Unit 3

Canada in the 1920s

Economic changes after the war

Canada’s wartime economic boom

ended when weapons manufacturing

stopped in 1918

Over 300,000 workers in munitions

factories became unemployed

• Canada was in an economic slump

• The role of women changed - men

returning from war & taking their jobs

• It was expected that women should

return to doing housework.

Soldiers returning from Europe thought

there would be jobs and a good economy.

There was animosity against those who

stayed home and profited from the war

After sacrificing so much at war many

soldiers found no work and grew

increasingly frustrated

• Those lucky enough to find work had low

wages

Those with a job had to deal with inflation

What is inflation?

When prices rise while wages don’t change

The cost of living more than doubled

from 1914 to 1919

Many had difficulty finding housing and

rents were high

Workers and veterans around the country

were forced to strike for higher pay

Disillusioned Canadian soldiers marching in protest (Toronto).

Labour unrest swept across Canada

Churches & workers demanded social

responsibility from government & business

This is the idea that ALL people should

benefit, not just the rich and powerful.

Policies that promote this are…

Old-age pensions

Living (fair) wages

Public ownership of essential services

Some workers saw

the 1917 Russian

Revolution as a

guide to changing

Canada

Groups like the

OBU and the IWW

were formed, both

favouring General

Strikes

• In 1918 and 1919, many workers all

across Canada went out on strike.

Winnipeg,

1919

The Winnipeg General Strike, 1919

The biggest strike in the country.

With over 40,000 workers off the job,

the city was paralyzed.

Some politicians thought it was the

beginning of a communist revolution

June 21 - Bloody Saturday

Violence –The Mounted Police charged

the protesters, and fired on the people.

When the police moved

in to break up the

strike, one protestor

was shot and killed.

• Workers were ordered back to work.

• New laws were passed to prohibit any

further strikes

• While the workers lost out in the

short term, in the long term many of

the union leaders were elected to

office and began changing Canada’s

political landscape.

After the strike, a Royal Commission

investigated and reported the causes:

1. the cost of living was too high

2. working conditions were poor

3. low wages had caused workers to

take extreme actions

Growth of the Canadian economy• By the early 1920s the effects of war were

disappearing

• More investment from foreign countries

came into Canada

• The economy had returned to a normal

peace-time level

Primary industries were still very

important and growing.

Forestry boomed

Wheat farmers had good prices and

bumper crops

Mining was strong

Papermaking – Canada produced more

than all other countries combined

hydropower and oil

Secondary industries

(manufacturing) increased production

such as: cars, household appliances

(eg. irons, toasters, etc.)

This led to the rise of mass consumer

culture

Economic Boom, Economic Problems

Farmers: Uneven Prosperity

Not all farmers were successful, but many wheat farmers were, due to the high wheat prices.

Even those farmers were faced with problems; increasing machinery costs which cut into their profits.

Economic Decline in the Maritimes

After 1927, the Maritime economy

increased (pulp & paper) but only in

a few regions.

Elsewhere, the economy was in

decline.

Coal miners were laid off and the steel

industry was hit with stiff competition from

central Canada and the U.S.

Preferential railway rates were also stopped

by the Federal Government, causing

transportation costs to increase.

Many thousands of people had to leave the

Maritimes for work elsewhere.

The Roaring Twenties – 1925+

• New inventions made the world seem

smaller

The radio

was a new

invention.

Families

would

listen to

programs

together

For a few pennies

Canadians could

see black & white

silent movies,

news reels.

By the late1920s

new movies were

introduced where

the actors actually

spoke!

Mass production of cars

Air travel

• These inventions were

increasingly accessible

to more people.

• Wages increased -

Canadians were living in a

"modern age"

• More people had moved into

cities and begun work in the

service industry (tertiary).

•Credit: buying items and paying for

them later. This was called the

‘installment plan’.

• People bought SHARES (stocks) on

the stock exchange that led to an

economic BOOM.

Culture and Society in the 1920s

Dramatic change was due mainly to 3 influences of WWI:

1. WWI created an industrial base that was responsible for huge economic prosperity

2. Canadians could now access the world through advances such as radios, cars

3. The roles of women during the

war gave them more confidence and

independence

People in rural areas were less

isolated thanks to radio, movies,

cars, and airplanes

With higher wages and a shorter

work week, there was more free

time

• New forms of entertainment,

inventions & lifestyles appeared

Flappers

Jazz music

The Charleston

Ford’s Model T

Babe Ruth

Social inequality in the 1920sA. Women:

Were under-represented in government

They were not considered "persons"

under the law (until 1929)

Training schools for girls were mostly

preparation for family living or

secretarial work.

Women were seen as "temporary

employees" (once married, they often

lost their jobs.)

B. Children:

• After 1929, children under 14 could no longer

work in factories or mines.

• So many more children stayed in school

The Home Children

• Children from Britain (orphans or from poor

families) were sent to Canada to start a new life.

• Their work was often

exploited. (hardwork, very

low wages, abuse).

This ended in 1930.

C. Immigrants:

Racism had long been a

problem in North America

and Europe.

Racism grew in the 1920s

(Some restaurants refused

service to black people)

The infamous Ku Klux

Klan had 15,000 members

in western Canada.

D. Aboriginal People:

• Government official policy was

ASSIMILATION = forcing indigenous

people to lose their culture & language

and become Canadian

children were sent to Residential schools

& forced to forget their own language

and culture.

Those who tried living off-reserves were

victims of discrimination and prejudice.

It was difficult to find good jobs

Many were forced to live in terrible

poverty

Those living on reserves did not have the

right to vote

By the 1920s and 1930s, indigenous

people like Deskadeh, began to organize

to fight for their rights.

PROHIBITION

Prohibition = sale & consumption of

beer, liquor was made illegal

In Canada prohibition laws were set by

the provinces, but ended in 1919.

But in the US, the Volstead Act banned

alcohol from1919-1933.

Organized crime boomed as gangsters

smuggled contraband (illegal rye,

rum) from Canada

Al Capone – the famous gangster

Politics in the 1920s

Farmers in many provinces formed their own party – The United Farmers

They wanted lower tariffs and social welfare like old age pensions.

In Ontario, Alberta, & Manitoba the United Farmers formed the government.

In 1920 the farmers formed a new national party – The Progressives

In the 1921 election the Progressives came second to the Liberal’s William Lyon Mackenzie King

Canada’s longest

serving prime minister

– close to 30 years

The Maritime Rights MovementMaritimers felt that they had little power in

Confederation and formed the MRM

They wanted:

reduced rail freight costs

Gov’t help developing

Atlantic ports.

Women and PoliticsWomen could vote, but

few ran for office

So few were elected.

Agnes Macphail was

the first female MP and

was the only one from

1921-1935.

The 'Persons' CaseEmily Murphy took the federal

government to court in 1927 because it

would not allow female senators because

they were not 'persons' under the BNA Act.

In 1929, the Privy Council in Britain (the

highest court) ruled that women were

indeed persons.

The first female senator, Cairine Wilson,

was appointed in 1929.

The King-Byng ‘Crisis’ In the 1925 federal election Liberals under King

won fewer seats (101) than the Conservatives(116) under Arthur Meighen, but King would not step down as PM.

He argued that under the rules of responsible government & with support of the Progressives (who had won 24 seats), he had a majority.

Minority government -When one party has less than a majority of seats (50% + 1) but is supported by another party to govern

Libs (101) + Progs (24) =125 out of 245 total

So 125 > 116

So with the support of the Progressives, King stayed on as PM.

In 1926, due to a corruption scandal, the Progressives stopped supporting King.

Rather than lose a vote in Parliament, King went to the Governor General (GG), Lord Byng, and asked him to dissolve Parliament so a new election could be called.

Byng refused, so King resigned and Byng asked Meighen & the Conservatives to form the government.

Meighen lost a vote in the House of Commons and was forced to ask the GG to dissolve Parliament and hold yet another election.

King and the Liberals won a majority in this election and again stayed in power with the help of the Progressives.

Significance - first time a GG had refused the

request of a PM to dissolve parliament.

This changed the role of the GG, not only in Canada

but in all other dominions of the British Empire.

Canada's growing Independence

Canada continued to seek more independence internationally.

In 1921, Prime Minister Meighen (Conservative) opposed an alliance between Great Britain and Japan, choosing to back American opposition to the treaty.

The Chanak Affair - in 1922, Canada decided not to help the UK in its dispute with Turkey regarding the rights to the Dardanelles and access to the Black Sea.

Canada's growing Independence

Canada became an independent member of the League of Nations in 1920

The Halibut Treaty (1923)

Canada signed an agreement with the US

to govern fishing rights.

This was the first time a Canadian, not a

British representative, signed an

international agreement.

The Imperial Conference of 1926

It was in this conference, under

pressure from Mackenzie King,

Canada signed the Balfour

Report -

This marked the end of the old

imperialism of GB and the

beginning of an association of equal

nations, linked by common

interests and their loyalty to the

British sovereign (the British

Commonwealth)

Statute of Westminster, 1931

A law in the British Parliament that legalized the Balfour Report and gave Canada full authority over its external relations.

Canada, as a member of the

Commonwealth of Nations,

was fully independent of

Britain for the first time in its

history.