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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;