William Lyon Mackenzie King

“The decision of Canada on any important issue… should be made by the people of Canada”
-- Mackenzie King, Imperial Conference, 1923

A fiery and passionate politition, William Lyon Mackenzie King transformed Canada from a British dominion, into a self-governing country. Born on December 17, 1874, in Berlin, Ontario, King would become an influencial figure in Canadian history. King studied at the Universities of Toronto and Chicago before getting a Ph.D from Harvard in Political Economy in 1909. At only 26, King became Canada’s first deputy minister of labour and the editor of the Labour Gazette. Throughout his life, his constituances included Waterloo North, Ontario; Prince, Prince Edward Island; York North, Ontario; Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; and Glengarry, Ontario. As a devoted liberal, he became the party leader in 1919 and was elected tobe Prime Minister on December 29, 1921. His term was shortly interupted during the ‘King-Byng” crisis in which he resigned on June 28, 1926. He returned as Prime Minister on September 25, 1926 after defeating the conservaties, who took over after he resigned, in a landslide. King was beaten by Richard Bennett and the Conservatives after his inability to deal with the Great Depression. Canadians re-elected King as Prime Minister on October 23, 1935 where he remained in power until November 15, 1948. During his three separate tenures as Prime Minster, King achieve many political accomplishments. Among his most important documents passed, was the Balfour declaration and the Statute of Westminster. Both documents led to the continuing independence and identity of Canada. King’s famous fight with Governor General Byng led to his resignation and fueled King’s belief that Canada should be more independent of Britain. King also created the Old Age pension in 1926, Unemployment insurance in 1940, and the Family Allowances Act in 1944. In 1930, King made history when he appointed Cairine Wilson as the first female senator. In the public eye, King appeared to be quiet and mannered but in his personal life, he was a hot tempered man who greatly believed in the spiritual world. King never married in his life and consulted a a psychic before any major decisions. William Lyon Mackenzie King retired from politics in 1950 and died on July 22, 1950.