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The following is excerpted from the Ottawa Citizen’s summary of O.D. Skelton: The Work of the World, 1923-1941 by Norman Hillmer.
In 1923, prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King faced his first Imperial Conference. It was a daunting prospect. Going to London marked his first significant appearance on the world stage. Given his lack of experience, not to mention his considerable insecurities — King admitted to being “filled with terror” over the conference — he needed advice. Only he didn’t have a lot of faith in the bureaucrats of the Department of External Affairs to provide what he wanted. King turned, instead, to an obscure academic, Queen’s University political scientist O.D. Skelton.
For the 45-old-professor, a recognized expert on international affairs, it was the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to forgo the sleepy confines of academe and make his mark on the world. More importantly, though, as far as King was concerned, Skelton was a staunch Liberal. But he was also an ardent Canadian nationalist who, as historian Norman Hillmer writes, “exhorted Canadians to shed the straitjacket of the British Empire (and) to build an independent national spirit.”
(…)
Indeed, in 1926, with Skelton as undersecretary of state for external affairs, King played a prominent role in that year’s Imperial Conference, which produced the Balfour Declaration recognizing the dominions as “autonomous communities within the British Empire.” This led, in 1931, to the Statute of Westminster in which the British Parliament acknowledged the dominions as legislatively equal to United Kingdom, and, therefore, independent in whatever areas of jurisdiction they chose.
These decisions reflected not only Skelton’s personal ambitions — he can readily be credited with establishing Canada’s diplomatic corps as an agent of the national interest — but also those he had for Canada.
(…)
Hillmer’s wide-ranging collection of Skelton’s letters, diary entries and official memorandums provides a vivid portrait of such a public servant, as well as an insider’s view of the inner workings of government under King and Bennett.
Click here to read the full article
O.D. Skelton: The Work of the World, 1923-1941 is set to be published in November 2013.
To learn more about O.D. Skelton, or to pre-order online, click here.
For media inquiries, contact MQUP publicist Jacqui Davis.
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