Editing C. D. Howe (section)

==== St. Laurent government's first mandate====
[[File:C.D. Howe at Seaway.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Two men are attaching a piece of metal to a pipeline. A crowd is gathered behind them|Howe and Vermont Governor [[William Henry Wills (politician)|William H. Wills]] join the US and Canadian segments of an oil pipeline]]

On 20 January 1948, Mackenzie King announced his intent to resign and a Cabinet reshuffle; both St. Laurent{{sfn|Thomson|1967|p=225}} and Howe convinced the Prime Minister to move Howe, who had not enjoyed his work at the Ministry of Reconstruction and Supply, to become [[Minister of International Trade (Canada)|Minister of Trade and Commerce]].{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=218–219}} Howe publicly announced that he was "not available" to stand for the leadership and that he was supporting St. Laurent. The Quebecer was elected Leader of the Liberal Party in August, and Mackenzie King resigned on 15 November.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=163}} 

In October 1948, the Progressive Conservatives also elected a new leader, [[Premier of Ontario|Ontario Premier]] [[George A. Drew]].{{sfn|Smith|1995|pp=167–168}} St. Laurent called an election for June 1949, and Howe again was successful in fundraising from corporate backers, including CPR and [[Eaton's]]. Drew had used Howe's record as an election issue, accusing him of being power-mad and selling off Crown Corporations for bargain prices, but the allegations got little traction. According to Howe, the only result of Drew's attacks "was to give me a record majority in Port Arthur!"{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=242–243}} The Liberals won a huge victory, taking 190&nbsp;seats to 40 for the Tories, and Howe again won Port Arthur easily.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=242–243}}

In early 1950, St. Laurent considered recommending the appointment of Howe as governor general. The governor general had previously been a [[Peerage of the United Kingdom|British peer]]; many nationalists wanted a Canadian to hold the post, and St. Laurent agreed. The governor general, [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|The Viscount Alexander]], was due to retire by 1953. St. Laurent saw this as a way of allowing his friend and colleague to step away from politics for a quieter life. The minister was willing to take the post, but the position unexpectedly opened early when Alexander was appointed to [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|the British Cabinet]]. Howe decided he still had work to do as a minister and was reluctant to exchange real power for the nominal power of the governor generalship. St. Laurent recommended the appointment of Canadian-born [[Vincent Massey]], who was duly appointed by [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George VI]].{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=259}}

Canada entered the [[Korean War]] in 1950.{{sfn|Bliss|2004|p=178}} Howe saw it as the wrong war in the wrong place, and thought that Canadian troops should not be sent. Nevertheless, he spent the summer of 1950 at his desk, making plans to implement government controls on the booming economy. In September 1950, Howe tabled a bill allowing him to reallocate scarce materials such as steel from the civilian sector to military use. The bill passed, but not before the Opposition had charged that Howe had "an enormous appetite for power".{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=253}} Late in the year, the Government decided on a massive rearmament program. The [[Canadian Commercial Corporation]], the Crown Corporation which handled government purchases, was felt to be inadequate for the task, so the Cabinet decided on a new department to handle procurement.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=255}} St. Laurent introduced a bill in February 1951 creating a Department of Defence Production and announced that on passage, Howe would add that responsibility to his portfolio.{{sfn|Fraser|1967|p=127}} The opposition parties objected to the Defence Production Act, stating that there was no emergency justifying the powers Howe wanted. According to Roberts, Howe sought to implement rearmament by getting "full power for himself and running rights over everyone and everything to get an urgent job done".{{sfn|Roberts|1957|pp=179–181}} Backed by the overwhelming Liberal majority, the bill passed and the Department was established on 1 April 1951.{{sfn|Roberts|1957|p=183}}

Despite Avro Canada's success in producing the [[Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck|CF-100]], Canada's first jet fighter for the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] (RCAF), aircraft development had proven to be a time-consuming and expensive process. The projected next generation aircraft, Canada's first supersonic jet interceptor, the [[Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow|CF-105 Arrow]], was a more daunting project in terms of financial commitment and a leap in technological prowess. Howe wrote in a letter to Defence Minister Claxton in 1952 that "I am frightened for the first time in my defence production experience."{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|p=266}}

St. Laurent's supervision of his ministers was minimal at the start of his tenure, and decreased as the years passed. With the Opposition few in numbers, ministers did as they wanted, and when Howe was accused by Tory MP [[Howard Charles Green|Howard Green]] in 1951 of being willing to end tariffs if the people would let him, Howe replied, "Who would stop us?  Don't take yourself too seriously. If we wanted to get away with it, who would stop us?"{{sfn|Newman|1963|p=36}}{{sfn|Bliss|2004|pp=181–182}} 

The government spent much of early 1953 in enacting the remainder of its legislative program. St. Laurent scheduled an election for 10 August; Drew attempted to exploit a Defence Ministry scandal at the [[Petawawa, Ontario]] army base, where an investigation earlier in the year had found frauds which included placing horses on the payroll. The Liberals lost 20 seats from their 1949 high-water mark, but still constituted almost two-thirds of the House of Commons, and no minister was defeated. Howe was again easily elected for Port Arthur.{{sfn|Bothwell|Kilbourn|1979|pp=278–281}}