1942 National Plebiscite On Conscription

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The chart above shows the result of the 1942 National Plebiscite on Conscription by province, in which King asks Canadians’ permission to release him from an earlier promise to not introduce conscription. Earlier, he introduced the National Resources Mobilization Bill, allowing conscription for home defence only. The results of the Plebiscite reveals how deeply divided Canadians were on this issue: in all Anglophone provinces and the military, the vote was yes, however, in Québec, the majority had voted no. In Québec, riots occurred with many Quebecois felt betrayed-King had promised there would be no conscription-but the slogan “Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary was adopted by King,” to show the approach his government