As always on Art’s History we pause to mark the birthdays of the 22 men and one woman who have served as our fair Dominion’s Prime Minister since 1867. And today, of course, one of our PM’s is marking a big one up there in the great House of Commons in the sky. It is, after all, the 150th birthday of none other than William Lyon Mackenzie King, the rebel’s grandson who went on to become Canada’s longest serving Prime Minister.
Next to Sir John A. Macdonald of Kingston, Mr. King was the greatest-ever politicians to serve in the Prime Minister’s Office (in East Block during his decades in power). He even did what has often proved impossible for past PMs and returned twice to power after being forced from office.
What I have always found fascinating about him in comparing his day to our own is the fact Mr. King assembled some of the strongest cabinets in our history. Confident of his own abilities, he brought men like C.D. Howe, Louis St.-Laurent, Paul Martin Sr., Charles Dunning, Jimmy Gardiner and so many others into the cabinet room. These were ministers who enjoyed their own regional and national power bases within the party and government and King presided over them all with determination and skill.
He led us through the Second World War with the nation’s unity intact, laid the foundations of the Canadian welfare state and assembled a first-rate public service in Ottawa that proved to be amongst the best in the world.
I found myself thinking of him the other day as I read yet another article about the tariffs that Donald Trump is about to hit us with. In the late 1920s King, as PM, was also confronted by American protectionism as the Great Depression dawned. “It is not a red-blooded attitude that is needed so much at this time,” he said, “as a cold-headed attitude.”
Of course, his massive personal diary continues to enthrall, confuse, anger and so much more as it is continues to be studied by historians and journalists alike right through to the present day.
So, as Mr. King celebrates his sesquicentennial today, let’s pause and continue to study the man who many say was the nation’s greatest Prime Minister. Full of faults and never loved by the electorate, he still changed our land forever and for the better.
Happy birthday from Art’s History Mackenzie King!