Borden Vs King Conscription Essay

2014 Borden Vs King: Conscription Before World War I and World War II, Canada had the reputation of a small colony that was controlled by the British Empire. Being a member of the Empire, Canada had to participate in the wars because when Britain is threatened so is Canada. With Canada participating in the wars, men had to volunteer to partake in the military. However, the number of casualties exceeded the number of volunteers. To be able to assist Britain and her allies compulsory enlistment or conscription had to be put in place. Sir Robert Laird Borden and William Lyon Mackenzie King led Canada during these times. Yet, both made a promise to their fellow countrymen upon the issue of conscription but when it was put place in effect,

In spite of being a member of the British Empire, King believed that Canada needed to be independent country and Britain’s declaration of war should not also be Canada’s. When war was on the verge of breaking out in Europe, King urged the Canadian Parliament to have the decision. This especially gave King a good reputation with the French Canadians because the First World War separated the English, French and immigrants. King knew that he had to be loyal to his own country since Canada has been officially deemed independent in the 1931 Statute of Westminster and so there will not be a civil war. To still have the strong relationship with Britain, King became a mediator for Britain and U.S’s agreements. For the first two years of the war King played a major role in the new relationship between the two countries. After the events of Pearl Harbour, King was left out the major war discussions. Even though at the end King did not play a large role in the last few years of the war, King set up a relationship that has lasted to the present day. Another example, King gave permission to Britain to use Canada for the land space, and safety from enemies. Also, Canada got the rule over Commonwealth training plan which shows that Britain started to see Canada as an equal; just what King wanted. On the other hand, Borden did not focus on his country that he was the leader of, instead he

King devised solutions to retain the war that could happen on home soil. On June 21, 1940 the National Resources Mobilization Act which was put into place to draft any fit men to be put into service only on Canadian soil. Although it was changed in April 1942, the NRMA allowed sending conscripts overseas with the voluntary recruits. The NRMA changed when there was plebiscite vote in 1942 to release the government from their promise of conscription overseas. Yes; this seems to be an quick exit from their pledge but King had to have this vote because of the English-speaking citizens urged for overseas conscription. After the vote, King adopted the motto of "Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary” (Whitaker). This motto and the plebiscite let King have a standby on the conscription issue for another 26 months. Another way that King created a soultions was dismissing those who wanted conscription and considered to be against the Canadian people. King dismissed Minister of National Defense Colonel J.L Ralston after the shortage of infantry in 1944. Ralston came back saying “ What does King propose? Still nothing. I propose that we send 15,000 NRMA troops overseas as early as December”( Goodall, 119). This consistent statement is what lead King to replace Ralston with McNaughton. King found himself with two conscriptionist ministers and could of led to a major conflict that he would not have the