Download CANADA IN THE 1930s

CANADA IN THE 1930s
1930s ATTITUDES
– At the time of the Depression, there was no “social
safety net” as it exists now;
– Most people were opposed to any form of
government assistance to people out of work;
– The belief was that if someone was poor, or
unemployed, that it was their own fault and there
was plenty they could do to change their
circumstance;
FARMERS AND CITIES
– Farmers that relied on wheat crops had to leave
their farms the soil was depleted;
– Others could survive if they were able to diversify
their crops;
– Most people were able to barter for things that
they needed; credit was no longer an option for
most people and businesses;
– Those in the cities may not have been able to
survive in that same manner, so they needed relief;
– They relied on private charities, church groups,
neighbours, friends or their own ingenuity;
RELIEF CAMPS
Single male and female workers who could not
get relief began roaming the country looking
for work;
These were run by the Ministry of National
Defense in semi-military style and were only
for single men;
They were paid $0.20 a day and participated in
“make work projects” and sometimes useful
projects;
ON-TO-OTTAWA TREK
April 1935: relief camp workers in Vancouver
planned a peaceful trek to Ottawa to present
the government with their demands regarding
living and working conditions in the camps;
By June there were 1800 men starting and
were joined by many others on the trip
eastward;
The group was stopped in Regina and only the
leaders were sent on to Ottawa;
ON-TO-OTTAWA TREK
The leaders returned from Ottawa with no concession
addressing their concerns;
On Dominion Day (Canada Day) the RCMP went to
break a peaceful gathering of trekkers, ending in the
death of one policeman, many injured;
Became known as the Regina Riots;
Government provided free transport home for the
trekkers, and turned the camps over to the control of
the provinces, who improved pay and work;
BENNETT’S EFFORTS
He achieved a preferential tariff with Britain
on Canadian exports, but was not enough to
help the economy, and caused tension with the
U.S., which responded by raising the tariffs on
Canadian goods;
The two countries agreed to build the St.
Lawrence Seaway system of locks and canals
to aid both in getting products from the Great
Lakes to the Atlantic;
BENNETT’S EFFORTS
Created the Bank of Canada to regulate currency and
credit, act as financial advisor to government;
Royal Commission of Price Spreads was created to
investigate increased profits of retailers during the
Depression;
Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act and Canada Wheat
Board in effort to restore domestic wheat market;
His “new deal” proposed reforms like unemployment
insurance minimum wage law and shortened work
week;
BENNETT’S EFFORTS
Bennett lost the election of 1935 to King
despite his efforts at regenerating the
economy;
People felt that he had waited too long to enact
his reforms;
King had run his campaign on the premise that
Bennett exceeded federal powers with some of
his proposed reforms;
NEW NATIONAL PARTIES
Bennett lost the election also because of split
votes in ridings where third parties were
introduced;
The development of different political parties
would influence the decisions of future
governments;
These new parties were looking for alternative
answers to the Depression;
CCF
Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation was
a socialist party that called for people to share
the work and the wealth equally; (forerunner to
the NDP)
Led by JS Woodsworth;
Called for publicly owned essential businesses,
publicly funded health care for all, crop
insurance, national minimum wage, family
allowance, old-age pension;
COMMUNIST PARTY
Popular in some municipal elections also had
some members in Manitoba governments, and
one to the House of Commons;
Ownership of all property and means of
production by the whole (government owned
businesses and land);
Most feared that Russia ran the party and it
was outlawed between 1931 and 1936, with
the leader spending 2 years in prison during
that time;
REGIONAL PARTIES
SOCIAL CREDIT
– In Alberta led by William “Bible Bill” Aberhart;
– Looked into reform of existing economic
institutions;
– Proposed to give each citizen $25 each month;
– Elected in 1935, but considered unconstitutional
because currency and banking fell under federal
control;
– Party remained in power Alberta until the 1960s;
REGIONAL PARTIES
UNION NATIONALE
– Most of the money in post war Quebec come from British,
American and English Canada, causing concern;
– Formed as a French-Canadian party concerned with French
problems and people;
– Led by Maurice Duplessis;
– Blamed the English federal government for the problems of
the Depression;
– Cautioned that radical parties wanted to overthrow the
Church;
– His actions increased tensions between English and French
Canada;
END OF THE DEPRESSION
The actions of the new political parties had very little
effect on the events of the Depression;
Gave people the confidence to initiate changes in the
government through the development of new political
ideals;
By mid-decade provincial revenues began to increase,
high unemployment gradually fell (from 26% in 1934
to 15% in 1938), still 300 000 out of work;
Depression did not end for most until 1939 when
Canada entered the Second World War;
Many found work with in the Armed Forces or in
munitions and war industry factories;