Mackenzie King & Canadian Independence

Introduction Canadians were not very interested in international affairs after WW1 Why? Canada was, however, still officially a British colony Great Britain controlled Canada’s economic and political relations with other countries Why might Canadians not like this? Mackenzie King did not want Britain to control Canada’s foreign policy King wanted to take an isolationist stance: what does this mean?

The Chanak Crisis, 1922 October 1922 Turkish troops threatened British troops stationed near Chanak (a narrow strait between Europe and Turkey) The British gov’t asks its colonies for military support (which it said to the press before its own colonies’ governments!) According to King, this was the way of the past, but not the present or the future!

The Chanak Crisis Canadian P.M.’s had always been expected to agree. What do you think King does? He refuses to send troops! (Remember that he was anti-conscription in WW1…) King lets the CDN Parliament decide what to do… Meighen, the opposition leader, wants to help Britiain. King does not. They debate. By the time they’re done debating, the war was already over.

The Chanak Crisis – Conclusion King had made his point clear to Britain: Canada would decide its foreign policy – its actions and international relations – on its own!

The Halibut Treaty, 1923 March 1923 Canada and the US sign a treaty covering the protection of the Pacific Halibut fishery The treaty is signed by the Canadian Fisheries minister, and is the only signature representing Canada The British gov’t protested initially, but gave in when King threatened to appoint a diplomatic representative in the US Why would Britain care about that?

The Imperial Conference, 1923 Imperial Conferences are for countries under the British Commonwealth who get together every 3 or 4 years to talk about important issues. King went to this particular conference, determined to resist British efforts to establish a “centralized foreign policy for all the Dominions” Why doesn’t King want this? King won!

The Constitutional Crisis, 1926 1925: the economy is doing well, booming some might say King decides to call an election: why? (He thought he would be a shoe-in because the economy was doing so well!) What happens? Oops… The Liberals (King’s party) won only 99 seats. The Conservatives (Meighen’s party) win 116 seats. The Progressives (that farmers protest party) won 24.

The Constitutional Crisis Most people thought King should resign and let Meighen be prime minister. Everyone, but King. He refused. He wanted to get the support of the Progressive Party. Government scandal in the Customs Dept. = King is forced to resign King asked the Governor General, General Lord Byng, to dissolve Parliament and call an election (start over). Byng refused.

The Constitutional Crisis King asked Byng to consult the British government (oh, now he wants their help?). Byng refused again. Byng asks Meighen to become prime minister. In one week, Meighen loses a non-confidence vote. King is returned to office with a majority in 1926, the highest ever.

The Role of the G-G The Governor-General had traditionally represented both the British monarch and the British government. King argued that Byng had been wrong to refuse the prime minister’s request for an election. When he came to power the second time, he tried to redefine the role as a “representative of the monarch” and not the British government. This would mean that the G-G could not ignore the advice of the elected government.

The Imperial Conference, 1926 Canada does more for its own autonomy Balfour Declaration: updates the relationship between Britain and the Dominions; frees Canada to make its own foreign policy decisions Officially redefined the G-G’s powers: CDN gov’t would communicate directly with the British gov’t instead of through the G-G Canada expanded its Dept. of External Affairs, which previously only had 3 staff members!

Homework P. 52, Q. 1