From the CBC Vault: Campaigning with the spouses

The spouse of a Canadian prime ministerhas no official role in our parliamentary democracy.

But thereis no doubt leaders' spouses are key supporters of their partners duringone of the most arduous of tasks fora federal party leader: stumping for votes in a country as vast as Canada.

• From the Vault: Election calls
• From the Vault: Canada's first election campaign
• From the Vault: The first televised leaders' debate in 1968

We dug deep into the CBC vault fortape of politiciansand their wives campaigning. Our reviewstarts with some of the earliest footage of a campaign broadcast on Canadian television John Diefenbaker travelling by train with his second wife, Olive, during the 1957 election campaign.

We also includedsome choice shots of Pierre Trudeau and his wife, Margaret, travelling with their eldest child, Justin, whois seensuckingon a bottle during acampaign event.

"Despite the prime minister's refusal to use his wife as part of the campaign," the CBC reporter said of Trudeau, "clearly the family is going to be together for much of it."

Margaret and the Trudeauchildrenwereput to work on the Liberalcampaign in part to soften the elder Trudeau's hard edge.

"Often he's thought of being very arrogant," she said of her husband. "Well, in my years of marriage to him I've never once seen him be arrogant. He's shy and he's modest," she told a crowd, who didn't seem to believe her, laughing at her remarks.

Some of the lesser-known political spouses like Mary Hall, the wife of former Progressive Conservative leader Robert Stanfield, are also included in the filmclips. On one campaign stop, she echoed the sentiments of many spousesbefore and after her who have endured the breakneck pace of federal campaigns.

"I've lost track of the dates, the days and sometimes where I am but I know I'm inWinghamright now," she said with a laugh.

There are also some more modern images, includingJean Chrtien with his wife, Aline, at a campaign rally. Chrtien was known torely heavily on his wife not just for moral support on the campaign trail but also for advice on important policy decisions. She also famously protected the family against an intruder at 24 Sussex Dr., wielding an Inuit soapstone sculpture.

Laureen Harperhas been at Stephen Harper's side since his early days as a Reform Party staffer.A shot of her trying to fine-tune her Bollywood dancing skills during the 2011 campaign caused quite a stir at the time and is still worth a watch.

Harper's kids draw curiosity of young fans

9 years ago

Duration 2:01

At recent Conservative campaign stops many young supporters are hoping to get a quick glimpse of Ben and Rachel Harper

Trudeau Sr. isn't the only leader to bring his childrenalong for the ride. Ben and Rachel Harperwere fixtures of their father's entourage in August, before they returned to school.

Watch how leaders'spouses have been used on the campaign trailin the video above.