“It’s All About War: Canadian Opinion and the Canadian Approach to International Relations, 1935-1939.” By Heather M. Metcalfe A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto © Copyright by Heather M. Metcalfe (2009) Heather Metcalfe Ph.D. program, 2009 Department of History, University of Toronto ABSTRACT “It’s All About War: Canadian Opinion and the Canadian Approach to International Relations, 1935-1939.” Canadians in the 1930s did not appear eager to focus on foreign affairs. The social and economic difficulties caused by the dislocation of the Great Depression meant that international developments often seemed remote and irrelevant. However, despite this focus on domestic issues, many Canadians were concerned with the trend of international events. As a result, the debate regarding the appropriate Canadian response remained an ongoing, if underlying, factor. In addition, the political issues raised by Canadian foreign policy, particularly through the Canadian involvement in the British Commonwealth and the League of Nations, meant the issue could not simply be ignored. During the later part of the decade, as the possibility of international conflict became ever more likely, increasing numbers of Canadians turned their attention to Canada’s international role. They also turned their attention to what this debate meant in terms of the Canadian sense of identity. These individuals were concerned as well with the response of Canadian public opinion to involvement overseas. This question, of the nature and susceptibility of Canadian public opinion to attempts to direct it, remains an intriguing one. The nature of this response remained open to question, and was the subject of significant debate among Canadian intellectuals, politicians and public figures. In response, a number of individuals and groups, including members of the Canadian press, attempted to influence Canadian public opinion. Many also pressured the Canadian ii government, led by William Lyon Mackenzie King’s administration, to play a more active role in shaping public opinion. Canadian intellectuals, for instance, influenced by contemporary writings on public opinion, seemed convinced of their natural role as ‘shapers’ of public opinion, particularly in a time of domestic and international crisis. These assumptions, and the ways in which Canadian public opinion both responded to, and rejected these attempts at direction, provide an interesting window into the question of public opinion, particularly in regards to international events. The debate regarding the Canadian response to the crises of the late 1930s can thus aid in gaining a greater appreciation of how public opinion shifts in response to outside challenges and the attempts to influence its course. iii Introduction: The Royal Tour of 1939 and the Canadian Sense of National Identity The anticipation simmered just below the surface on a fresh May morning in 1939 in Quebec City. Crowds of Quebecers, leavened by a sprinkling of notables from elsewhere in Canada, focused their attention on the quay on the St. Lawrence. In the distance an ocean liner, the Empress of Australia, was heaving into sight. This was by itself nothing special: ocean liners were not strangers to the port; but today the Empress was carrying special guests. Royalty was coming to town, and not just any royalty – for Quebec had hosted princes and princesses as far back as the 1790s, but the reigning monarch of the British Empire, George VI, and his consort, Queen Elizabeth. This was a first – no reigning British king or queen had ever visited Canada. The Royal Tour of 1939, the first visit of the reigning sovereign of the British Empire to the ‘senior’ dominion of Canada,1 had been the focus of in-depth planning on the part of the Canadian government, and of the Canadian people, since the idea of the tour had been advanced by Mackenzie King at the Imperial Conference of 1937. As the yacht ferrying the king and queen made its way -- majestically, in the eyes of the crowd -- from the Empress to the quay, Quebec’s citizens would be the first, as the Canadian Press reported, to have the honour of receiving Canada’s king and queen – and the empire’s too, of course. The Canadian press could think of nothing better than to reprint the words of the London Times, which concluded that while ‘It comes to them in a sense by geographical accident, but no province of the dominion can show better title than the 1 Canada’s position as the ‘senior’ dominion had earned it the right, in the views of many Canadian newspapers, of the first visit by the new King. The Globe, ‘The Favoured Dominion.’ May 17 1939, 6 1 right of seniority which belongs to the French-Canadians of Quebec.’2 Certainly the crowds that swarmed the Quebec docks seemed to justify that faith. Ottawa’s Le Droit printed a Canadian-derived description of the scene. ‘Sur les hauteurs, 350 pieds au-dessus du niveau de St. Laurent, qui valurent à Québec le nom de ‘Gibraltar de l’Amérique’, les foules se sont massées soit sur le terrasse Dufferin, soit sur les plaines d’Abraham.’3 This report, from CP, did not limit itself to generic descriptions of the crowds and the scene, however. It attempted to link its readers with the crowds on the spot. ‘Parmi les premiers arrivés dans les environs de l’immense hangar, afin de pouvoir assister de près aux cérémonies, se trouvent une famille canadienne-française de Jonquière, village près de Chicoutimi; le père, la mère et les enfants ont voyagé en automobile toute la nuit pour arriver à temps.’4 Le Droit had also sent its own special correspondent. Like the CP reporter, he focused mainly on the description of the scene and human interest stories. Lorsque le paquebot royal s’avance majestueusement en vue de l’Anse au Foulon; la foule était massée [dans] un rang épais tout le long du promontoire qui domine la rive. Les arbres encore dégarnis laissaient apercevoir partout au flanc du coteau de véritable grappe humaine l’aspect mouvant et multicolore. Le spectacle était merveilleux à contempler du quai maritime de l’Anse au Foulon. Toute cette foule s’agita fiévreusement lorsque parue sur le pont, avant même que le paquebot ne fait accosté le couple royale.5. The Canadian welcome was enthusiastic and, better, clearly apparent. On estime à cent mille personnes au moins la foule groupée sur les Plaines au passage de Leurs Majestés. Cette foule était particulièrement compacte autour de la terrasse Grey où le Roi et la Reine doivent recevoir cet après-midi les hommages de vingt-cinq enfants, et dans le voisinage du musée provincial. Des 2 The Times article concluded that ‘The Canadians will see in George VI the very incarnation of those ideals which have made it possible for two nationalities to dwell…within the confines of a harmonious state.’ Winnipeg Free Press, ‘French-Canadian Honour Stressed.’ May 17 1939, 7, and Le Devoir, ‘Le 'Times ' de Londres et les Canadiens français’, May 17 1939, 3 3 Le Droit, ‘Québec fait un accueil royal à Leurs Majestés.’ 17 May 1939, 1 4 Ibid. 5 Le Droit, ‘L’atmosphère enthousiaste de l’arrivée.’ 17 May 1939, 2 2 milliers et des milliers de personnes s’attendaient également le passage de Leurs Majestés tout le long de la Grande Allée jusqu’à parlement et en mesure que la cortège avançait les acclamations s’élevaient en salves répétées.’6 The article continued with a description of the dignity and distinction of the official welcome of the Canadian government, represented by Mackenzie King and Ernest Lapointe, the minister of justice and Member of Parliament for Quebec East. The article continued with a description of ‘Le sourire gracieux de la reine [qui] semblait de refléter dans toutes les physionomies. Ce sourire,’ the article concluded ‘les québécois en conserveront long temps le souvenir.’7 It was Montreal’s La Presse, however, whose coverage in many ways came close to equaling the intensity of emotion that was seen in comparable English Canadian papers. The special coverage of the royal arrival, complete with several large-scale pictures, dominated La Presse’s front-page. ‘Québec Vit Des Heures Historiques,’ it announced. It then continued with a description of the details of the arrival, the official welcome by the Canadian dignitaries and the extent of the welcome given by the Quebec crowds.8 Its coverage of the royal arrival at times emphasized an appreciation for the sensitivity shown by the Royal couple for Quebec’s differences, while at others simply gave in to the emotion of the moment, themes often present in the same article.9 Its correspondent, Jacques Girouard, for example, in his leading article regarding the royal welcome, noted the nature of the King’s official speech. The second subtitle of the article informed La Presse’s readers that ‘Répondant aux voeux qui lui sont offerts au déjeuner official, le roi fait un émouvant éloge du Canada et de notre province, en particulier.’ 6 Le Droit, ‘L’atmosphère enthousiaste de l’arrivée.’ 17 May 1939, 2 7 Ibid. 8 La Presse, May 17 1939, 1 9 La Presse, ‘Québec Vit Des Heures Historiques.’ May 17 1939, 1 3 The article continues ‘Leurs Majestés ont conquis les coeurs. Leur jeunesse souriante, leur charmante simplicité leur ouvrent d’emblée une voie à l’affection du peuple.’10 As with Le Droit’s correspondent, Girouard emphasized the size and enthusiasm of the crowd. ‘C’est le peuple lui-même, massé sur le parcours, accroché par grappes au flanc escarpé du Cap Diamant qui par ses acclamations spontanées, manifesta son amour et sa loyauté envers Leurs Majestés.’11 La Presse also attempted to humanize its masses with a description of individual Canadians.