiers are identified with their province, not the country as a whole.

“When you become a premier, your obligation is to the people of your province and your obligation is ultimately to defend the interests of your province, and sometimes to take positions which might seem antithetical to other regions of the country,” he said.