King finally agreed to a one-time levy of 17,000 NRMA conscripts for overseas service in November 1944. Many of the Zombies deserted rather than fight in the war. As General McNaughton was never elected to the House of Commons, on 23 November 1944, McNaughton had to go to the bar of the House of Commons to announce 16,000 Zombies were to go overseas if the House gave its approval. When word of the decision reached soldiers stationed in Terrace, British Columbia, it resulted in the short-lived Terrace Mutiny. A brigade of Zombies in Terrace mounted guns on the railroad linking Terrace to Prince Rupert and announced that they were now on "strike" as they had no desire to fight in the war. General George Pearkes headed north to Terrace, and soon restored order by telling the mutineers that the penalty for mutiny was death, but promised if the men laid down their arms, no one would be tried for the mutiny. The following debates in the House of Commons were very bitter, but on 8 December 1944, a motion of no-confidence in the government was defeated 143 to 70, though 34 Quebec Liberal MPs voted for the motion. The no-confidence vote marked the end of the crisis. Public opinion in Quebec was outraged by sending the NRMA men overseas, but as King had done everything possible to put this off, the political damage was limited. Furthermore, of the national parties in Canada, the CCF was too left-wing for Catholic and conservative Quebec while the pro-conscription views of the Conservatives limited their appeal in "la belle province", which as King noted at the time meant the Liberals were the only party capable of forming a government that Quebec could vote for.