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William Lyon Mackenzie King
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==== 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=105β106 |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>
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