to sign the Halibut Treaty, the first treaty independently negotiated and signed by a Canadian government.
King attends the Imperial Conference in London; he is determined that the Dominion of Canada will be more independent.
1925
1925
In the October federal election, King loses his majority and his seat; but the Conservatives do not have a clear majority and so King decides to govern with the support of the Progressives; he asks for a vote of confidence from Parliament.
In Canada, Lady Byng donates the Lady Byng Trophy to the National Hockey League to reward sportsmanship combined with excellence.
King appoints O.D. Skelton undersecretary of state for external affairs; Skelton will become a key adviser on domestic as well as foreign affairs.
1926
1926
King runs in a by-election in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and wins.
Viscount Willingdon succeeds Lord Byng as Governor General of Canada.
With his support dwindling because of a customs scandal, King asks the Governor General, Lord Byng, to dissolve Parliament; Byng refuses; King resigns; Meighen becomes prime minister on June 29 but quickly loses a vote of confidence and must call a general election.
Ernest Lapointe leads the Canadian delegation to the Imperial Conference committee chaired by former British prime minister, Lord Balfour, which deliberates on relations between self-governing parts of the British empire.
On September 25, King becomes prime minister again with the help of the Liberal-Progressives; in October he sails for England and another Imperial Conference.
J.S. Woodsworth bargains with King: his vote in return for an old age pension plan; Agnes Macphail of the United Farmers of Ontario Party also supports the plan.
1927
1927
King entertains Charles Lindbergh, who is the honoured guest at Canada’s Diamond Jubilee birthday celebrations, which include the dedication of the Carillon in the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.
American Charles Lindbergh flies his monoplane “Spirit of St. Louis” nonstop from New York to Paris in thirty-three and a half hours.
King’s book The Message of the Carillon and Other Addresses is published.
R.B. Bennett becomes the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
1928
In Britain, Lord Byng becomes Chief Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police.
1929
With the collapse of the U.S. Stock Exchange in October, the ten-year-long Great Depression begins.
1930
King appoints Cairine Wilson to the Senate; she is the first female senator.
King and Lapointe campaign throughout the West for the general election; although Mrs. Bleaney, a fortuneteller, promises victory, King is defeated by R.B. Bennett and his Conservatives.
1931
1931
In June, the Beauharnois Scandal becomes public; Opposition Leader King denies any knowledge of the affair but says it has thrust the Liberals into “the Valley of Humiliation.”
The Statute of Westminster, based on the Balfour Report of 1926, recognizes the autonomy of the self-governing parts of the British Empire – Britain, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Irish Free State – and creates the concept of the Commonwealth.
1932
1932
Having met a medium named Etta Wriedt, King invites her to come to Ottawa to conduct a seance with him and his friend Joan Patteson; they believe they are speaking to King’s mother and grandfather.
Fear of another incident like the Beauharnois Scandal prompts the Liberal Party of Canada to create the National Liberal Federation to separate fundraising from the parliamentary leadership.
1933
1933
King and Joan Patteson try to communicate with the dead without going through a medium.
In Canada, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) is founded under the leadership of J.S. Woodsworth.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes the thirty-second president of the U.S.
1934
Mitch Hepburn becomes premier of Ontario.
The Earl of Aberdeen, former Governor General of Canada, dies; his widow, Ishbel, seeks solace in automatic writing.
1935
1935
Campaigning on the slogan “It’s King or Chaos,” the Liberals sweep back into power in the federal election
Two new parties win seats in the Canadian general election: Social Credit and CCF; included among the new MPs is Tommy Douglas, future father of medicare.
Lord Tweedsmuir becomes Canada’s Governor General.
1936
1936
King purchases the pillars from a bank building about to be torn down and installs them as an “Arc de Triomphe” at Kingsmere to celebrate his recent successes, which include civic beautification projects in Ottawa, the closing of relief camps, and his work with the League of Nations in Geneva.
The Spanish Civil War begins.
Mussolini and Hitler declare the Rome-Berlin Axis.
Maurice Duplessis and the Union Nationale win a landslide victory in the Quebec election.
In Great Britain, King George VI succeeds his brother, Edward VIII, who has abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson.
1937
1937
King attends the Imperial Conference and the coronation of King George VI in Britain; he visits Hitler in Berlin and is impressed by the dictator. He predicts that Hitler will deliver his people.
John D. Rockefeller, Sr., founder of the Rockefeller family fortune, dies in Florida.
In Canada, the drought in southern Saskatchewan is the worst in its history; left-wing Canadians volunteer for the international brigades fighting in Spain; the Rowell-Sirois Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations hears submissions from delegations across the country.
1938
Hitler marches into Austria; Britain tries to appease Germany at Munich.
1939
1939
In March, King declares that Canada regards any act of aggression against Britain as an act of aggression against the whole Commonwealth; in the same month he promises that “conscription of men for overseas service will not be a necessary or effective step;” in August he is feted by the Liberal Party.
King George and Queen Elizabeth visit Canada and the U.S.
Though his spirits have assured him that Hitler does not want war, King’s government declares war on Germany and Italy; in December he signs the document creating the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
The Spanish Civil War ends; the Second World War begins in September; the U.S. is officially neutral.
General Andrew G.L. McNaughton becomes commander of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division; he will be the senior Canadian officer in Britain as the force grows to an army by 1942.
Ishbel, Lady Aberdeen, dies.
1940
1940
Mitch Hepburn passes a resolution in the Ontario legislature criticizing King’s war effort; King calls an election and wins a huge majority; the Unemployment Insurance Act passes.
In Canada, after many unsuccessful attempts, John Diefenbaker wins a seat in the federal election; James L. Ralston becomes the minister of defence and begins to campaign for conscription for overseas service.
The National Resources Mobilization Act introduces conscription for military service within Canada; the men conscripted under the act are sometimes called Zombies.
The Earl of Athlone becomes Governor General of Canada.
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of Great Britain.
1941
1941
In his maiden speech in the House of Commons, future Conservative prime minister, John Diefenbaker, taunts King, who happens to be his MP.
In December, Canada declares war on Japan following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; Canadian troops surrender to Japan in Hong Kong a few days later; the U.S. and Canada forcibly move citizens of Japanese descent away from the west coast of the continent.
Pat, King’s dog and companion, dies.
In Canada, O.D. Skelton and Ernest Lapointe die.
After flying to Britain in a Liberator bomber, a reluctant King addresses the Canadian Corps; he meets with Churchill, Who reassures him that conscription for overseas duty will not be necessary.
1942
1942
King continues to consult the spirits with his friend Joan Patteson; he worries about dividing French and English Canadians; Minister of Defence Ralston threatens to resign over conscription; as a compromise King agrees to hold a plebiscite in April to find out if the people of Canada will release him from his promise of no conscription.
The Allies launch a disastrous attack on the French port of Dieppe; 5,000 Canadian troops are involved, 900 are killed.
In Canada, Progressives and Conservatives link to form the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada; J.S. Woodworth dies in Vancouver.
1943
1943
The plebiscite having freed King from his promise, he continues to vacillate
