Mackenzie King and the Prairie West

This book examines the relationship between William Lyon Mackenzie King and the Canadian prairie West in the first half of the twentieth century. Its thesis is that the collapse of Liberal party fortunes in the region began as early as 1935, well before John Diefenbaker's triumphant sweep of 1957–1958. When King assumed the Liberal leadership in 1919, he had a romanticized view of the West. He saw the pioneers as morally sound, hardworking individuals who lived close to nature and to God. The reform ferment in the region meshed with his self-image as a social reformer and fighter for the “people” against the “interests.” Viewing a glorious sunrise just outside of Calgary in October 1920, he wrote in his diary, “I thought of the New Day, the New Social Order. It seems like Heaven's prophecy of the dawn of a new era, revealed to me.” Apart from such idealistic considerations, there was a very practical reason for King to be attentive to the West in the 1920s. The Liberals held a minority government that depended for its survival on the votes of Progressive party members of parliament. King's efforts to woo them paid off, and, while the Progressives were not entirely defeated, many of them returned to the Liberal fold

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