King–Byng Affair

The King - Byng Affair was a constitutional crisis that occurred in 1926 in Canada. It was triggered when Governor General Lord Byng of Vimy refused to comply with the request of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.

The crisis was analyzed by the governments of Canada and Great Britain accurate and led to a redefinition of the role of the governor general - not only in Canada but also in the other Dominions. She also had great impact on the national conference in the same year and led to the Balfour report. According to the constitutional conventions of the British Empire the Governor-General represented before both the British Head of State and the British Government. But the Convention was developed under Lord Byng's successors a tradition of non-interference in Canadian politics.

Course of the crisis

In September 1925 King asked for the dissolution of the House, which gave the Lord Byng. In the elections on 29 October 1925, the Conservative Party won 115 seats and missed the absolute majority scarce as Kings Liberal Party only came to 100 seats. King relied on the support of the Progressive Party ( which had 24 seats ), but to gain a majority. He did not resign and formed a minority government supported by the progressives. Strictly speaking, it was not by a coalition government since the Progressive received no ministerial positions, and thus did not belong to the Cabinet.

A few months later, it was revealed that an official appointed by King officials had accepted bribes in the Ministry of Customs. The Conservatives claimed that the corruption may reach to the highest level of government, including the Prime Minister. King dismissed Minister of Customs Jacques Bureau, however, suggested to the Governor-General immediately prior to appoint a senator Bureau. This approach led to even more confusion among the progressives, who had already started, the Liberal government to withdraw their support.

The government had already lost two votes on Verfahrungsfragen and had to fear losing a third because of the corruption scandal. King turned to Byng and asked for the dissolution of Parliament, but the Governor-General refused to do so. He argued that the Conservatives should be given as the strongest party voters the opportunity to form a government of possible elections. Byng was aware that the resolution of the Parliament during the debate on a vote of no confidence as interference of the crown could be seen in the speech of the lower house. King demanded that Byng should ask before the British government for advice. Byng also denied this and said that the matter should be settled solely in Canada.

King was convinced that he no longer had the support to remain in office and resigned on 28 June 1926. Then Byng instructed the Conservative party leader Arthur Meighen to form a government. Meighen assumed continued his ministers but only " provisionally " a; they have not been sworn in as the government still had a confidence vote in the House before and under the law then in new minister had to face a reelection automatically. The Liberals were upset and convinced the most progressive of them to overthrow the government. On July 2, they lost the vote with one voice difference, and now it was Meighen, who asked for the dissolution of parliament. Byng agreed and called out early elections.

In a letter to King George V. Byng gave his express surprise that King, a staunch supporter of greater autonomy of Canada, had asked him to seek the advice of the Colonial Office in London in this matter. Byng refused to do so, as he looked at the resolution of the crisis as a task of the Governor General. Byng wrote: "I'll have to wait for the verdict of history in order to be able to prove whether I had taken a wrong path. I do this in the belief that - right or wrong - I have acted in the interests of Canada and do not have anyone else involved in my decision. "

Follow

The "King - Byng Affair " became the main theme of the campaign. King was able to turn it into a rhetorical campaign for the independence of Canada from Britain, although he himself called for the intervention of Britain and Byng had refused. The elections on September 14, 1926 ended with a victory of the Liberals (which the majority but failed ), and King was sworn in as Prime Minister again. Back in power, Kings sought government is redefining the role of the Governor General; it should not be more representative of the British Government, but exclusively represented the head of state. This change came at the Imperial Conference in the other Dominions and the British Government for approval.

The Balfour report, the final document of the conference, noted that the governor-general was no longer the representative of the British government in each Dominion from now on. This role took over the High Commissioners, soon match those of their duties of ambassadors. Five years later, the Statute of Westminster gave the Dominions legislative freedom and certain that the Canadian monarchy of the UK is legally equivalent. Byng returned on September 30, 1926 to Great Britain. Despite the political crisis, he continued to enjoy a high reputation.

The King - Byng Affair was considered a controversial intervention of the Governor General in the internal politics of a Commonwealth country, to 1975 John Robert Kerr the Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam relieved of his duties.