Editing William Lyon Mackenzie King (section)

== Prime Minister (1935–1948) ==
For the first time in his political career, King led an undisputed Liberal majority government. Upon his return to office in October 1935, he demonstrated a commitment (like his American counterpart Roosevelt) to the underprivileged, speaking of a new era where "poverty and adversity, want and misery are the enemies which liberalism will seek to banish from the land".<ref>{{cite book|author=Raymond B. Blake|title=From Rights to Needs: A History of Family Allowances in Canada, 1929–92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqUdNj7pCTkC&pg=PA33|year=2009|publisher=UBC Press|page=33|isbn=978-0-7748-5868-7}}</ref> Once again, King appointed himself as [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada)|secretary of state for external affairs]]; he held this post until 1946.<ref name="Neatby" />

=== Economic reforms ===
==== Free trade ====
Promising a much-desired trade treaty with the U.S., the King government passed the 1935 [[Reciprocity (Canadian politics)|Reciprocal]] Trade Agreement. It marked a turning point in Canadian-American economic relations, reversing the disastrous trade war of 1930–31, lowering tariffs, and yielding a dramatic increase in trade. More subtly, it revealed to the prime minister and President Roosevelt that they could work well together.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Boucher |first=Marc T. |title=The Politics of Economic Depression: Canadian-American Relations in the Mid-1930s |journal=International Journal |year=1985–1986 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=3–36 |jstor=40202349 |doi=10.2307/40202349}}</ref><ref>[[#Neatby1976|Neatby (1976)]], pp. 143–48.</ref>

==== Social programs ====
King's government introduced the National Employment Commission in 1936. As for the unemployed, King was hostile to federal relief.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Neatby |first=H. Blair |date=1972 |title=The Politics of Chaos: Canada in the Thirties |publisher=Gage |isbn=0-7715-5661-6 |pages=84–86}}</ref> However, the first compulsory national [[Unemployment benefits|unemployment insurance]] program was instituted in August 1940 under the King government after a constitutional amendment was agreed to by all of the Canadian provinces, to concede to the federal government legislative power over unemployment insurance. New Brunswick, Alberta and Quebec had held out against the federal government's desire to amend the constitution but ultimately acceded to its request, Alberta being the last to do so. The ''[[Constitution Act, 1867|British North America Act]]'' Section 91 was amended by adding in a heading designated Number 2A simply in the words "Unemployment Insurance".<ref>[http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/ca_1867.html CA, 1867:] [[Constitution Act, 1867]], 30 & 31 Victoria, c. 3. Consolidated with amendments</ref> As far back as February 1933, the Liberals had committed themselves to introducing unemployment insurance; with a declaration by Mackenzie King that was endorsed by all members of the parliamentary party and the National Liberal Federation in which he called for such a system to be put in place.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015059503055&seq=157&q1=as+well+as+that+of+all+the+members+of+the+parliamentary+party Mackenzie King, by Norman McLeod Rogers; a revised and extended edition of a biographical sketch by John Lewis, A Revised and Extended Edition of a Biographical Sketch by John Lewis, 1935, P.129]</ref>

Over the next thirteen years, a wide range of reforms were realized during King's last period in office as prime minister. In 1937, the age for blind persons to qualify for old-age pensions was reduced to 40 in 1937, and later to 21 in 1947.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PM9RMKQqaiUC&q=canada+widows+pensions+1927&pg=PA79|title=Old Age Pensions and Policy-Making in Canada|isbn=978-0-7735-6066-6|last1=Bryden|first1=K.|date=May 1974|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP }}</ref> In 1939, compulsory contributions for pensions for low-income widows and orphans were introduced (although these only covered the regularly employed) while depressed farmers were subsidized from that same year onwards. In 1944, family allowances were introduced. King had various arguments in favour of family allowances, one of which, as noted by one study, was that family allowances "would mean better food, clothing and medical and dental care for children in low-income families."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=x9yukSm32YQC&dq=Family+allowances+would+mean+better+food,+clothing+and+medical+and+dental+care+for+children+in+low-income+families&pg=PA2704  Hearings Volume 3 By United States. Congress Senate, 1966, P.2704]</ref> These were approved after divisions in cabinet.<ref>[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/FAMILY_ALLOWANCES_IN_CANADA/veQUAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=With+Cabinet+tsill+divided+over+family+allowances,+Clifford+Clark&pg=PA101&printsec=frontcover Family Allowances in Canada The Origins and Implementation By Mark Palmer, 2013, P.101]</ref> From 1948 the federal government subsidized medical services in the provinces;<ref>''Foundations of the Welfare State'', 2nd Edition by [[Pat Thane]], published 1996</ref> a policy which led to developments in services such as dental care.<ref>[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Politics_of_Dental_Care_in_Canada/BgI8EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Canada+1948+grants+dental+care+for+crippled+children.&pg=PA52&printsec=frontcover The Politics of Dental Care in Canada By Carlos Quiñonez, 2021, P.52]</ref> 

==== Spending management ====
The provincial governments faced declining revenues and higher welfare costs. They needed federal grants and loans to reduce their deficits. In a December 1935 conference with the premiers, King announced that the federal grants would be increased until the spring of 1936. At this stage, King's main goal was to have a federal system in which each level of government would pay for its programs out of its own tax sources.<ref name="Neatby" />

King only reluctantly accepted a [[Keynesian economics|Keynesian]] solution that involved federal [[deficit spending]], tax cuts, and subsidies to the housing market.<ref name="auto" /> King and his [[Minister of Finance (Canada)|finance minister]], [[Charles Avery Dunning]], had planned to [[balanced budget|balance the budget]] for 1938. However, some colleagues, to King's surprise, opposed that idea and instead favoured job creation to stimulate the economy, citing British economist [[John Maynard Keynes]]'s theory that governments could increase employment by spending during times of low private investment. In a politically motivated move, King accepted their arguments and hence ran deficits in both 1938 and 1939.<ref name="Neatby" />

==== Workers ====
Various reforms affecting working people were also introduced.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b2993398&seq=7 Labour Legislation in Canada 1937, P.1-57]</ref><ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b2993399&seq=7 Labour Legislation in Canada 1938-40, P.1-7]</ref><ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b2993401&seq=9 Labour Legislation in Canada 1941-44, P.1-7]</ref><ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b2993400&seq=9 Labour Legislation in Canada 1945-46, P.1-24]</ref> The various provinces were assisted by the ''Federal Unemployment and Agricultural Assistance Act of 1938'' and the ''Youth Training Act of 1939'' to create training programs for young persons,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AdhuHFvqjwC&q=Canada+Unemployment+and+Agricultural+Assistance+Act+1939&pg=PA130|title=Introduction to Recreation and Leisure|isbn=978-1-4504-2417-2|last1=Kinetics|first1=Human|year=2013|publisher=Human Kinetics }}</ref> while an amendment to the ''[[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]'' in May 1939 provided against refusal to hire, or dismissal, "solely because of a person's membership in a lawful trade-union or association".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HH983HtDMRQC&q=Canada+AN+AMENDMENT+to+the+Canadian+Criminal+Code,+which+received+Royal+assent+on+May+19,+1939,+provides+against+refusal+to+hire,+or+dismissal,+solely+because+of+membership+in+a+lawful+trade-union+or+association |title=MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW VOLUME 49: JULY TO DECEMBER 1939|year=1939}}</ref>

The ''Vocational Training Co-ordination Act'' of 1942 provided an impetus to the provinces to set up facilities for postsecondary vocational training.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtRFyFO4hpEC&q=Canadian+Vocational+training+1942&pg=PA196|title=Encyclopedia of the Great Plains|isbn=0-8032-4787-7|last1=Wishart|first1=David J.|date=January 2004|publisher=U of Nebraska Press }}</ref> Further, in 1948, the ''Industrial Relations and Disputes Investigation Act'' was passed; this act safeguarded the rights of workers to join unions while requiring employers to recognize unions chosen by their employees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acep-cape.ca/en/collective-bargaining/mobilization-and-communication/mobilization-bulletin-volume-1-no-4-may-15-2015/the-labour-movement-and-the-fight-for-a-fairer-canada-an-historical-perspective/|title=MOB! CAPE's mobilization bulletin|access-date=October 12, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073311/http://www.acep-cape.ca/en/collective-bargaining/mobilization-and-communication/mobilization-bulletin-volume-1-no-4-may-15-2015/the-labour-movement-and-the-fight-for-a-fairer-canada-an-historical-perspective/|url-status=dead}}</ref> A Fisheries Price Support Act was also introduced with the aim of providing fishermen with similar safeguards to industrial workers covered by minimum wage legislation.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b139158&seq=14 Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957, P.109]</ref>

==== Housing ====
The Federal Home Improvement Plan of 1937 provided subsidized rates of interest on rehabilitation loans to 66,900 homes, while the ''[[National Housing Act (Canada)|National Housing Act]]'' of 1938 made provision for the building of low-rent housing.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/housing-and-housing-policy/|title=Housing and Housing Policy|author=Ann McAfee|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref> Another Housing Act was later passed in 1944 with the intention of providing federally guaranteed loans or mortgages to individuals who wished to repair or construct dwellings through their own initiative.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mArVVlO02MC&q=canada+housing+act+1944&pg=PA122|title=Anabaptist/Mennonite Faith and Economics|year=1994|isbn=978-0-8191-9350-6|last1=Redekop |first1=Calvin Wall |last2=Krahn |first2=Victor A. |last3=Steiner |first3=Samuel J. |publisher=University Press of America }}</ref>

==== Agriculture ====
While King opposed Bennett's [[Canadian Wheat Board]] in 1935, he accepted its operation. However, by 1938, the board had sold its holdings and King proposed returning to the open market. This angered [[Western Canadian]] farmers, who favoured a board that would give them a guaranteed minimum price, with the federal government covering any losses. Facing a public campaign to keep the board, King and his [[Minister of Agriculture (Canada)|minister of agriculture]], [[James Garfield Gardiner]], reluctantly extended the board's life and offered a minimum price that would protect the farmers from further declines.<ref name="Neatby" /> Also, from 1935 onwards, measures were carried out to promote prairie farm rehabilitation.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b139158&seq=14 Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957, P.128]</ref> Also, in 1945 a Farm Improvement Loans Act was introduced that provided for bank loans for purposes such as land improvement and the repair and construction of farm buildings.<ref>[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Foreign_Crops_and_Markets/PQJBLKRtK5AC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Farm+Improvement+Loans+Act+1945+Canada&pg=RA1-PA156&printsec=frontcover Foreign Crops and Markets Volume 50 1945, P.156]</ref>

==== Crown corporations ====
In 1937, King's government established the [[Trans-Canada Air Lines]] (the precursor to [[Air Canada]]), as a subsidiary of the [[Crown corporations of Canada|crown corporation]], [[Canadian National Railways]]. It was created to provide air service to all regions of Canada.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Marsh |first1=James |title=Trans-Canada Airlines |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/trans-canada-airlines#:~:text=Trans-Canada%20Airlines-,Trans-Canada%20Airlines%20was%20created%2010%20April%201937%20by%20Act,used%20to%20survey%20new%20routes. |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=10 April 2022 |date=7 February 2006}}</ref>

In 1938, King's government [[nationalize]]d the [[Bank of Canada]] into a crown corporation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bankofcanada.ca/about/history/ |title=The Bank's History |website=Bank of Canada |access-date=June 9, 2011}}</ref>

=== Media reforms ===
In 1936, the [[Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission]] (CRBC) became the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] (CBC), a [[crown corporation]]. The CBC had a better organizational structure, more secure funding through the use of a licence fee on receiving sets (initially set at $2.50), and less vulnerability to political pressure.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eaman |first1=Ross |title=CBC/Radio-Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-broadcasting-corporation |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=10 April 2022 |date=9 April 2012}}</ref> When Bennett's Conservatives were governing and the Liberals were in Opposition, the Liberals accused the network of being biased towards the Conservatives. During the 1935 election campaign, the CRBC broadcast a series of 15 minutes soap operas called ''Mr. Sage'' which were critical of King and the Liberal Party. Decried as political propaganda, the incident was one factor in King's decision to replace the CRBC.<ref>"[http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/networks/networks_CRBC.html The Birth and Death of The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (1932–1936)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010110936/http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/networks/networks_CRBC.html |date=2006-10-10 }}," Canadian Communications Foundation, accessed April 11, 2022</ref>

In 1938, King's government invited British documentary maker [[John Grierson]] to study the situation of the government's film production (which at that time was the responsibility of the [[Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau]]). King believed that [[Cinema of Canada|Canadian cinema]] deserved an increased presence in Canadian theatres.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Matlin|first=Julie|date=2009-08-12|title=The Founding of the NFB|url=https://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2009/08/12/the-founding-of-the-nfb/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-04-11|website=NFB Blog|language=en-CA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715095241/http://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2009/08/12/the-founding-of-the-nfb/ |archive-date=2014-07-15 }}</ref> This report prompted the ''National Film Act'', which created the [[National Film Board of Canada]] in 1939. It was created to produce and distribute films serving the national interest and was intended specifically to make Canada better known both domestically and internationally.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ménard |first1=Denise |last2=Thomas |first2=Suzanne |last3=Moore |first3=Christopher |title=Music at the National Film Board of Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/national-film-board-of-canadaoffice-national-du-film-du-canada-emc |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=10 April 2022 |date=7 February 2006}}</ref> Gierson was appointed the first film commissioner in October 1939.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morris |first1=Peter |last2=Wise |first2=Wyndham |title=National Film Board of Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/national-film-board-of-canada |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=10 April 2022 |date=3 November 2011}}</ref>

=== Relationship with provinces ===
After 1936, the prime minister lost patience when [[Western Canada|Western Canadians]] preferred radical alternatives such as the CCF ([[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]]) and [[Social Credit]] to his middle-of-the-road liberalism. Indeed, he came close to writing off the region with his comment that the prairie dust bowl was "part of the U.S. desert area. I doubt if it will be of any real use again."<ref name="Robert A. Wardhaugh 2000" /> Instead he paid more attention to the industrial regions and the needs of Ontario and Quebec, particularly with respect to the proposed [[St. Lawrence Seaway]] project with the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pennanen |first=Gary |title=Battle of the Titans: Mitchell Hepburn, Mackenzie King, Franklin Roosevelt, and the St. Lawrence Seaway |journal=Ontario History |date=March 1997 |volume=89 |issue=1|pages=1–21|issn=0030-2953}}</ref>

In 1937, [[Maurice Duplessis]], the [[Conservatism in Canada|conservative]] [[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]] [[premier of Quebec]], passed the [[Padlock Law]] (the ''Act to Protect the Province Against Communistic Propaganda''),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=Conrad|title=Duplessis|url=https://archive.org/details/duplessis0000blac_e9g5|url-access=registration|date=1977|publisher=McClelland & Stewart|location=Toronto|pages=[https://archive.org/details/duplessis0000blac_e9g5/page/162 162]|isbn=978-0-7710-1530-4}}</ref> which intimidated labour leaders by threatening to lock up their offices for any alleged communist activities. King's government, which had already repealed the section of the ''Criminal Code'' banning unlawful associations, considered disallowing this bill. However, King's cabinet minister, [[Ernest Lapointe]], believed this would harm the Liberal Party's electoral chances in Quebec. King and his English-Canadian ministers accepted Lapointe's view; as King wrote in his diary in July 1938, "we were prepared to accept what really should not, in the name of liberalism, be tolerated for one moment."<ref name="Neatby" />

=== Germany and Hitler ===

In March 1936, in response to the German [[remilitarization of the Rhineland]], King had the [[High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom]] inform the British government that if Britain went to war with Germany over the [[Rhineland]] issue, Canada would remain neutral.<ref>{{cite book |last=Emmerson |first=James Thomas |title=The Rhineland Crisis, March 7, 1936: A Study in Multilateral Diplomacy |url=https://archive.org/details/rhinelandcrisis70000emme |url-access=registration |date=1977 |publisher=Iowa State University Press |page=144 |isbn=0-8138-1865-6}}</ref> In June 1937, during an [[Imperial Conference]] in London of the prime ministers of every dominion, King informed Britain's Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] that Canada would only go to war if Britain were directly attacked, and that if the British were to become involved in a continental war then Chamberlain was not to expect Canadian support.<ref>{{cite book |last=Middlemas |first=Keith |author-link=Keith Middlemas |date=1972 |title=Diplomacy of Illusion: The British Government and Germany, 1937–1939 |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London |isbn=0-297-99390-9 |pages=21–23}}</ref>
[[File:Mackenzie King in Nazi Germany.jpg|200px|thumb|King (far left) at a ceremony in [[Berlin]], [[Nazi Germany]], 1937]]
In 1937, King visited [[Nazi Germany]] and met with [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref name="king in berlin">{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/king/023011-1070.05-e.html |title=Mackenzie King in Berlin |website=A Real Companion and Friend: The diary of William Lyon Mackenzie King |publisher=Library and Archives Canada |access-date=November 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031132442/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/king/023011-1070.05-e.html |archive-date=October 31, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>  Possessing a religious yearning for direct insight into the hidden mysteries of life and the universe, and strongly influenced by the operas of [[Richard Wagner]] (who was also Hitler's favourite composer), King decided Hitler was akin to mythical [[Wagnerian]] heroes within whom good and evil were struggling. He thought that good would eventually triumph and Hitler would redeem his people and lead them to a harmonious, uplifting future. These spiritual attitudes not only guided Canada's relations with Hitler but gave the prime minister the comforting sense of a higher mission, that of helping to lead Hitler to peace. King commented in his journal that "he is really one who truly loves his fellow-men, and his country, and would make any sacrifice for their good".<ref>{{cite journal |first=Robert H. |last=Keyserlingk |title=Mackenzie King's Spiritualism and His View of Hitler in 1939 |journal=Journal of Canadian Studies |year=1985–1986 |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=26–44 |doi=10.3138/jcs.20.4.26 |s2cid=152129614 |issn=0021-9495 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=C. P. |last=Stacey |title=The Divine Mission: Mackenzie King and Hitler |journal=Canadian Historical Review |year=1980 |volume=61 |issue=4 |pages=502–512 |doi=10.3138/chr-061-04-03}}</ref> King forecast that: {{blockquote|The world will yet come to see a very great man–mystic in Hitler&nbsp;... I cannot abide in Nazism&nbsp;– the regimentation&nbsp;– cruelty&nbsp;– oppression of Jews&nbsp;– attitude towards religion, etc., but Hitler&nbsp;... will rank some day with Joan of Arc among the deliverers of his people.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Alan Davies|author2=Marilyn F. Nefsky|title=How Silent Were the Churches?: Canadian Protestantism and the Jewish Plight during the Nazi Era|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2c3fAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA77|year=2010|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier UP|pages=76–77|isbn=978-1-55458-666-0}}</ref>}}

In late 1938, during the great crisis in Europe over [[Czechoslovakia]] that culminated in the [[Munich Agreement]], Canadians were divided. Francophones insisted on neutrality, as did some top advisers like [[Oscar D. Skelton]]. Anglophones stood behind Britain and were willing to fight Germany. King, who served as his own secretary of state for external affairs (foreign minister), said privately that if he had to choose he would not be neutral, but he made no public statement. All of Canada was relieved that the Munich Agreement, while sacrificing the sovereignty of Czechoslovakia, seemed to bring peace.<ref>[[#Neatby1976|Neatby (1976)]], pp. 287–293</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Fry |first=Michael Graham |date=1999 |chapter=The British Dominions and the Munich Crisis |pages=[https://archive.org/details/munichcrisis193800igor/page/320 320–325] |title=The Munich Crisis, 1938 |editor-first1=Erik |editor-last1=Goldstein |editor-first2=Igor |editor-last2=Lukes |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=0-7146-4995-3 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/munichcrisis193800igor/page/320 }}</ref>

Under King's administration, the Canadian government, responding to strong public opinion, especially in Quebec, refused to expand immigration opportunities for [[Jewish]] [[refugee]]s from Europe.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gerald J. J. |last=Tulchinsky |title=Branching Out: The Transformation of the Canadian Jewish Community |publisher=Stoddart |date=1998 |pages=200–201 |isbn=0-7737-3084-2}}</ref> In June 1939 Canada, along with [[Cuba]] and the United States, refused to allow entry for the 900 Jewish refugees aboard the passenger ship {{MS|St. Louis}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Knowles |first=Valerie |title=Strangers at Our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540–1997 |url={{google books|WvDpSSSZ8CoC|plainurl=yes|page=144}} |location=Toronto |publisher=Dundurn |date=2007|page=144 |isbn=978-1-4597-1237-9}}</ref> King's government was widely criticized for its antisemitic policies and refusal to admit Jewish refugees. Most famously, when [[Frederick Blair]], an immigration official in King's party, was asked how many Jewish refugees Canada would admit after [[World War II]], he replied "None is too many". This policy was wholly supported by King and his political allies.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Abella |first1=Irving |title=None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933–1948 |last2=Troper |publisher=Lester & Orpen Dennys |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-919630-31-4 |location=Canada}}</ref>

=== Second World War ===
[[File:GeorgeVIBanffSprings.jpg|thumb|(From right to left) [[George VI|King George VI]], [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]], and Prime Minister Mackenzie King in [[Banff, Alberta]], 1939]] King accompanied the Royal Couple—King [[George VI]] and Queen Elizabeth—throughout their 1939 cross-Canada tour, as well as on their American visit, a few months before the start of World War II.<ref>''Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: The Official Biography'', by [[William Shawcross]], 2009</ref>
[[File:The Quebec Conference, Canada, August 1943 TR1347.jpg|thumb|King (back left) with (counterclockwise from King) [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], Governor General [[Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone|the Earl of Athlone]] and [[Winston Churchill]] during the [[Quebec Conference, 1943|Quebec Conference in 1943]]]]
[[File:Octagon2.jpg|thumb|King (far right) together with (from left to right) Governor General [[Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone|the Earl of Athlone]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and [[Winston Churchill]] at the [[Second Quebec Conference|Octagon Conference]], Quebec City, September 1944]]
[[File:William Lyon Mackenzie King and Norman Robertson attending the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference - William Lyon Mackenzie King et Norman Robertson assistant à la conférence des premiers ministres du Commonwealth (25134542897).jpg|thumb|Canadian diplomat [[Norman Robertson]] and Mackenzie King, 1944]]
[[File:CommonwealthPrimeMinisters1944.jpg|thumb|King, sitting left, at the [[1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference]] ]]

==== Declaration of war ====
According to historian [[Norman Hillmer]], as British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] "negotiated in Munich with Adolf Hitler in September 1938, Mackenzie King, Canada's Prime Minister, grew agitated."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hillmer |first1=Norman |title=Mackenzie King and the Munich Agreement, 1938: An Insider's View |url=https://champlainsociety.utpjournals.press/findings-trouvailles/2019/06/mackenzie-king-munich-agreement-1938?mobileUi=0 |website=The Champlain Society |access-date=5 April 2020 |date=2019}}</ref> King realized the likelihood of [[World War II]] and began mobilizing on August 25, 1939, with full mobilization on September 1, 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland. In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, Canada had been at war by virtue of King [[George V]]'s declaration, issued solely on the advice of the British government. In 1939, King asserted Canada's autonomy and convened the House of Commons on September 7, nearly a month ahead of schedule, to discuss the government's intention to enter the war. King affirmed Canadian autonomy by saying that the Canadian Parliament would make the final decision on the issue of going to war. He reassured the pro-British Canadians that Parliament would surely decide that Canada would be at Britain's side if Great Britain was drawn into a major war. At the same time, he reassured those who were suspicious of British influence in Canada by promising that Canada would not participate in British colonial wars. His [[Quebec lieutenant]], [[Ernest Lapointe]], promised French Canadians that the government would not introduce conscription for overseas service; individual participation would be voluntary. These promises made it possible for Parliament to agree almost unanimously to [[Canadian declaration of war on Germany|declare war]] on September 9. On September 10, King, through his high commissioner in London, issued a request to King George VI, asking him, in his capacity as King of Canada, to [[Canadian declaration of war on Germany|declare Canada at war against Germany]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Buckner |first=Phillip Alfred |title=Canada and the British Empire |url={{google books|KmXnLGX7FvEC|plainurl=yes|page=105}} |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=105–106 |isbn=978-0-19-927164-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=J. S. Woodsworth, no to war with Germany, Sept., 1939 |url=https://greatcanadianspeeches.ca/2019/09/02/j-s-woodsworth-no-to-war-with-germany-sept-1939/ |website=Great Canadian Speeches |date= September 2, 2019|access-date=20 January 2022 |quote=...only Woodsworth and two MPs from Quebec opposed participation in the war.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Neatby |first1=H. Blair |title=Ernest Lapointe |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ernest-lapointe |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=20 January 2022 |date=13 February 2008}}</ref>

==== Foreign policy ====

To re-arm Canada, King built the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] as a viable military power, while at the same time keeping it separate from Britain's [[Royal Air Force]]. He was instrumental in obtaining the [[British Commonwealth Air Training Plan]] Agreement, which was signed in Ottawa in December 1939, binding Canada, Britain, New Zealand and Australia to a program that eventually trained half the airmen from those four nations in the Second World War.<ref name="P. Stacey, 1970" />

King linked Canada more and more closely to the United States, signing [[Ogdensburg Agreement|an agreement]] with Roosevelt at [[Ogdensburg, New York]], in August 1940 that provided for the close cooperation of Canadian and American forces, despite the fact that the U.S. remained officially neutral until the bombing of [[Pearl Harbor]] on December 7, 1941. During the war the Americans took virtual control of the [[Yukon]] in building the [[Alaska Highway]], and major airbases in [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]], at that time under British governance.<ref>{{cite book |last=Perras |first=Galen Roger |date=1998 |title=Franklin Roosevelt and the Origins of the Canadian-American Security Alliance, 1933–1945: Necessary, but Not Necessary Enough |publisher=Praeger |isbn=0-275-95500-1}}</ref>

King—and Canada—were largely ignored by [[British Prime Minister]] [[Winston Churchill]], despite Canada's major role in supplying food,<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Food on the Home Front during the Second World War |url=https://wartimecanada.ca/essay/eating/food-home-front-during-second-world-war |website=Wartime Canada |access-date=21 January 2022 |quote=Particularly after the fall of France in June 1940, Canadian food exports provided an essential lifeline to Britain.}}</ref> raw materials, munitions,<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Canada Goes to War |url=https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP13CH4PA3LE.html |website=CBC |access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref> and money<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Canada and the Cost of World War II |url=https://www.mqup.ca/canada-and-the-cost-of-world-war-ii-products-9780773529380.php |website=McGill-Queens University Press |access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref> to the hard-pressed British economy, [[British Commonwealth Air Training Plan#Canada|training airmen for the Commonwealth]], guarding the western half of the [[North Atlantic Ocean]] against German [[U-boat]]s,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dubreuil |first1=Brian |last2=Douglas |first2=W.A.B. |title=Battle of the Atlantic |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-the-atlantic |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=22 January 2022 |date=25 April 2010}}</ref> and providing combat troops for the invasions of Italy, France and Germany in 1943–45. King proved highly successful in mobilizing the economy for war, with impressive results in industrial and agricultural output. The depression ended, prosperity returned, and Canada's economy expanded significantly.<ref>{{cite web |last1=von Moos |first1=Kristy |title=The Canadian economy and the Second World War |url=https://ingeniumcanada.org/channel/articles/the-canadian-economy-and-the-second-world-war |website=Ingenium |access-date=22 January 2022 |date=8 November 2018}}</ref>

During the war, Canada rapidly expanded its diplomatic missions abroad. While Canada hosted two major Allied conferences in Quebec in 1943 and 1944, neither King nor his senior generals and admirals were invited to take part in any of the discussions.<ref>J. L. Granatstein, "Happily on the Margins: Mackenzie King and Canada at the Quebec Conferences," in David B. Woolner, ed., ''The Second Quebec Conference Revisited: Waging War, Formulating Peace: Canada, Great Britain, and the United States in 1944–1945'' (1998) pp 49-64.</ref>

==== Political affairs ====

King's government made an unprecedented intervention in the [[1939 Quebec general election]] to defeat anti-war Premier Maurice Duplessis's Union Nationale and ensure victory for the pro-war [[Quebec Liberal Party|Quebec Liberals]] under [[Adélard Godbout]]. Three of King's Cabinet ministers from Quebec (Ernest Lapointe, [[Arthur Cardin]], and [[Charles Gavan Power]]) threatened to resign if Duplessis won re-election, claiming that no one would be left to stand up for Quebec in the Cabinet if conscription become an issue again.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Granatstein |first1=Jack |last2=Morton |first2=Desmond |date=2003 |title=Canada and the Two World Wars |location=Toronto |publisher=KeyPorter |page=179}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sarra-Bournet |first1=Michel |title=DUPLESSIS, MAURICE LE NOBLET |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/duplessis_maurice_le_noblet_18E.html |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref> In his diary, King called Duplessis "diabolic" and a "little Hitler", believing Duplessis's aim was to provoke such a crisis between [[French Canada]] and [[English Canada]] that Quebec would leave Confederation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Granatstein |first1=Jack |last2=Morton |first2=Desmond |date=2003 |title=Canada and the Two World Wars |location=Toronto |publisher=KeyPorter |page=178}}</ref> King used the powers of censorship under the ''[[War Measures Act]]'' to keep Duplessis from speaking on the radio. The Quebec Liberals won a landslide victory.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paulin |first1=Marguerite |title=Maurice Duplessis |date=2005 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |page=116}}</ref>

King rejected any notion of a [[national unity government|government of national unity]] like the Unionist Government during World War&nbsp;I.<ref name="P. Stacey, 1970">{{cite book |last=Stacey |first=C. P. |date=1970 |title=Arms, Men and Governments: The War Policies of Canada, 1939–1945 |publisher=Queen's Printer }}</ref> When the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] passed a resolution criticizing King's government for not fighting the war "in the vigorous manner the people of Canada desire to see", King dissolved [[18th Canadian Parliament|the federal parliament]], triggering [[1940 Canadian federal election|a federal election for March 26, 1940]]. He held it despite the ongoing war, unlike Britain, which formed a government of national unity and did not hold a wartime election. King won a second consecutive landslide victory, winning 179 seats{{snd}} 6 more than in 1935. This was the Liberals' most successful result {{as of|2023|lc=on}} (in terms of proportion of seats). The [[Official Opposition (Canada)|Official Opposition]] party, the Conservatives, won the same number of seats as R.&nbsp;B. Bennett did in the 1935 election. King's relationship with [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal]] Ontario Premier [[Mitchell Hepburn]] was damaged due to Hepburn spearheading the resolution criticizing the war effort.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Glassford |first1=Larry |title=Hepburn, Mitchell Frederick |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hepburn_mitchell_frederick_18E.html |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |access-date=2 August 2022}}</ref>

King promoted engineer and businessman [[C.&nbsp;D. Howe]] to senior cabinet positions during the war. King also suffered two cabinet setbacks; his [[Minister of National Defence (Canada)|defence minister]], [[Norman McLeod Rogers]], died in 1940 and his Quebec lieutenant and [[Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada|minister of justice and attorney general]], Ernest Lapointe, died in 1941. King successfully sought out the reluctant [[Louis St. Laurent]], a leading Quebec lawyer, to enter the House of Commons and to take over Lapointe's role. St. Laurent became King's right-hand man.<ref name="Hutchison" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/qc/stlaurent/culture/histoire-history/personnages-people/natcul1d |title=Louis S. St-Laurent National Historic Site |website=Government of Canada |access-date=23 January 2022 |quote=During this period, the Minister of Justice was the right hand man of the Prime Minister}}</ref>

==== Wartime expenditure ====

On June 24, 1940, King's government presented the first $1 billion budget in Canadian history. It included $700 million in war expenses compared to $126 million in the 1939–1940 fiscal year; however, due to the war, the overall economy was the strongest in Canadian history.<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=20029058 | title=Canada's New Defense Program | author=Dean, Edgard Packard | journal=Foreign Affairs |date=October 1940 | volume=19 | issue=1 | pages=222–236 | doi=10.2307/20029058}}</ref>

==== Internment of Japanese-Canadians ====
Following the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, Japanese Canadians were categorized by Canada as enemy aliens under the ''[[War Measures Act]]'', which began to remove their personal rights.<ref>Fujiwara, Aya. "Japanese-Canadian Internally Displaced Persons:Labour Relations and Ethno-Religious Identity in Southern Alberta, 1942–1953. Page 65</ref> Starting on December 8, 1941, 1,200 Japanese-Canadian-owned fishing vessels were impounded as a "defence measure."<ref>Sunahara (1981), 28.</ref> On January 14, 1942, the federal government passed an order calling for the removal of male Japanese nationals between 18 and 45 years of age from a designated protected area of 100 miles inland from the British Columbia coast, enacted a ban against Japanese-Canadian fishing during the war, banned shortwave radios and controlled the sale of gasoline and dynamite to Japanese Canadians.<ref>Sunahara (1981), 37.</ref> Japanese nationals removed from the coast after the January 14 order were sent to road camps around [[Jasper, Alberta]].
Three weeks later, on February 19, 1942, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed [[Executive Order 9066]], which called for the removal of [[Internment of Japanese Americans|110,000 people of Japanese ancestry]] from the American coastline. A historian of internment, Ann Sunahara, argues that "the American action sealed the fate of Japanese Canadians."<ref>Sunahara (1981), 46.</ref>

On February 24, the federal government passed order-in-council PC 1468 which allowed for the [[Japanese-Canadian internment|removal of "all persons of Japanese origin"]]<ref>Sugiman, Pamela. "Life is Sweet: Vulnerability and Composure in the Wartime Narratives of Japanese Canadians". Journals of Canadian Studies. Winter 2009: 186-218, 262.</ref> This order-in-council allowed the [[Minister of Justice (Canada)|Minister of Justice]] the broad powers of removing people from any protected area in Canada, but was meant for Japanese Canadians on the Pacific coast in particular. On February 25, the federal government announced that Japanese Canadians were being moved for reasons of national security.<ref>Sunahara, Ann. "The Politics of Racism: The Uprooting of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War." Toronto: J, Larimer, 1981. Pg 47-48.</ref> In all, some 27,000 people were detained without charge or trial, and their property confiscated. Others were deported to Japan.<ref name="Kobayashi">Kobayashi, Audrey. "The Japanese-Canadian redress settlement and its implications for ‘race relations’" Canadian Ethnic Studies. Vol. 24, Issue 1.</ref>
King and his Cabinet received conflicting intelligence reports about the potential threat from the Japanese. Major General [[Kenneth Stuart|Ken Stuart]] told Ottawa, "I cannot see that the Japanese Canadians constitute the slightest menace to national security."<ref>{{cite book |last=Sunahara |first=Ann Gomer |date=1981 |url=http://www.japanesecanadianhistory.ca/Politics_of_Racism.pdf |title=The Politics of Racism: The Uprooting of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War |publisher=James Lorimer |location=Ottawa |isbn=0-88862-413-1 |page=23 |access-date=December 6, 2014 |archive-date=November 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101095313/http://japanesecanadianhistory.ca/Politics_of_Racism.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In contrast, BC's attorney general, [[Gordon Sylvester Wismer]] reported that, while he had "the greatest respect for" and "hesitated to disagree with" the RCMP, "every law enforcement agency in this province, including ... the military officials charged with local internal security, are unanimous that a grave menace exists."<ref>{{cite book |title=Mutual Hostages: Canadians and Japanese during the Second World War |year=1990 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=0-8020-5774-8 |page=51}}</ref>

==== Expansion of scientific research ====
King's government greatly expanded the role of the [[National Research Council of Canada]] during the war, moving into full-scale research in nuclear physics and commercial use of [[nuclear power]] in the following years. King, with [[C. D. Howe]] acting as point man, moved the nuclear group from [[Montreal]] to [[Chalk River, Ontario]] in 1944, with the establishment of [[Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories]] and the residential town of [[Deep River, Ontario]]. Canada became a world leader in this field, with the [[NRX]] reactor becoming operational in 1947; at the time, NRX was the only operational nuclear reactor outside the United States.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Robert Bothwell |last=Bothwell |first=Robert |date=1988 |title=Nucleus: The History of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=0-8020-2670-2}}</ref>

==== Conscription ====
{{See also|Conscription Crisis of 1944}}
King's promise not to impose conscription contributed to the defeat of [[Maurice Duplessis]]'s [[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]] Quebec provincial government in 1939 and the Liberals' re-election in the 1940 election. But after the fall of France in 1940, Canada introduced conscription for home service (conscription meant for the defence of Canada only). Only volunteers were to be sent overseas. King wanted to avoid a repeat of the [[Conscription Crisis of 1917]]. By 1942, the military was pressing King hard to send conscripts to Europe. In 1942, King held [[1942 Canadian conscription plebiscite|a national plebiscite]] on the issue, asking the nation to relieve him of the commitment he had made during the election campaign. In the House of Commons on June 10, 1942, he said that his policy was "not necessarily conscription but conscription if necessary".<ref>Hansard, House of Commons, June 10, 1942</ref>
[[File:KingVEDay.jpg|190px|thumb|King making his address to Canada on [[VE-Day]]]]
French Canadians voted against conscription, with over 70 percent opposed, but an overwhelming majority – over 80 percent – of English Canadians supported it. French and English conscripts were sent to fight in the [[Aleutian Islands]] in 1943 – technically North American soil and therefore not "overseas" – but the mix of Canadian volunteers and draftees found that the Japanese troops had fled before their arrival. Otherwise, King continued with a campaign to recruit volunteers, hoping to address the problem with the shortage of troops caused by heavy losses in the [[Dieppe Raid]] in 1942, in Italy in 1943, and after the [[Invasion of Normandy|Battle of Normandy]] in 1944. In November 1944, the government decided it was necessary to send conscripts for the war. This led to a brief political crisis (see [[Conscription Crisis of 1944]]) and [[Terrace Mutiny|a mutiny]] by conscripts posted in British Columbia, but the war ended a few months later. In all, 12,908 conscripts were sent to fight abroad, though only 2,463 saw combat.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McIntosh |first1=Andrew |last2=Granatstein |first2=J.I. |last3=Jones |first3=Richard |title=Conscription in Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/conscription |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=22 January 2022 |date=6 February 2006}}</ref>

=== Post-war Canada ===
==== 1945 election ====
With the war winding down, King called [[1945 Canadian federal election|a federal election for June 11, 1945]]. The Liberals' election campaign was centered on a broad program of [[social security]]. Although King was hesitant for his government to expand its role in the economy and run [[deficit spending|deficits]], he accepted it as these measures aligned with his concern for people struggling financially. There were political motives too; the Liberals needed to compete with the rising [[socialist]] [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] (CCF) for votes.<ref name="Neatby" /> In addition, King promised to commit one division of volunteers to [[Operation Downfall]], the planned invasion of Japan scheduled for late 1945-early 1946, whereas [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] leader [[John Bracken]] promised conscription. Bracken's promise was unpopular and it thus benefited the Liberals.<ref>Morton, Desmond A Military History of Canada, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1999 page 223-224.</ref>

The Liberals were knocked down from a massive [[majority government]] to a [[minority government]]. However, they were able to govern with a working majority with the support of eight "Independent Liberal" MPs (most of whom did not run as official Liberals because of their opposition to conscription). The Liberals' decline in support was partly attributed to the introduction of conscription, which was unpopular in many parts of Canada. As King was defeated in his own riding of [[Prince Albert (federal electoral district)|Prince Albert]], fellow Liberal [[William MacDiarmid]], who was re-elected in the [[safe seat]] of [[Glengarry (federal electoral district)|Glengarry]], resigned so that an August 6 by-election could be held, which was subsequently won by King.<ref name="Neatby" />

==== Foreign affairs, Cold War ====
King helped found the [[United Nations]] (UN) in 1945 and attended the opening meetings in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Visits By Foreign Leaders in 1945 |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/1945 |website=Office of the Historian |access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref> Though he conceded that [[Great power|major powers]] such as the United States and the United Kingdom would dominate the organization, King argued that [[middle power]]s such as Canada should be given an influence on the UN based on their contributions to the settlement of disputes.<ref name="Neatby" />

King moved Canada into the deepening [[Cold War]] in alliance with the U.S. and Britain. He dealt with the espionage revelations of Soviet cipher clerk [[Igor Gouzenko]], who defected in Ottawa in September 1945, by quickly appointing a [[Kellock-Taschereau Commission|Royal Commission]] to investigate Gouzenko's allegations of a [[Canadians|Canadian]] Communist spy-ring transmitting top-secret documents to Moscow. [[Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada|Justice Minister]] [[Louis St. Laurent]] dealt decisively with this crisis, the first of its type in Canada's history.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hutchison |first=Bruce |date=1964 |title=Mr. Prime Minister 1867–1964 |url=https://archive.org/details/mrprimeministe100hutc |url-access=registration |location=Toronto |publisher=Longmans Canada }}</ref> St. Laurent succeeded King as external affairs minister in September 1946.<ref name="Neatby" />

==== Domestic achievements ====
After the war, King quickly dismantled wartime controls. Unlike World War I, press censorship ended with the hostilities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Purcell |first1=Gillis |title=Wartime Press Censorship in Canada |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40194144 |journal=International Journal |year=1947 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=250–261 |doi=10.2307/40194144 |jstor=40194144 |access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref>
[[File:Serment de citoyenneté Citizenship Oath Mackenzie King.jpg|thumb|King (far-left) becomes the first person to take the [[Oath of Citizenship (Canada)|Oath of Citizenship]], from [[Chief Justice of Canada|Chief Justice]] [[Thibaudeau Rinfret]], in the [[Supreme Court of Canada|Supreme Court]], January 3, 1947]]
King's government introduced the ''[[Canadian Citizenship Act 1946|Canadian Citizenship Act]]'' in 1946, which officially created the notion of "[[Canadian nationality law|Canadian citizens]]". Prior to this, Canadians were considered [[British subject]]s living in Canada. On January 3, 1947, King received Canadian citizenship certificate number 0001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1947-the-first-officially-canadian-citizens |title=The first officially Canadian citizens |website=CBC Archives |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=March 22, 2010 |access-date=June 10, 2015}}</ref>

King also laid the groundwork for the [[Dominion of Newfoundland]]'s later entry into [[Canadian Confederation]], stating, "Newfoundlanders are no strangers to Canada, nor are Canadians strangers to Newfoundland." Pro-Confederation Newfoundlanders [[Frederick Gordon Bradley]] and [[Joey Smallwood]] argued that joining Canada would raise the [[standard of living]] for Newfoundlanders; Britain also favoured Confederation. [[1948 Newfoundland referendums#The second referendum|A runoff vote]] was held on July 22, 1948, and 52.3 percent of voters decided that Newfoundland should enter Canada. After, Smallwood negotiated the terms of entry with King. Newfoundland entered Confederation on March 31, 1949, becoming Canada's tenth province.<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=PM Mackenzie King considers Confederation for Newfoundland |url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/pm-king-considers-confederation |website=CBC |access-date=22 January 2022 |archive-date=January 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122190804/https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/pm-king-considers-confederation |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tattrie |first1=Jon |last2=McIntosh |first2=Andrew |title=Newfoundland and Labrador and Confederation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/newfoundland-and-labrador-and-confederation |access-date=19 April 2022 |date=5 January 2015}}</ref>

=== Retirement ===
[[File:StLaurentKing1948.jpg|thumb|Outgoing Prime Minister King with incoming Prime Minister [[Louis St. Laurent]], August&nbsp;7, 1948]] With his health declining, King declared in May 1948 that he would not be Liberal leader going in the next election.<ref name="Neatby" /> The [[1948 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election|August 1948 convention]] (held exactly 29 years after King became Liberal leader) picked St. Laurent, King's personal choice, as the new leader of the Liberal Party.<ref>{{cite web |title=Louis St. Laurent biography |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/st_laurent_louis_stephen_20F.html |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |access-date=19 April 2022}}</ref> Three months later, on November 15, King retired after {{frac|21|1|2}} years as prime minister. King was the longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history; he also served in the most parliaments (six, in three non-consecutive periods) as prime minister.<ref name="Neatby" />