Conscription Crisis of 1944 - The Plebiscite of 1942

The Plebiscite of 1942

By 1941 there were enough volunteers for five overseas divisions. Meanwhile the Conservatives were pressuring King to advise that the Governor General introduce conscription. In April 1942 a plebiscite was held, which asked the population not to support immediate conscription, but rather to allow the government to take back its promise made during the 1940 election. King's famous remark on the issue, "not necessarily conscription but conscription if necessary," reflected the ambiguous nature of the plebiscite. Unsurprisingly, the plebiscite was supported by most English Canadians as well as the banned Communist Party of Canada which established Tim Buck "Yes" Committees to campaign for a yes vote. Across Canada, 63% of voters were in favour of conscription with English Canadians voting 83% in favour. The proposal received hardly any support from French Canadians, especially in Quebec, where anti-conscription groups (including one led by Henri Bourassa, the most vocal opponent of conscription in 1917) encouraged 72.9% of voters to oppose the plebiscite. The government then passed Bill 80, repealing the sections of the NRMA that did not allow for overseas conscription. However, many Canadians still did not support immediate conscription; there were a few riots in Montreal, although these were not on the same scale as the 1917 and 1918 riots. Even in Toronto, a strongly pro-conscription region, Conservative Arthur Meighen was defeated in a by-election after promising to help introduce conscription.

Following the plebiscite, Public Works minister Pierre Joseph Arthur Cardin quit the King cabinet to protest his plan to introduce conscription. A number of other Quebec Liberal MPs also left the party in 1942 over the conscription issue, many of whom joined the Bloc populaire canadien when it was formed in the fall of 1942 to campaign against the government.