Mackenzie King: Citizenship and Community

Agar Adamson is the author of Letters of Agar Adamson, 1914–19 and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

In 1999, the History Department at the University of Waterloo held a
conference on the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mackenzie King on
December 17, 1874. This book contains 11 of the papers that were
presented at that conference, copious endnotes, a further reading list,
photographs, a chronology of events from 1852 to 1977, and an index.
Each paper illustrates, in its own way, how citizenship has evolved in
Canada and King’s various contributions to that evolution. Some of the
papers, such as “Unequal Citizenship: The Residualist Legacy in the
Canadian Welfare State” by James Struthers, court controversy and
should stimulate considerable debate. One suspects that Mackenzie
King—perhaps our most controversial prime minister—would be pleased
with this work. It is a valuable resource for scholars of King and the
policies that emerged during his years in office.