page_title: Conscription Crisis of 1944
section_title: The Plebiscite of 1942
hierarchical_section_title: Conscription Crisis of 1944 / The Plebiscite of 1942
caption_attribution_description: Rt. Hon. W.L. Mackenzie King voting in the plebiscite on the introduction of conscription for overseas military service
context_page_description: The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service for men in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but was not as politically damaging.
context_section_description: By 1941 there were enough volunteers for five overseas divisions. Meanwhile, the Conservatives were pressuring King to advise that the Governor General introduce overseas conscription. The loss of two battalions at Hong Kong had shocked Canadian public opinion and there was a demand for Canada to do more to win the war. Meighen's attacks on King started to resonate, and in January 1942 Meighen resigned his seat in the Senate to enter the House of Commons via a by-election in the Toronto riding of York South, backed by the anti-King Liberal Premier of Ontario Mitchell Hepburn and a "Committee of 200" representing 200 of Toronto's most influential citizens. The Liberals did not run a candidate due to a convention that the Leader of the Opposition be permitted entry to the House, however, tacit support was given to CCF candidate Joseph W. Noseworthy with the historian Frank Underhill, who normally worked for the Liberals, writing the speeches for Noseworthy. As the acerbic, sharp-tongued Meighen tended to get the better of King in debates, the Prime Minister feared the return of his archenemy to the Commons, and to rob Meighen of his signature issue, announced that he was calling a referendum to release him from his promise made in September 1939 that there would be no overseas conscription. Arthur Meighen was defeated in the February 9, 1942 by-election to the CCF's Noseworthy.
  In an "off-the-record" interview with two journalists from The Winnipeg Free Press in February 1942, King stated that the purpose of the Canadian expeditionary force then training in the United Kingdom was only to defend Britain in the event of a German invasion, and he would not be sending the five divisions of the expeditionary force to the Middle East as the British were requesting. King told Grant Dexter of The Winnipeg Free Press on 28 February 1942 stated the purpose of the Canadian Army in Britain was "to defend the heart of the Empire", and criticized Ralston for saying in the House of Commons that he wanted "to build up a strong striking force in Britain because we would ultimately use Britain as the springboard for our thrust on the continent". King told Dexter "the trouble was with Ralston and the general staff. Ralston stood up for the generals, fought the cabinet on their behalf". King expressed the view that Ralson was too much under the influence of the generals and that "Generals are almost invariably wrong". In the same interview, King stated his belief that Japanese would invade British Columbia "just as soon as the Japs could muster the men and material".
  The successes of the Japanese in the Asia-Pacific theatre led to widespread fears in early 1942 that soon the Japanese would be landing in British Columbia. The Japanese planned to annex British Columbia once the war was won, but in the spring of 1942 the Japanese were largely preoccupied with plans for the invasion of Australia and Hawaii, and the continuing war with China. Responding to a racist hysteria that Japanese-Canadians were a "fifth column" loyal to Japan who would soon be waging a campaign of terrorism against whites, the King government interned all Japanese-Canadians; the RCMP had in fact reported to the government that most Japanese-Canadians were loyal to Canada, and there was no need for internment. The same fears of a Japanese invasion led King to create two divisions, the 6th and the 8th, largely composed of Zombies, that were stationed to guard the Pacific coast while another Zombie division, the 7th, was created to guard the Atlantic coast against a German invasion, just to show that the government was not indifferent to the Maritime provinces, through the military had advised the government there was little danger of a Japanese invasion and even less of a German invasion.
  On 27 April 1942 a plebiscite was held on the question, "Are you in favour of releasing the Government from any obligations arising out of any past commitments restricting the methods of raising men for military service?" In Quebec, the Ligue pour la Défense du Canada was founded to campaig
caption: William Mackenzie King voting in the plebiscite on the introduction of conscription for overseas military service
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