March 1939 the Permanent Active Militia (or Permanent Force (PF), Canada's full-time army) had only 4,169 officers and men while the Non-Permanent Active Militia (Canada's reserve force) numbered 51,418 at the end of 1938, mostly armed with weapons from 1918. In March 1939 the Royal Canadian Navy had 309 officers and 2967 naval ratings, and the Royal Canadian Air Force had 360 officers and 2797 airmen. Under Secretary of State for External Affairs Oscar D. Skelton stated the government's war policy. Among its highlights: Consult with Britain and France, and "equally important, discreet consultation with Washington". Prioritize Canadian defence, especially the Pacific coast. Possibly aid Newfoundland and the West Indies. The RCAF should be the first to serve overseas. Canada can "most effective[ly]" serve its allies by providing munitions, raw materials, and food. King's cabinet approved this policy on 24 August 1939, and in September disapproved of the proposal by the Chiefs of Staff to create two army divisions for overseas service, in part due to cost. His "moderate" war strategy soon demonstrated its national and bilingual support in two elections. When Premier of Quebec Maurice Duplessis called an election on an anti-war platform, Adélard Godbout's Liberals won a majority on 26 October 1939. When the Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed a resolution criticizing the government for not fighting the war "in the vigorous manner the people of Canada desire to see", King dissolved the federal parliament and, in the resulting election on 26 March 1940, his Liberals won the largest majority in history. Outbreak of war Declaration of war When the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in August 1914, Canada was a Dominion of the British Empire with full control over only domestic affairs, thus automatically joining the First World War. After the war, the Canadian government wanted to avoid a repeat of the Conscription Crisis of 1917, which had divided the country and French and English Canadians. Stating that "Parliament will decide," in 1922 Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King avoided participating in the Chanak Crisis as the Parliament of Canada was not in session. The 1931 Statute of Westminster gave Canada autonomy in foreign policy. When Britain entered World War II in September 1939, some experts suggested that Canada was still bound by Britain's declaration of war because it had been made in the name of their common monarch, but Prime Minister King again said that