Editing C. D. Howe (section)

==== Mackenzie King years ====
[[File:C.D. Howe c. 1940.jpg|thumb|alt=See caption|Howe watches a scientist test the curve of a lens by [[interference (wave propagation)|interference]] fringes at the Instruments Division in the Canadian Arsenals Ltd. optical plant]]

In October 1944, Mackenzie King appointed Howe Minister of Reconstruction.{{sfn|Harbron|1980|p=48}} Howe had an excellent reputation for his successful overhaul of the Canadian economy, and Mackenzie King feared he would return to the private sector to amass another fortune in business. Among those who urged Howe to remain was the [[Minister of Justice (Canada)|Minister of Justice]], [[Louis St. Laurent]], with whom Howe forged a strong relationship.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=141}} The Prime Minister obtained a dissolution of Parliament in April 1945 and in the ensuing election, the Liberals obtained a bare majority.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=148–149}} Howe was intensively involved in Liberal fundraising,{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=198}} and campaigned nationally for its candidates. He was easily returned in Port Arthur, taking just over half of all votes cast, with the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] (the predecessor of the [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]]) a distant second.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=202–203}}

Howe favoured a quick transition to a peacetime economy. Most industries in which there were no shortages were released from government controls in late 1945. Labour leaders, fearing unemployment, wanted to keep wartime government plants in production; Howe opposed such proposals. When union members who were laid off from the [[Research Enterprises Limited]] (R.E.L.) confronted Howe on a golf course, the minister stated, "R.E.L. was a war-time plant. The war is through, the plant is through, and your union... what happens to your union is up to you. Get the hell off of the course."{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=206}} In disposing of redundant government property, Howe found that saddles and harnesses had been stored since the end of the [[Boer War]] and men had been employed to safeguard and polish them for over 40 years. He strove to eliminate such anachronisms.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=153}} However, Howe was slower to release economic controls. According to Roberts, "although he worked to return the country's economic power to private hands, he often seemed as loath to surrender his own dictatorial powers over it as he was to submit to Parliament".{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=151}} In November 1945, Howe's wartime portfolio was merged into his new responsibility to form the Department of Reconstruction and Supply.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=158}}

Howe was determined to support technologically advanced industries and wanted Canada to continue the production of aircraft after the war. His Director-General for Aircraft Production, Ralph Bell, disagreed with him, noting that Canada had no aircraft engine manufacturer and that despite the presence of manufacturing plants and skilled workers, there was no guarantee that they could sell their products. Howe took steps to keep aircraft manufacturers in business, allowing the British [[Hawker Siddeley Group]] to take over Victory Aircraft as A.V. Roe Canada ([[Avro Canada]]),{{sfn|Stewart|1998|pp=45–46}} while [[Canadair]] was sold to the US-based [[General Dynamics Electric Boat|Electric Boat Company]] (later [[General Dynamics]]).{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=190}}

After the war, Mackenzie King recommended to the British government that two Cabinet ministers be appointed to the [[Imperial Privy Council]], but not Howe. When the honours were announced on New Year's Day 1946, Howe told the Prime Minister that he felt his war service was being slighted and threatened his resignation. Mackenzie King arranged for Howe to receive the honour in June. This created more ill feelings among other members of the Cabinet; two more were elevated in the 1947 New Year's Honours, after which the Prime Minister refused to consider any more.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=209–211}}

In February 1947, Mackenzie King fell ill with pneumonia and, after recovering, spent a month on vacation in the United States, with St. Laurent (by then [[Minister of External Affairs (Canada)|Secretary of State for External Affairs]]) as Acting Prime Minister.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=204}} In July, [[Minister of National Defence (Canada)|Minister of National Defence]] [[Brooke Claxton]] warned Mackenzie King that the issue of the Prime Minister's age and the uncertainty of the succession was causing political difficulties for the Liberals. Mackenzie King consulted Howe, who bluntly stated that it was best that Mackenzie King resign while still retaining his full faculties and before a crisis erupted. After the talk, the Prime Minister decided that he should retire within a year and that St. Laurent, who had recently threatened to leave Cabinet and return home to Quebec, should be the successor.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|pp=210–211}} Howe was among those who persuaded St. Laurent not to resign. He also helped persuade St. Laurent to stand for the leadership, offering to remain in Cabinet to assist him following his withdrawal.{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=215}}