Canada declared war on Japan before the U.S.
did.
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B.
Second World War
1.
Germany
The political context was different at the beginning of the Second World War because in 1939 Canada was an
independent country.
There were still strong economic, cultural and diplomatic ties with the mother country and
there was little doubt that Canada, like other countries of the British Commonwealth, would ally itself with Great
Britain; nevertheless, Canada did not declare war on the same day as Great Britain, as it had done in 1914.
Canadian political leaders wanted to wait for Parliament’s approval partly in order to demonstrate Canada’s
independence.
Thus, although Great Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 (after that country’s invasion of
Poland on 1 September), it was not until 10 September that Canada declared war on Germany.
Canada was
officially a neutral country for the first 10 days of the Second World War, although there was little doubt that the
country was preparing for war.
When the war started in Europe, Parliament was not in session and was not scheduled to return before 2 October;
however, it resumed sitting on 7 September 1939.
As in 1914, the Governor General read a Speech from the
Throne and an Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne was debated.
During this debate, which began on 8
September, Prime Minister Mackenzie King explained how Parliament’s approval of the Address in reply to the
Speech from the Throne would pave the way for a formal declaration of war:
The adoption of the address in reply to the speech from the throne will be considered as approving not only the
speech from the throne but approving the government’s policy which I set out yesterday of immediate
participation in the war.
If the address in reply to the speech from the throne is approved, the government will therefore immediately take
steps for the issue of a formal proclamation declaring the existence of a state of war between Canada and the
German Reich.(2)
IMG
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