Canadian Parliament Opens In Ottawa - Earl of Athlone, Governor-Generals reads the speech from the throne, dressed in the uniform of a Major-General. Seated by his side is Princess Alice. On the left of the throne is Prime Minister MacKenzie King; standing in front of it, on right, the new Sergeant-at-Arms, Lt.-Col. W. J. Franklin, holds the Commons Mace before him. On the Woolsack are the Judges of the Supreme Court, Members of the House are ranged along either sides while their wives occupy the benches behind them. When the Canadian Parliament assembled for its opening session in Ottawa - the first opening ceremony after the war - the occasion was a historic one in that it marked the last session in the Governorship of the Earl of Athlone and the first one in the re-elected Government of Prime Minister McKenzie King. March 24, 1948. (Photo by Pictorial Press).