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The prime minister of Canada is an official who serves as the primary minister of the Crown, chair of the Cabinet, and thus head of government of Canada. Twenty-three people (twenty-two men and one woman) have served as prime ministers. Officially, the prime minister is appointed by the governor general of Canada, but by constitutional ...
Though the titular head of Canada is the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom (represented locally by a governor-general), the effective head of government is the prime minister. After a general election , the governor-general calls on the leader of the political party winning the most seats in the House of Commons to become prime minister and to form a government.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Early Life and Education
- Journalism
- Early Career in Labour and Industrial Relations
- Prime Minister
- The Great Depression
- The Second World War
- Controversial Beliefs
- Legacy
William Lyon Mackenzie King was born in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, to lawyer John King and his wife Isabel, daughter of William Lyon Mackenzie, leader of the 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada. He had three siblings: Isabel “Bella” Christina Grace (1873–1915), Janet “Jennie” Lindsey (1876–1962) and Dougall “Max” Macdougall (1878–1922). The family...
As an undergraduate student, King was a regular contributor to the University of Toronto student newspaper, The Varsity. He subsequently wrote articles for the Toronto Evening News, the Toronto Star, the Toronto Globe, and the Mail and Empire (see Globe and Mail), among other publications.
In 1900, King was offered a position with the new federal Department of Labour. That summer, he became the first editor of the Labour Gazette, the official journal published by the department between 1900 and 1978. In September, he became Canada's first deputy minister of labour. King’s interest in labour coincided with an expansion in manufacturin...
At the 1919 Liberal leadership convention, King was elected as Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s successor. Two years later, the Liberals won a slim majority in the federal election; King became prime minister. He set out to regain the confidence of the farmers in Ontario and Western Canada who had supported the new Progressive Party; but his reductions in tar...
Despite King’s background in economics, he was reluctant to acknowledge the scale of the economic crisis in the 1930s. He did not even note the stock market crash of 1929 in his personal diary. King did not believe at first that the Depression would seriously affect Canada. He refused to provide federal funding to provinces struggling with unemploy...
Developments abroad, from the Ethiopian crisis to the Munich crisis, forced King to pay more attention to international affairs. (See also Global Affairs Canada.) He hoped that war with Germany could be averted through appeasement. Like many other leaders of the time, King was impressed by Hitler when the two met in Berlin, Germany, on 29 June 1937...
Mackenzie King’s political achievements have often been overshadowed by the revelation that this apparently proper and colourless man was a spiritualist; he frequently sought contact with his dead motherand with other deceased relatives and friends. King kept a detailed personal diary for much of his life. This diary was transcribed and published i...
Mackenzie King has continued to intrigue Canadians. Critics argue that his political longevity was achieved by evasions and indecision, and that he failed to provide creative leadership. His defenders argue that he gradually changed Canada, a difficult country to govern, while keeping the nation united.
Feb 25, 2016 · Canada was deeply unprepared when it went to war at Britain’s side against Germany on 10 September 1939. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was an experienced and shrewd politician who had been in power for nearly 13 years, on and off, since 1921, but few thought he had the grit to lead the country in war.
William Lyon Mackenzie KingOM CMG PC(December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadianstatesman and politicianwho was the tenth prime minister of Canadafor 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.
Prime Ministers of Canada This page provides general details on Canada's prime ministers since 1867. For more information on an individual prime minister, including their electoral history and parliamentary roles, click on their name to view their complete profile.
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3 days ago · Canada - Prime Ministers, Politics, History | Britannica. The interregnum: Progressive Conservative government, 1979–80. The administrations of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, 1993–2006. Legalization of marijuana, environmental protection, and Quebec mosque attack. The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the 2021 snap elections.
