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131-535: William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal , he was the dominant politician in Canada from the early 1920s to the late 1940s. King is best known for his leadership of Canada throughout the Great Depression and

262-540: A rump of 40; this was the largest majority government at the time. For the first time in his political career, King led an undisputed Liberal majority government. Upon his return to office in October 1935, he seemed to demonstrate a commitment (like Franklin Roosevelt ) to the underprivileged, speaking of a new era where "poverty and adversity, want and misery are the enemies which liberalism will seek to banish from

393-471: A century of federal planning that repositioned Ottawa as a national space in the City Beautiful style. Confederation Square , for example, was initially planned to be a civic plaza to balance the nearby federal presence of Parliament Hill and was turned into a war memorial. The Great War monument was not installed until the 1939 royal visit, and King intended that the replanning of the capital would be

524-608: A component of his broader program of social reform. He drew on four broad traditions in early North American planning: social planning, the Parks Movement, the City Scientific, and the City Beautiful . King's greatest impact was as the political champion for the planning and development of Ottawa, Canada's national capital. His plans, much of which were completed in the two decades after his death, were part of

655-811: A daily basis. Additionally, Canadians speak several sign languages ; the number of speakers is unknown of the most spoken ones, American Sign Language (ASL) and Quebec Sign Language (LSQ), as it is of Maritime Sign Language and Plains Sign Talk . There are only 47 speakers of the Inuit sign language Inuktitut . English and French are recognized by the Constitution of Canada as official languages. All federal government laws are thus enacted in both English and French, with government services available in both languages. Two of Canada's territories give official status to indigenous languages. In Nunavut , Inuktitut , and Inuinnaqtun are official languages, alongside

786-667: A defeat at the polls in 1930 . The Conservative government's response to the depression was unpopular and King returned to power in a landslide victory in the 1935 election . Soon after, the economy was on an upswing. King negotiated the 1935 Reciprocal Trade Agreement with the United States, passed the 1938 National Housing Act to improve housing affordability, introduced unemployment insurance in 1940, and in 1944, introduced family allowances – Canada's first universal welfare program . The government also established Trans-Canada Air Lines (the precursor to Air Canada ) and

917-588: A dominion with responsible government to an autonomous nation within the British Commonwealth . King asserted Canadian autonomy against the British government's attempts to turn the Commonwealth into an alliance. His biographer asserts that "in this struggle Mackenzie King was the constant aggressor". The Canadian High Commissioner to Britain, Vincent Massey , claimed that an "anti-British bias"

1048-598: A fully-fledged, sovereign state, with a distinct citizenship. Legislative independence was established with the passage of the Statute of Westminster, 1931 , the Canadian Citizenship Act, 1946 , took effect on January 1, 1947, and full sovereignty was achieved with the patriation of the constitution in 1982. Canada's nationality law closely mirrored that of the United Kingdom. Legislation since

1179-606: A group of rioters at a poll in Charlesbourg , Lower Canada (today Quebec), during the election of the Legislative Assembly in June 1792, he stated, "I urge you to unanimity and concord. Let me hear no more of the odious distinction of English and French. You are all His Britannic Majesty's beloved Canadian subjects." It was the first-known use of the term Canadian to mean both French and English settlers in

1310-563: A major constitutional crisis , the King–Byng affair . King and the Liberals decisively won the resulting election . After, King sought to make Canada's foreign policy more independent by expanding the Department of External Affairs while recruiting more Canadian diplomats. His government also introduced old-age pensions based on need. King's slow reaction to the Great Depression led to

1441-475: A majority. After his loss, King stayed on as leader of the Liberals, becoming the leader of the Opposition for the second time. King began his years as Opposition leader convinced that his government did not deserve defeat and that his government's financial caution helped the economy prosper. He blamed the financial crisis on the speculative excesses of businessmen and on the weather cycle. King argued that

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1572-460: A measure was introduced and passed "restoring the Crow's Nest Pass railways rates on grain and flour moving eastwards from the prairie provinces." A Farm Loan Board was set up to provide rural credit; advancing funds to farmers "at rates of interest and under terms not obtainable from the usual sources," while other measures were carried out such as preventative measures against foot and mouth disease and

1703-568: A multitude of Acts beginning with the Immigration Act of 1910. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada , there are three main classifications for immigrants: family class (persons closely related to Canadian residents), economic class (admitted on the basis of a point system that accounts for age, health and labour-market skills required for cost effectively inducting the immigrants into Canada's labour market) and refugee class (those seeking protection by applying to remain in

1834-535: A narrow majority of 118 out of 235 seats. The Conservatives won 50, the newly formed Progressive Party won 58 (but declined to form the official Opposition), and the remaining ten seats went to Labour MPs and Independents; most of these ten supported the Progressives. King became prime minister. As prime minister of Canada, King was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom on 20 June 1922 and

1965-409: A new precedent for the role of British Dominions . King expanded the Department of External Affairs , founded in 1909, to further promote Canadian autonomy from Britain. The new department took some time to develop, but over time it significantly increased the reach and projection of Canadian diplomacy. Prior to this, Canada had relied on British diplomats who owed their first loyalty to London. After

2096-788: A number of Jesuits dedicated to converting indigenous peoples; an effort that eventually proved successful. The first large Protestant communities were formed in the Maritimes after the British conquest of New France, followed by American Protestant settlers displaced by the American Revolution. The late nineteenth century saw the beginning of a substantive shift in Canadian immigration patterns. Large numbers of Irish and southern European immigrants were creating new Catholic communities in English Canada. The settlement of

2227-522: A post-war election , in which the Liberals lost their majority government . In his final years in office, King and his government partnered Canada with other Western nations to take part in the deepening Cold War , introduced Canadian citizenship , and successfully negotiated Newfoundland 's entry into Confederation . After leading his party for 29 years, and leading the country for 21 + 1 ⁄ 2 years, King retired from politics in late 1948. He died of pneumonia in mid-1950. King's personality

2358-485: A skating party when a young woman fell through the ice of the partly frozen Ottawa River . Harper dove into the water to try to save her, and perished in the attempt. King led the effort to raise a memorial to Harper, which resulted in the erection of the Sir Galahad statue on Parliament Hill in 1905. In 1906, King published a memoir of Harper, entitled The Secret of Heroism . While deputy minister of labour, King

2489-474: A teaching position at the university but earned political credit with Mulock, the man who would invite him to Ottawa and make him a deputy minister only five years later. While studying at the University of Toronto, King also contributed to the campus newspaper, The Varsity , and served as president of the yearbook committee in 1896. King subsequently wrote for The Globe , The Mail and Empire , and

2620-436: Is a product of its ethnicities , languages , religions , political , and legal system (s). Canada has been shaped by waves of migration that have combined to form a unique blend of art , cuisine , literature , humour , and music . Today, Canada has a diverse makeup of nationalities and constitutional protection for policies that promote multiculturalism rather than cultural assimilation . In Quebec, cultural identity

2751-502: Is an important part of Canada's political culture . With the role of Christianity in decline, it having once been central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life, commentators have suggested that Canada has come to enter a post-Christian period in a secular state, with irreligion on the rise. The majority of Canadians consider religion to be unimportant in their daily lives, but still believe in God. The practice of religion

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2882-629: Is considered the father of Canadian Jewry. The Islamic , Jains , Sikh , Hindu , and Buddhist communities—although small—are as old as the nation itself. The 1871 Canadian Census ( first "Canadian" national census ) indicated thirteen Muslims among the populace, while the Sikh population stood at approximately 5,000 by 1908. The first Canadian mosque was constructed in Edmonton , in 1938, when there were approximately 700 Muslims in Canada. Buddhism first arrived in Canada when Japanese immigrated during

3013-693: Is now generally considered a private matter throughout society and within the state. The 2011 Canadian census reported that 67.3% of Canadians identify as being Christians ; of this number, Catholics make up the largest group, accounting for 38.7 percent of the population. The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada (accounting for 6.1% of Canadians); followed by Anglicans (5.0%), and Baptists (1.9%). About 23.9% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, including agnostics , atheists , humanists , and other groups. The remaining are affiliated with non-Christian religions,

3144-469: Is strong, and many French-speaking commentators speak of a Quebec culture distinct from English Canadian culture. However, as a whole, Canada is a cultural mosaic : a collection of several regional, indigenous, and ethnic subcultures. Canadian government policies such as official bilingualism ; publicly funded health care ; higher and more progressive taxation ; outlawing capital punishment ; strong efforts to eliminate poverty ; strict gun control ;

3275-401: Is to promote housing affordability and choice, to facilitate access to, and competition and efficiency in the provision of, housing finance, to protect the availability of adequate funding for housing at low cost, and generally to contribute to the well-being of the housing sector in the national economy." The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is the agency responsible for administering

3406-476: Is typically obtained by birth in Canada or by birth or adoption abroad when at least one biological parent or adoptive parent is a Canadian citizen who was born in Canada or naturalized in Canada (and did not receive citizenship by being born outside of Canada to a Canadian citizen). It can also be granted to a permanent resident who lives in Canada for three out of four years and meets specific requirements. Canada established its own nationality law in 1946, with

3537-561: The Chinese Immigration Act, 1923 banning most forms of Chinese immigration to Canada. Immigration from most countries was controlled or restricted in some way, but only the Chinese were completely prohibited from immigrating. This was after various members of the federal and some provincial governments (especially British Columbia ) put pressure on the federal government to discourage Chinese immigration. Also in 1923,

3668-612: The 1911 federal election , King worked for the Rockefeller Foundation before briefly working as an industrial consultant. Following the death of Laurier in 1919, King acceded to the leadership of the Liberal Party. Taking the helm of a party torn apart by the Conscription Crisis of 1917 , he unified both the pro- conscription and anti-conscription factions of the party, leading it to victory in

3799-524: The 1911 general election , which saw the Conservatives defeat the Liberals and form government. After his defeat, King went on the lecture circuit on behalf of the Liberal Party. In June 1914 John D. Rockefeller Jr. hired him at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City, to head its new Department of Industrial Research. It paid $ 12,000 per year, compared to the meagre $ 2,500 per year

3930-550: The 1921 federal election . King established a post-war agenda that lowered wartime taxes and tariffs. He strengthened Canadian autonomy by refusing to support Britain in the Chanak Crisis without Parliament 's consent and negotiating the Halibut Treaty with the United States without British interference. In the 1925 election , the Conservatives won a plurality of seats, but the Liberals negotiated support from

4061-419: The 2021 Canadian census , over 450 " ethnic or cultural origins " were self-reported by Canadians. The major panethnic origin groups in Canada are: European ( 52.5%), North American ( 22.9%), Asian ( 19.3%), North American Indigenous ( 6.1%), African ( 3.8%), Latin, Central and South American ( 2.5%), Caribbean ( 2.1%), Oceanian ( 0.3%), and Other ( 6%). Statistics Canada reports that 35.5% of

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4192-590: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . Religion in Canada (2011 National Household Survey) Canada as a nation is religiously diverse, encompassing a wide range of groups, beliefs and customs. The preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms references "God", and the monarch carries the title of " Defender of the Faith ". However, Canada has no official religion , and support for religious pluralism ( Freedom of religion in Canada )

4323-479: The Canadian Pacific Railway . Additionally, growing South Asian immigration into British Columbia during the early 1900s led to the continuous journey regulation act of 1908 which indirectly halted Indian immigration to Canada, as later evidenced by the infamous 1914 Komagata Maru incident . The population of Canada has consistently risen, doubling approximately every 40 years, since

4454-591: The First World War and Second World War helped to foster Canadian nationalism , however, in 1917 and 1944, conscription crisis' highlighted the considerable rift along ethnic lines between Anglophones and Francophones. As a result of the First and Second World Wars, the Government of Canada became more assertive and less deferential to British authority. With the gradual loosening of political ties to

4585-794: The Hudson's Bay Company , coupled with independent entrepreneurial woodsman called coureur des bois . This arrival of newcomers led to the creation of the Métis , an ethnic group of mixed European and First Nations parentage. In the wake of the British Conquest of New France in 1760 and the Expulsion of the Acadians , many families from the British colonies in New England moved over into Nova Scotia and other colonies in Canada, where

4716-551: The Irish Free State , while still autonomous communities within the British Empire , ceased to be subordinate to the United Kingdom. Thus, the governor general ceased to represent the British government and was solely the personal representative of the sovereign while becoming a representative of The Crown . This ultimately was formalized in the Statute of Westminster 1931 . On September 14, King and his party won

4847-658: The National Film Board . King's government deployed Canadian troops days after the Second World War broke out . The Liberals' overwhelming triumph in the 1940 election allowed King to continue leading Canada through the war. He mobilized Canadian money, supplies, and volunteers to support Britain while boosting the economy and maintaining morale on the home front. To satisfy French Canadians , King delayed introducing overseas conscription until late 1944. The Allies ' victory in 1945 allowed King to call

4978-532: The Progressive Party and stayed in office as a minority government . In 1926, facing a Commons vote that could force his government to resign, King asked Governor General Lord Byng to dissolve parliament and call an election. Byng refused and instead invited the Conservatives to form government, who briefly held office but lost a motion of no confidence . This sequence of events triggered

5109-658: The Second World War . In August 1944, he ordered the displacement of Japanese Canadians out of the British Columbia Interior, mandating that they either resettle east of the Rocky Mountains or face deportation to Japan after the war. He played a major role in laying the foundations of the Canadian welfare state and establishing Canada's international position as a middle power . With a total of 21 years and 154 days in office, he remains

5240-600: The Toronto News . Fellow journalist W. A. Hewitt recalled that, the city editor of the Toronto News left him in charge one afternoon with instructions to fire King if he showed up. When Hewitt sat at the editor's desk, King showed up a few minutes later and resigned before Hewitt could tell him he was fired. After studying at the University of Chicago and working with Jane Addams at her settlement house, Hull House , King proceeded to Harvard University . While at

5371-593: The culture of Canada , and thus a Canadian identity . Canada has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geographic, and economic neighbour—the United States. Canadian independence from the United Kingdom grew gradually over the course of many years following the formation of the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The First and Second World Wars , in particular, gave rise to a desire among Canadians to have their country recognized as

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5502-495: The longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history . King studied law and political economy in the 1890s and later obtained a PhD – the only Canadian prime minister to have done so. In 1900, he became deputy minister of the Canadian government's new Department of Labour. He entered the House of Commons in 1908 before becoming the federal minister of labour in 1909 under Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier . After losing his seat in

5633-528: The major urban centres . The Canadian public, as well as the major political parties, are tolerant of immigrants. The majority of illegal immigrants come from the southern provinces of the People's Republic of China , with Asia as a whole, Eastern Europe , Caribbean , Africa , and the Middle East . Estimates of numbers of illegal immigrants range between 35,000 and 120,000. Canadian citizenship

5764-597: The mother tongues of approximately 56% and 21% of Canadians, respectively. As of the 2016 Census, just over 7.3 million Canadians listed a non-official language as their mother tongue. Some of the most common non-official first languages include Chinese (1,227,680 first-language speakers), Punjabi (501,680), Spanish (458,850), Tagalog (431,385), Arabic (419,895), German (384,040), and Italian (375,645). Less than one percent of Canadians (just over 250,000 individuals) can speak an indigenous language . About half this number (129,865) reported using an indigenous language on

5895-558: The 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries are often referred to as Old Stock Canadians . Beginning in the late 1850s, the immigration of Chinese into the Colony of Vancouver Island and Colony of British Columbia peaked with the onset of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . The Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 eventually placed a head tax on all Chinese immigrants, in hopes of discouraging Chinese immigration after completion of

6026-405: The 36.3 million people enumerated in 2021 approximately 24.5 million reported being " white ", representing 67.4 percent of the population. The indigenous population representing 5 percent or 1.8 million individuals, grew by 9.4 percent compared to the non-Indigenous population, which grew by 5.3 percent from 2016 to 2021. One out of every four Canadians or 26.5 percent of

6157-458: The Bennett government's budget deficits as irresponsible, though didn't suggest his own idea of how budgets could be balanced . King also denounced the "blank cheques" parliament was asked to approve for relief and delayed the passage of these bills despite the objections of some Liberals who feared the public might conclude that the Liberals had no sympathy for those struggling. Each year, after

6288-703: The British made farmland available to British settlers on easy terms. More settlers arrived during and after the American Revolutionary War , when approximately 60,000 United Empire Loyalists fled to British North America , a large portion of whom settled in New Brunswick. After the War of 1812 , British (including British army regulars), Scottish, and Irish immigration was encouraged throughout Rupert's Land, Upper Canada and Lower Canada . Between 1815 and 1850, some 800,000 immigrants came to

6419-458: The Canadas . As of 2010, Canadians make up 0.5% of the world's total population , having relied upon immigration for population growth and social development. Approximately 41% of current Canadians are first- or second-generation immigrants, and 20% of Canadian residents in the 2000s were not born in the country. Statistics Canada projects that, by 2031, nearly one-half of Canadians above

6550-608: The Conservative government have its way. Though he gave the impression of sympathy with progressive and liberal causes, he had no enthusiasm for the New Deal of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (which Bennett eventually tried to emulate, after floundering without solutions for several years), and he never advocated massive government action to alleviate the Depression in Canada. As Opposition leader, King denounced

6681-478: The Conservative rivals. When Laurier died in 1919, King was elected leader in the first Liberal leadership convention , defeating his three rivals on the fourth ballot. He won thanks to the support of the Quebec bloc, organized by Ernest Lapointe (1876–1941), later King's long-time lieutenant in Quebec. King could not speak French, but in election after election for the next 20 years (save for 1930), Lapointe produced

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6812-463: The Conservatives held more seats in the House than any other party, they did not control a majority. They were soon themselves defeated on a motion of non-confidence on July 2. Meighen himself then requested a dissolution of Parliament, which Byng now granted. King ran the 1926 Liberal election campaign largely on the issue of the right of Canadians to govern themselves and against the interference of

6943-603: The Crown. The Liberal Party was returned to power with a minority government , which bolstered King's position on the issue and the position of the Prime Minister generally. King later pushed for greater Canadian autonomy at the 1926 Imperial Conference which elicited the Balfour Declaration stating that upon the granting of dominion status, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland , South Africa, and

7074-522: The DHA ended up setting the tone for all future housing legislation with the provision of loans for the wealthiest Canadians and promotion of homeownership and mortgage lending infrastructure. The DHA consisted of two parts: The DHA provided $ 20 million in loans. A total of 3,263 mortgage loans were administered through the Dominion Housing Act from 1935 to 1938. Two years after the DHA

7205-497: The King–Byng episode, King recruited many high-calibre people for the new venture, including future prime minister Lester Pearson and influential career administrators Norman Robertson and Hume Wrong . This project was a key element of his overall strategy, setting Canada on a course independent of Britain, of former colonizer France , as well as of the neighbouring powerful United States. Throughout his tenure, King led Canada from

7336-664: The Liberal Party was paying. He worked for the Foundation until 1918, forming a close working association and friendship with Rockefeller, advising him through the turbulent period of the 1913–1914 Strike and Ludlow Massacre –in what is known as the Colorado Coalfield War –at a family-owned coal company in Colorado , which subsequently set the stage for a new era in labour management in America. King became one of

7467-564: The North Pacific Ocean . In 1923, King's government negotiated the Halibut Treaty with the United States. The treaty annually prohibited commercial fishing from November 16 to February 15; violation would result in seizure. The agreement was notable in which Canada negotiated it without a British delegate at the table and without ratification from the British Parliament ; though not official, convention stated that

7598-476: The Progressive caucus lacked the party discipline that was traditionally enforced by the Liberals and Conservatives. The Progressives had campaigned on a promise that their MP's would represent their constituents first. King used this to his advantage, as he could always count on at least a handful of Progressive MPs to shore up his near-majority position for any crucial vote. In 1923, King's government passed

7729-471: The Progressives gradually weakened. Their effective and passionate leader, Thomas Crerar , resigned to return to his grain business, and was replaced by the more placid Robert Forke , who joined King's cabinet in 1926 as Minister of Immigration and Colonization after becoming a Liberal-Progressive . Socialist reformer J. S. Woodsworth gradually gained influence and power, and King was able to reach an accommodation with him on policy matters. In any event,

7860-401: The United Kingdom and the modernization of Canadian immigration policies, 20th-century immigrants with African , Caribbean and Asian nationalities have added to the Canadian identity and its culture. The multiple-origins immigration pattern continues today, with the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from non-British or non-French backgrounds. Multiculturalism in Canada was adopted as

7991-427: The United Kingdom would have a seat at the table or be a signatory to any agreement Canada was part of. King argued the situation only concerned Canada and the United States. After, the British accepted King's intentions to send a separate Canadian diplomat to Washington D.C. (to represent Canada's interests) rather than a British one. At the 1923 Imperial Conference , Britain accepted the Halibut Treaty, arguing it set

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8122-415: The United States on an as-needed basis, performing service to the war effort by helping to keep war-related industries running smoothly. In 1918, King, assisted by his friend F. A. McGregor, published Industry and Humanity: A Study in the Principles Underlying Industrial Reconstruction , a dense, abstract book he wrote in response to the Ludlow massacre . It went over the heads of most readers, but revealed

8253-461: The United States, and into Mexico. National Housing Act (Canada) The NHA replaced and expanded the scope of the Dominion Housing Act of 1935. First passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1938, replacement National Housing Acts were passed in 1944 and 1954. Major amendments to these acts occurred in 1948, 1949, 1956, 1964, 1969, 1973, 1985, 1999 and 2007. The purpose of the NHA set out in section 3 "in relation to financing for housing,

8384-400: The University of Chicago, he participated on their track team as a half-mile runner. He earned an MA in political economy from Harvard in 1898. In 1909, Harvard granted him a PhD degree for a dissertation titled "Publicity and Public Opinion as Factors in the Solution of Industrial Problems in Canada." He is the only Canadian Prime Minister to have earned a PhD. In 1900, King became editor of

8515-427: The University of Toronto. King became a lifelong practising Presbyterian with a dedication to social reform based on his Christian duty. He never favoured socialism . King enrolled at the University of Toronto in 1891. He obtained a BA degree in 1895, an LLB degree in 1896, and an MA in 1897, all from the university. While studying in Toronto he met a wide circle of friends, many of whom became prominent. He

8646-469: The World War I memorial. However, the symbolic meaning of the World War I monument gradually expanded to become the place of remembrance for all Canadian war sacrifices and includes a war memorial. King called an election in 1925 , in which the Conservatives won the most seats, but not a majority in the House of Commons . King held onto power with the support of the Progressives. A corruption scandal discovered late in his first term involved misdeeds around

8777-524: The act, since its establishment in 1945. The Dominion Housing Act was passed in 1935 as Canada's first national housing policy. It included as part of "Canada's New Deal" put forward by Prime Minister R. B. Bennett , who was facing an election with low support following his government's response to the Great Depression . Taking inspiration from President Roosevelt 's New Deal , Bennett proposed regulatory and social safety net legislation. Despite demands for affordable housing from social reformers,

8908-528: The age of 15 will be foreign-born or have one foreign-born parent. Indigenous peoples , according to the 2016 Canadian census , numbered at 1,673,780 or 4.9% of the country's 35,151,728 population. While the first contact with Europeans and Indigenous peoples in Canada had occurred a century or more before, the first group of permanent settlers were the French , who founded the New France settlements, in present-day Quebec and Ontario ; and Acadia , in present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick , during

9039-549: The colonies of British North America, mainly from the British Isles as part of the Great Migration of Canada . These new arrivals included some Gaelic-speaking Highland Scots displaced by the Highland Clearances to Nova Scotia. The Great Famine of Ireland of the 1840s significantly increased the pace of Irish immigration to Prince Edward Island and the Province of Canada , with over 35,000 distressed individuals landing in Toronto in 1847 and 1848. Descendants of Francophone and Anglophone northern Europeans who arrived in

9170-537: The constituency of York North , which his grandfather had once represented. The Liberal Party was deeply divided by Quebec's opposition to conscription and the agrarian revolt in Ontario and the Prairies. Levin argues that when King returned to politics in 1919, he was a rusty outsider with a weak base facing a nation bitterly split by language, regionalism and class. He outmaneuvered more senior competitors by embracing Laurier's legacy, championing labour interests, calling for welfare reform, and offering solid opposition to

9301-446: The country and offer specialty television channels, newspapers, and other publications in many minority languages. In Canada, as elsewhere in the world of European colonies , the frontier of European exploration and settlement tended to be a linguistically diverse and fluid place, as cultures using different languages met and interacted. The need for a common means of communication between the indigenous inhabitants and new arrivals for

9432-640: The country by way of the Canadian immigration and refugee law ). In 2008, there were 65,567 immigrants in the family class, 21,860 refugees, and 149,072 economic immigrants amongst the 247,243 total immigrants to the country. Canada resettles over one in 10 of the world's refugees and has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world. As of a 2010 report by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada , there were 2.8 million Canadian citizens abroad . This represents about 8% of

9563-492: The crisis. King coldly replied that the Canadian Parliament would decide what policy to follow, making clear it would not be bound by London's suggestions. King wrote in his diary of the British appeal: "I confess it annoyed me. It is drafted designedly to play the imperial game, to test out centralization versus autonomy as regards European wars...No [Canadian] contingent will go without parliament being summoned in

9694-741: The critical seats to give the Liberals control of the Commons. When campaigning in Quebec, King portrayed Lapointe as co-prime minister. Once King became the Liberal leader in 1919 he paid closer attention to the Prairies , a fast-developing region. Viewing a sunrise in Alberta in 1920, he wrote in his diary, "I thought of the New Day, the New Social Order. It seems like Heaven's prophecy of

9825-523: The customs scandal that could force his government to resign, advised the Governor General , Lord Byng , to dissolve Parliament and call another election. Byng, however, declined the Prime Minister's request – the first time in Canadian history that a request for dissolution was refused; and, to date, the only time the governor general of Canada has done so. Byng instead asked Leader of the Opposition , Arthur Meighen, to form government. Although

9956-532: The dawn of a new era, revealed to me." Pragmatism played a role as well, since his party depended for its survival on the votes of Progressive Party Members of Parliament, many of whom who represented farmers in Ontario and the Prairies. He convinced many Progressives to return to the Liberal fold. In the 1921 election , King's Liberals defeated the Conservatives led by Prime Minister Arthur Meighen , winning

10087-524: The earliest expert practitioners in the emerging field of industrial relations . King was not a pacifist, but he showed little enthusiasm for the Great War ; he faced criticism for not serving in Canada's military and instead working for the Rockefellers. However, he was nearly 40 years old when the war began, and was not in good physical condition. He never gave up his Ottawa home, and travelled to

10218-631: The early part of the 17th century. Approximately 100 Irish-born families would settle the Saint Lawrence Valley by 1700, assimilating into the Canadien population and culture. During the 18th and 19th century; immigration westward (to the area known as Rupert's Land ) was carried out by " Voyageurs "; French settlers working for the North West Company ; and by British settlers ( English and Scottish ) representing

10349-614: The election with a plurality of seats in the Commons: 116 seats to the Conservatives' 91 in a 245-member House. During the Chanak Crisis of 1922, King refused to support the British without first consulting Parliament , while the Conservative leader, Arthur Meighen, supported Britain. King sought a Canadian voice independent of London in foreign affairs. In September 1922 the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George , appealed repeatedly to King for Canadian support in

10480-606: The enactment of the Canadian Citizenship Act which took effect on January 1, 1947. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada in 2001 as Bill C-11, which replaced the Immigration Act, 1976 as the primary federal legislation regulating immigration. Prior to the conferring of legal status on Canadian citizenship, Canada's naturalization laws consisted of

10611-486: The establishment of grading standards "to assist in the marketing of agricultural products" both at home and overseas. In addition, the Combines Investigation Act of 1923 was aimed at safeguarding consumers and producers from exploitation. A Fair Wages and Eight Hours Day Act was introduced in 1930. King's government was in power at the beginning of the Great Depression , but was slow to respond to

10742-407: The establishment of the Canadian Confederation in 1867. In the mid-to-late 19th century, Canada had a policy of assisting immigrants from Europe , including an estimated 100,000 unwanted " Home Children " from Britain. Block settlement communities were established throughout Western Canada between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some were planned and others were spontaneously created by

10873-604: The expansion of the Beauharnois Canal in Quebec; this led to extensive inquiries and eventually a Royal Commission , which exposed the Beauharnois Scandal . The resulting press coverage damaged King's party in the election. Early in his second term, another corruption scandal, this time in the Department of Customs, was revealed, which led to more support for the Conservatives and Progressives, and

11004-414: The family. King's father was a lawyer with a struggling practice in a small city, and never enjoyed financial security. His parents lived a life of shabby gentility, employing servants and tutors they could scarcely afford, although their financial situation improved somewhat following a move to Toronto around 1890, where King lived with them for several years in a duplex on Beverley Street while studying at

11135-412: The federal government used the report to justify the first legislation outlawing narcotics in Canada. King was first elected to Parliament as a Liberal in the 1908 federal election , representing Waterloo North . In 1909, King was appointed as the first-ever minister of labour by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier . King's term as minister of labour was marked by two significant achievements. He led

11266-585: The federal government-owned Labour Gazette , a publication that explored complex labour issues. Later that year, he was appointed as deputy minister of the Canadian government's new Department of Labour, and became active in policy domains from Japanese immigration to railways, notably the Industrial Disputes Investigations Act (1907) which sought to avert labour strikes by prior conciliation. In 1901, King's roommate and best friend, Henry Albert Harper , died heroically during

11397-546: The first instance". The British were disappointed with King's response but the crisis was soon resolved, as King had anticipated. After Chanak, King was concerned about the possibility that Canada might go to war because of its connections with Britain, writing to Violet Markham : Anything like centralization in London, to say nothing of a direct or indirect attempt on the part of those in office in Downing Street to tell

11528-416: The government modified the Immigration Act to allow former subjects of Austria-Hungary to once again enter Canada. Ukrainian immigration resumed after restrictions were put in place during World War I. King had a long-standing concern with city planning and the development of the national capital, since he had been trained in the settlement house movement and envisioned town planning and garden cities as

11659-566: The land". Once again, King appointed himself as secretary of state for external affairs ; he held that post until 1946. Promising a much-desired trade treaty with the U.S., the King government passed the 1935 Reciprocal Trade Agreement. It marked the turning point in Canadian-American economic relations, reversing the disastrous trade war of 1930–31, lowering tariffs, and yielding a dramatic increase in trade. More subtly, it revealed to

11790-595: The largest of which is Islam (3.2%), followed by Hinduism (1.5%), Sikhism (1.4%), Buddhism (1.1%), and Judaism (1.0%). Before the arrival of European colonists and explorers, First Nations followed a wide array of mostly animistic religions . During the colonial period, the French settled along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River , specifically Latin Church Catholics , including

11921-501: The late 1930s. Historian Jack Granatstein notes, "the scholars expressed little admiration for King the man but offered unbounded admiration for his political skills and attention to Canadian unity." King is ranked among the top three of Canadian prime ministers. King was born in a frame house rented by his parents at 43 Benton Street in Berlin ( now Kitchener ), Ontario to John King and Isabel Grace Mackenzie. His maternal grandfather

12052-534: The late 19th century. The first Japanese Buddhist temple in Canada was built in Vancouver in 1905. The influx of immigrants in the late 20th century, with Sri Lankan , Japanese , Indian and Southeast Asian customs, has contributed to the recent expansion of the Jain, Sikh, Hindu, and Buddhist communities. A multitude of languages are used by Canadians, with English and French (the official languages ) being

12183-820: The legalizing of same-sex marriage , pregnancy terminations , euthanasia and cannabis are social indicators of Canada's political and cultural values . American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant, in English Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the United States and worldwide. The Government of Canada has also influenced culture with programs, laws, and institutions. It has created Crown corporations to promote Canadian culture through media, and has also tried to protect Canadian culture by setting legal minimums on Canadian content . Canadian culture has historically been influenced by European culture and traditions, especially British and French , and by its own indigenous cultures . Most of Canada's territory

12314-456: The majority of the population made up of Old World immigrants and their descendants. Following the initial period of French and then the much larger British colonization , different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-indigenous peoples took place over the course of nearly two centuries and continue today. Elements of Indigenous, French, British, and more recent immigrant customs, languages, and religions have combined to form

12445-688: The mid-1700s brought a large Francophone population under British Imperial rule , creating a need for compromise and accommodation. The new British rulers left alone much of the religious, political, and social culture of the French-speaking habitants , guaranteeing through the Quebec Act of 1774 the right of the Canadiens to practise the Catholic faith and to use French civil law (now Quebec law ). The Constitution Act, 1867

12576-696: The mid-20th century represents Canadians' commitment to multilateralism and socioeconomic development . The word Canadian originally applied, in its French form, Canadien , to the colonists residing in the northern part of New France — in Quebec , and Ontario —during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The French colonists in Maritime Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island), were known as Acadians . When Prince Edward (a son of King George III ) addressed, in English and French,

12707-410: The mounting crisis. He felt that the crisis was a temporary swing of the business cycle and that the economy would soon recover without government intervention. Critics said he was out of touch. Just prior to the election, King carelessly remarked that he "would not give a five-cent piece" to Tory provincial governments for unemployment relief. The opposition made this remark a catch-phrase; the main issue

12838-566: The national languages of English and French, and Inuktitut is a common vehicular language in territorial government. In the Northwest Territories , the Official Languages Act declares that there are eleven different languages: Chipewyan , Cree , English, French, Gwich'in , Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun , North Slavey , South Slavey , and Tłįchǫ . Multicultural media are widely accessible across

12969-531: The official policy of the government during the premiership of Pierre Trudeau in the 1970s and 1980s. The Canadian government has often been described as the instigator of multicultural ideology, because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration . Multiculturalism is administered by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and reflected in the law through the Canadian Multiculturalism Act and section 27 of

13100-632: The passage of the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act and the Combines Investigation Act , which he had shaped during his civil and parliamentary service. The legislation significantly improved the financial situation for millions of Canadian workers. In 1910 Mackenzie King introduced a bill aimed at establishing an 8-hour day on public works but it was killed in the Senate. He lost his seat in

13231-746: The people of the Dominions what they should or should not do, and to dictate their duty in matters of foreign policy, is certain to prove just as injurious to the so-called 'imperial solidarity' as any attempt at interference in questions of purely domestic concern. If membership within the British Commonwealth means participation by the Dominions in any and every war in which Great Britain becomes involved, without consultation, conference, or agreement of any kind in advance, I can see no hope for an enduring relationship. For years, halibut stocks were depleting in Canadian and American fishing areas in

13362-554: The population belonged to a non-White and non-Indigenous visible minority , the largest of which in 2021 were South Asian (2.6 million people; 7.1 percent), Chinese (1.7 million; 4.7 percent) and Black (1.5 million; 4.3 percent). Between 2011 and 2016, the visible minority population rose by 18.4 percent. In 1961, less than two percent of Canada's population (about 300,000 people) were members of visible minority groups. The 2021 Census indicated that 8.3 million people, or almost one-quarter (23.0 percent) of

13493-547: The population reported multiple ethnic origins, thus the overall total is greater than 100%. The country's ten largest self-reported specific ethnic or cultural origins in 2021 were Canadian (accounting for 15.6 percent of the population), followed by English (14.7 percent), Irish (12.1 percent), Scottish (12.1 percent), French (11.0 percent), German (8.1 percent), Indian (5.1 percent), Chinese (4.7 percent), Italian (4.3 percent), and Ukrainian (3.5 percent). Of

13624-515: The population reported themselves as being or having been a landed immigrant or permanent resident in Canada—above the 1921 Census previous record of 22.3 percent. In 2021 India, China, and the Philippines were the top three countries of origin for immigrants moving to Canada. Canadian culture is primarily a Western culture , with influences by First Nations and other cultures. It

13755-409: The possibility that King would be forced to resign, if he lost sufficient support in the Commons. King had no personal connection to this scandal, although one of his own appointees was at the heart of it. Opposition leader Meighen unleashed his fierce invective towards King, stating he was hanging onto power "like a lobster with lockjaw".` In June 1926, King, facing a House of Commons vote connected to

13886-430: The practical idealism behind King's political thinking. He argued that capital and labour were natural allies, not foes, and that the community at large (represented by the government) should be the third and decisive party in industrial disputes. He expressed derision for syndicates and trades unions, chastising them for aiming at the "destruction by force of existing organization, and the transfer of industrial capital from

14017-617: The present possessors" to themselves. Quitting the Rockefeller Foundation in February 1918, King became an independent consultant on labour issues for the next two years, earning $ 1,000 per week from leading American corporations. Even so, he kept his official residence in Ottawa, hoping for a call to duty. In 1917, Canada was in crisis; King supported Liberal leader Wilfrid Laurier in his opposition to conscription , which

14148-520: The prime minister and President Roosevelt that they could work together well. Canadian Canadians ( French : Canadiens ) are people identified with the country of Canada . This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Canadian . Canada is a multilingual and multicultural society home to people of groups of many different ethnic, religious, and national origins, with

14279-488: The provincial governments, he inaugurated a system of old-age pensions based on need. In February 1930, he appointed Cairine Wilson as the first female senator in Canadian history. Reductions in taxation were carried out such as exemptions under the sales tax on commodities and enlarged exemptions of income tax, while in 1929 taxes on cables, telegrams, and railway and steamship tickets were removed. Measures were also carried out to support farmers. In 1922, for instance,

14410-470: The purposes of trade, and (in some cases) intermarriage, led to the development of mixed languages . Languages like Michif , Chinook Jargon , and Bungi creole tended to be highly localized and were often spoken by only a small number of individuals who were frequently capable of speaking another language. Plains Sign Talk —which functioned originally as a trade language used to communicate internationally and across linguistic borders—reached across Canada,

14541-413: The settlers themselves. Canada received mainly European immigrants, predominantly Italians , Germans, Scandinavians , Dutch , Poles , and Ukrainians . Legislative restrictions on immigration (such as the continuous journey regulation and Chinese Immigration Act, 1923 ) that had favoured British and other European immigrants were amended in the 1960s, opening the doors to immigrants from all parts of

14672-403: The throne speech and the budget, King introduced amendments that blamed the depression on Bennett's policy of high tariffs. By the time the 1935 election arrived, the Bennett government was heavily unpopular due to their handling of the depression. Using the slogan "King or Chaos", the Liberals won a landslide victory , winning 173 out of the Commons' 245 seats and reducing the Conservatives to

14803-592: The total Canadian population. Of those living abroad, the United States, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, China, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, and Australia have the largest Canadian diaspora. Canadians in the United States constitute the greatest single expatriate community at over 1 million in 2009, representing 35.8% of all Canadians abroad. Under current Canadian law , Canada does not restrict dual citizenship , but Passport Canada encourages its citizens to travel abroad on their Canadian passport so that they can access Canadian consular services . According to

14934-553: The west brought significant Eastern Orthodox immigrants from Eastern Europe and Mormon and Pentecostal immigrants from the United States. The earliest documentation of Jewish presence in Canada occurs in the 1754 British Army records from the French and Indian War . In 1760, General Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst attacked and won Montreal for the British. In his regiment there were several Jews, including four among his officer corps, most notably Lieutenant Aaron Hart who

15065-565: The world. While the 1950s had still seen high levels of immigration by Europeans, by the 1970s immigrants were increasingly Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese , Jamaican , and Haitian . During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Canada received many American Vietnam War draft dissenters . Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Canada's growing Pacific trade brought with it a large influx of South Asians , who tended to settle in British Columbia . Immigrants of all backgrounds tend to settle in

15196-443: The worst mistake Canada could react to the Depression was to raise tariffs and restrict international trade. He believed that over time, voters would learn that they had been deceived by Bennett and would come to appreciate the King government's policy of frugality and free trade . King's policy was to refrain from offering advice or alternative policies. Indeed, his policy preferences were not much different from Bennett's, and he let

15327-634: Was William Lyon Mackenzie , first mayor of Toronto and leader of the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837. His father was a lawyer and later a lecturer at Osgoode Hall Law School . King had three siblings: older sister Isabel "Bella" Christina Grace (1873–1915), younger sister Janet "Jennie" Lindsey (1876–1962) and younger brother Dougall Macdougall "Max" (1878–1922). Within his family, he was known as Willie; during his university years, he adopted W. L. Mackenzie King as his signature and began using Mackenzie as his preferred name with those outside

15458-479: Was "one of the most powerful factors in his make-up". In domestic affairs, King strengthened the Liberal policy of increasing the powers of the provincial governments by transferring to the governments of Manitoba , Alberta , and Saskatchewan the ownership of the crown lands within those provinces, as well as the subsoil rights; these in particular would become increasingly important, as petroleum and other natural resources proved very abundant. In collaboration with

15589-551: Was an early member and officer of the Kappa Alpha Society , which included a number of these individuals (two future Ontario Supreme Court Justices and the future chairman of the university itself). It encouraged debate on political ideas. He also was simultaneously a part of the Literary Society with Arthur Meighen , a future political rival. King was especially concerned with issues of social welfare and

15720-413: Was appointed to investigate the causes of and claims for compensation resulting from the 1907 anti-Oriental riots in Vancouver's Chinatown and Japantown . One of the claims for damages came from Chinese opium dealers, which led King to investigate narcotics use in Vancouver , British Columbia. Following the investigation King reported that white women were also opium users, not just Chinese men, and

15851-570: Was complex; biographers agree on the personal characteristics that made him distinctive. He lacked the charisma of such contemporaries as Franklin D. Roosevelt , Winston Churchill , or Charles de Gaulle . Cold and tactless in human relations, he lacked oratorical skill and his personality did not resonate with the electorate. He kept secret his beliefs in spiritualism and use of mediums to stay in contact with departed associates and particularly with his mother, and allowed his intense spirituality to distort his understanding of Adolf Hitler throughout

15982-530: Was designed to meet the growing calls of Canadians for autonomy from British rule, while avoiding the overly strong decentralization that contributed to the Civil War in the United States. The compromises made by the Fathers of Confederation set Canadians on a path to bilingualism , and this in turn contributed to an acceptance of diversity. The Canadian Armed Forces and overall civilian participation in

16113-425: Was influenced by the settlement house movement pioneered by Toynbee Hall in London, England. He played a central role in fomenting a students' strike at the university in 1895. He was in close touch, behind the scenes, with Vice-Chancellor William Mulock , for whom the strike provided a chance to embarrass his rivals Chancellor Edward Blake and President James Loudon . King failed to gain his immediate objective,

16244-580: Was inhabited and developed later than other European colonies in the Americas, with the result that themes and symbols of pioneers, trappers, and traders were important in the early development of the Canadian identity . First Nations played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada , particularly for their role in assisting exploration of the continent during the North American fur trade . The British conquest of New France in

16375-618: Was passed, the Federal Home Improvement Plan was established and subsidized the interest rates on loans for housing rehabilitation to 66,900 homes. In 1938, the first National Housing Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada to replace and expand the scope of the Dominion Housing Act of 1935. Replacement National Housing Acts were later passed in 1944 and 1954. Major amendments to these acts occurred in 1948, 1949, 1956, 1964, 1969, 1973, 1985, 1999 and 2007. Deputy Minister of Finance William Clifford Clark

16506-411: Was seen as a "tokenist" gesture and very few social housing units were built. The NHA of 1954 was largely the same as the two previous NHAs in its objective to "maintain the private mortgage market," however did it replace the joint-loan program with a mortgage-loan one. The 1964 amendments made provinces, municipalities or their agencies the sole owners of public housing, as previously public housing

16637-519: Was sworn at Buckingham Palace on October 11, 1923, during the 1923 Imperial Conference . During his first term of office, from 1921 to 1926, King sought to lower wartime taxes and, especially, wartime ethnic and labour tensions. "The War is over", he argued, "and for a long time to come it is going to take all that the energies of man can do to bridge the chasm and heal the wounds which the War has made in our social life." Despite prolonged negotiations, King

16768-500: Was the deterioration in the economy and whether the prime minister was out of touch with the hardships of ordinary people. The Liberals lost the election of 1930 to the Conservative Party, led by Richard Bedford Bennett . The popular vote was very close between the two parties, with the Liberals actually earning more votes than in 1926, but the Conservatives had a geographical advantage that turned into enough seats to give

16899-758: Was the one to draft the National Housing Acts of 1938 and 1944, as well as the Dominion Housing Act . In 1945, the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (later renamed Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation ) was created to administer the NHA. Amendments to the Act in 1948 introduced limited-dividend housing. In 1949, the Act was again amended to provide joint federal-provincial funding to construct public, rent-geared-to-income housing; however, this

17030-704: Was unable to attract the Progressives into his government, but once Parliament opened, he relied on their support to defeat non-confidence motions from the Conservatives. King was opposed in some policies by the Progressives, who opposed the high tariffs of the National Policy . King faced a delicate balancing act of reducing tariffs enough to please the Prairie-based Progressives, but not so much as to alienate his vital supporters in industrial Ontario and Quebec, who perceived tariffs were necessary to compete with American imports. Over time,

17161-420: Was violently opposed in the province of Quebec . The Liberal party became deeply split, with several Anglophones joining the pro-conscription Union government, a coalition controlled by the Conservatives under Prime Minister Robert Borden . King returned to Canada to run in the 1917 election , which focused almost entirely on the conscription issue. Unable to overcome a landslide against Laurier, King lost in

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