The Conscription Crisis in Canada During World War Two

Background Information

• By 1943, volunteer rates had dramatically declined.

• As a result, the Canadian government was worried that Canada would not be able to maintain an effective armed forces.

• The Solution? • You guessed it. Introduce

Conscription!

Prime Minister King’s Solution

• Prime Minister MacKenzie King remembered his Canadian History. He knew that the conscription issue had divided French and English Canadians during World War One.

• In addition, he knew that a lot of his electoral success came from Quebeckers; specifically, French Canadians.

• What should he do?

King Introduces a Plebiscite on Conscription

• King’s famous line was “conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription!” A very good example of double talk!

• His idea was to hold a plebiscite on the issue. A plebiscite is a non-binding question that asks the electorate to vote on a particular issue.

MacKenzie King votes in the National Plebiscite in 1942

King Introduces a Plebiscite on Conscription

• King’s reasoning was that a positive result on the plebiscite would give him a mandate to proceed with conscription. However, since it was a plebiscite he would not necessarily be forced to introduce conscription. Confusing? Clever? Many historians argue about the merits of King’s tactic. History Professor Michael Bliss thought it was a clever move

U of T Professor Michael Bliss

The Result of the Plebiscite

• The Result of the Plebiscite on Conscription was:

73% of Quebec voted “non”

80% of the Rest of

Canada voted “Yes”

What did King Do?

• King knew that the results of the Plebiscite could be just as damaging to national unity as the original conscription crisis of 1917 during World War One.

• As a result, he delayed enacting conscription until 1944. Since conscripted men had to be trained before they hit the battlefield, most of them never saw combat.

The End Result

• Of the 13,000 who were sent overseas, only 2,500 reached the battlefield.

• 69 would die in action before the war ended (less than a year later).

• MacKenzie King would go on to win a majority government in the federal election of 1945 with most of his support from “la belle province. He was the great compromiser

The internment of Japanese and Italians and Germans