Editing R. B. Bennett (section)

==Early federal political career (1911–1917)==

Bennett was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] in the [[1911 Canadian federal election|1911 federal election]] as a [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative]] candidate. Bennett did not always follow party policy; in one instance in 1914, he spoke against the [[Robert Borden]]-led Conservative government's bill to provide financial support to the [[Canadian Northern Railway]].<ref name="BennettBio" />

At age 44, Bennett tried to enlist in the Canadian military once [[World War I]] broke out, but was turned down as being medically unfit, perhaps because he had lost two of his toes. In July 1915, Bennett became Borden's assistant to [[London]]; in this job, Bennett's responsibility was to find out how Canada could help Britain with its military and civilian needs. In 1916, Bennett was appointed director general of the [[National Service]] Board, which was in charge of identifying the number of potential recruits in the country.<ref name="BennettBio" />

While Bennett supported [[conscription]], he opposed Borden's proposal for a [[Union Government (Canada)|Union Government]] that would include both Conservatives and pro-conscription [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberals]], fearing that this would ultimately hurt the Conservative Party. While he campaigned for Conservative candidates in the [[1917 Canadian federal election|1917 federal election]] he did not stand for re-election himself.<ref name="BennettBio" />