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Canada: Coming, London

2 minute read
TIME

William Lyon Mackenzie King had not said he was going anywhere. Nevertheless, Conservative Leader John Bracken rose in the House of Commons one day last week and hoped that the Prime Minister would have a “satisfactory stay and an early return.” Then the CCF Party’s M. J. Coldwell jumped up, eyes atwinkle, to add his wish for “a fruitful visit to Great Britain.” Having thus playfully baited the Prime Minister into talking, they settled back to hear what he would say.

Yes, said Mr. King, he was going to England, but very reluctantly. “I do not see how persons holding public office in the different Dominions can be expected to be in Britain for part of the time. I think a man’s first duty is to his own country and to his own Parliament.” If consultation between the various Empire prime ministers was necessary, as London seemed to think, those consultations could be conducted, could they not, by cable.

Furthermore, Mr. King did not believe he had any right to go anywhere and speak for all of Canada, to set Canadian policy personally. So why go to London?

The controversial Dominion-provincial conference, one of his biggest reasons to stay at home, was now ended. More importantly, London, which had been trying to get Mr. King overseas for an “Imperial Conference,” had changed its tune. It was now calling the current London meetings of the Empire’s prime ministers merely “consultations.” And it had decided not to limit conversations to Empire subjects such as trade and defense, which Mr. King did not want to discuss. It had broadened the agenda to include the problems of the atom bomb and Germany, which Mr. King did want to discuss.

So Mr. King was going—to England, and later to Paris, for about two months. Gravely, he promised the Commons to “refrain from committing [Canada] in a manner that is likely to occasion embarrassment. … I am not one of those who pretends to speak for the entire Cabinet without . . . conferring with them.”

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