Canadian History 202 - Big City Little Homestead

8/13/2019 Canadian History 202 - Big City Little Homestead

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Canadian History

202

Course notes taken in 1999 - transcribedto blog* in 2011.

http://bigcitylittlehomestead.blogspot.com

*Taken down and turned into this document on January 12, 2014.

Lecturer: Graeme Decarie Student: Jane Sorensen

Canada in 1867


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Date: Saturday, January 1, 2011Topic: History 202, Lecture 1: The Industrial Revolution

This lecture was attended on April 24, 1999. It is particularly interesting to me, as ahomesteader, as I have been reading about the industrial revolutions phases. Manynavely believe that as we pass into new eras, we abandon the old. Not so, never so,but governments and businesses often believe we need to throw money at the futureedge and make efforts to obsolete the past, except in a curatorial manner of preserving

for display and education what can and sometimes, though not necessarily, should betaken out of use.

The Industrial Revolution is an ambiguous term. Put in lower case, it refers to acomplex process of technological innovation. We refer to machines replacinghuman skills. We use new sources of energy, shifting form a handicraft economyto manufacturing, so the production is reorganized. The process introducesspecialization, including geographical specialization. Put in upper case, the termrefers to a period of time: England was the first to experience the IndustrialRevolution. Different dates are given by historians.

As the process was not abrupt, it could be called industrialization. Proto-industrialization is the period determined by a domestic and cottage industry oflittle workshops. It lasted as long as two centuries in Britain before the IndustrialRevolution. In the 17th century (the 1600s), woollen textiles, and the 18thcentury, cotton textiles (these particularly in Liverpool) created the putting outsystem. It was driven by middlemen and merchant capital. This is found in allEuropean proto-industrial stages.

Capital is reinvested in manufacturing in the 18th century. They then producedonly for the market. The income is no longer through buying and selling.

The industrial revolution process spread to Belgium and France, through centralEurope (Austria, Prussia), and in the last half of the 19th century, it went toRussia.

By about 1780, all Europe had an equivalent level of development. All had centresof industry with regions of specialization. Flanders, which at that time was inFrance, was the centre for wool, and Normandy was the centre for cotton. Onlyafter 1800 did a gap in industrialization appear between Britain and Europe,

which widened by 1860 and closed by 1900. The Continental system helpedBritain look for different markets, which it developed and helped its ownadvancement.

The entrepreneurial spirit was not as developed in continental Europe as inBritain. In France, the domestic cottage system dominated until the last quarter ofthe 19th century. Agriculture kept hold to the old manner for a long time.In Germany, political unit boundaries slowed development. The Customs Union(Zollverein) finally occurred in 1834, to that entrepreneurial spirit could develop.


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The transport system of canals and roads was not as developed in Europe as it wasin Britain. The transportation revolution did not take off as much in Europedue to political disparity. Lastly, coal for energy was more abundant in Britainthan on the continent, where wood was the main source of energy until themid-1800s. The railway construction era was about to begin.

In the second part of the 19th century, the emancipation of the serfs, especially inRussia, made individuals free to live and work where they pleased, rather than bebound to a hold. Alexander II and Nicholas II introduced capital and specializedlabour from abroad to help with Russias industrialization.

Date: Saturday, January 1, 2011Topic: Canada in 1867

Class Notes: History 205, History of Canada, Graeme Decarie, Winter 1999

The picture of British North America in 1823, prior to Confederation, is quiteinteresting. It is here: http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/preconfederation/britishnorthamerica1823

In 1867, Canada was 4 provinces.


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Nova Scotia - fish for 1/2 the year, the other half, ship cargo to theCaribbean. Also, coal mines. Spring Hill, NS.

New Brunswick: farming and timber, pine shipped to Britain. Quebec and Ontario were much smaller than today [and that's the way theyshould have stayed]. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were almost the samesize as they are today.

British Columbia was a separate colony of Britain.

Everything else was property of Britain, administered by the Hudsons BayCompany. Called Ruperts Land.Canada was created by the British government via the British North America act(BNA). Canada was still a colony. It could manage its internal affairs. Could notnegotiate treaties with other countries, or have ambassadors, or declare war. If

Britain went to war, then Canada would be asked, but not obliged to. The Britisharmy was here until 1871.

Why the provinces united:

Economic: The colonies traded with the British empire. Goods from the empireand colonies was duty-free, until 1850 (corn laws). We lost some market share. Wehad a free-trade agreement with the United States.


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US - 1860-65 Civil War:- Manu acturers were putting in place heavy uties toprotect their business after the war- Grand Trunk Railroad: Rivire-du-Loup -> Windsor -> south to the US- The 19th century US was as greedy as could be for land

What to do?

Where was our market going to be? Hudsons Bay had no army to protect its territory Answer: Buy southern tract of Ruperts Land from Hudsons Bay Co.

Extend the Railway west. Send people west, and create a market for ourCanadian goods. Hudson Bay gets protection from US settlers, and getsbooty.

NS and NB were important for having a year-round port. Railroad must bebuilt there, too.

Grand Trunk, Hudsons Bay, both owned by influential capitalists so itwent through.

Building a railway is very risky. No people around. The government neededmoney, so needed a tax base. The Grand Trunk Railroad was British owned. PEI, Newfoundland, NB, and NS saw the deal and said forget it, but NS

and NB were forced into the deal.

Next topic: Constitution.

Date: Saturday, January 1, 2011Topic: The story of Confederation - part A

There was no reference to the rights of people in the British North America Act.No We, the People, Society. The BNA was a business deal. In order toimplement it, you need a strong central government.

Control over banking was given to Ottawa. The banks decide who will get moneyand for what purpose. Then, if you want to start a bank: a) youre Canadian, b)

youre Montreal- or Toronto-connected, and c) the money goes to the Great Westcause.

The provinces were given control of roads, but nothing really travelled by road.Education - few people went to school past Grade 2. Social Services - they were

only in the form of charities. Mineral/Natural resources - water turned a mill.


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The first Prime Minister: John A. MacDonald. Conservative. Spokesman for bigbusiness in Montreal. The Gazette was the newspaper. The finance minister alwayscame from a big business family. So, too, most politicians.

NS: John A fared badly. They protested.NB: Only one district was interested in Confederation: Northumberland, a coalarea.Quebec was Conservative - Sir John left the church alone, and let it run educationas it was in the provincial jurisdiction.Ontario opposition via the Grits or Reformers, AKA Liberals, showed somesignificance. The Grits were worried about the status of Toronto. Ontario was

very Protestant.

Yet John A was of the Orange Order (a militant Protestant society), and aTemperance society (yet he was an alcoholic). DArcy McGee, Irish, a member ofSt. Patricks Temperance Society, was John As best drinking buddy. They wenton a lark in the US with a dancing bear.


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Date: Monday, January 3, 2011Topic: The story of Confederation - part B

John A had to negotiate a land deal with the Hudsons Bay Co. He had,therefore, to deal with the US.The US had grievances about us. The US couldnt fish in our waters, and we hadthe worlds richest fishery. The Americans insisted anyway and came up fromBoston. The US also wanted British compensation for having supported theSouth. They wondered what the hell did Britain have an interest in Canada for?They wanted Canada!Trained US soldiers formed an Irish secret society called the Fenians. They hadkept all their equipment from the war. They wanted to invade Canada, and thentrade Canada for Ireland. The Fenians attacked Prescott, ON, Nova Scotia, andChateauguay, QC, just south of Montreal.The British were eager to settle with the US, and they wanted trade. Theconference was held in Washington DC in 1871. It was called the WashingtonConference. There were five British delegates and five American delegates at theconference.John A was invited to be a British commissioner at the conference. They wereprepared to sacrifice something Canadian, and use John as a tar baby. Thismeans tar with the same brush, that is, paint him in British colours when theCanadians became outraged. He sent advanced notice to Britain and the US to[and here I wrote bitch about, but I was young and not choosing proper

words] protest the Fenian raids. This issue doesnt even make it onto the agenda.So the Americans wanted to fish in our waters (the old territorial water limit was 3miles, now, its 220), to use the St. Lawrence Seaway for its full length, a fewminor border disputes, and Confederate damage (via the Alabama raiding ship)

compensation. The Americans got these, which John A signed, although borderdisputes were left to a committee.Canada got the Porcupine and Stikine rivers(Alaska had been purchased in 1867),and free navigation of Lake Michigan.The professor was not sure Canada lost out in the negotiations. Canada did notpay a cent for its own defence, it was absolutely dependent on Britain. It wouldhave been foolish to take a stand against your customers while being at war. Thenegotiations resulted in Canadas existence being recognized by the United States.

Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011Topic: Manitoba and Louis Riel

So, the next big problem was the Great West. There were just two groups ofpeople living there: Natives (Cree and Blackfoot), and Mtis (French/Scottish andNative blended families; Scottish fur traders from the Hudsons Bay Company asuntil 1817 or so, there was a thriving fur trade between the West and Montreal).They lived along the Red River, partly from farming, and partly by huntingbuffalo. During the buffalo hunts, they would head into Sioux territory. TheSioux were the nation that annihilated General Custers army. The Mtis defeatedthe Sioux for the loss of two men killed. Fort Gary, which is now known as


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Winnipeg, was their main town near the Assiniboine. They ha no ormal title tothe land they were living on.

In 1869, Surveyors showed up in the Red River area. The Mtis organized,stopped the surveyors, and seized Fort Gary. They formed a provisionalgovernment. Their intention was to force the Canadian government to negotiate

with them.

The Mtis elected Louis Riel as the leader. He became a pivotal character inCanadian history. Everybody uses him to prove their historical points. Louis Riel

was 25 years old and had some education - he had been sent to Montreal forschool, which he left in his teens.

Louis negotiated the creation of a small province around Fort Gary and the RedRiver, and called it Manitoba. All the rest of the West was called the North WestTerritories (and a NorWester was the term for an arrogant Canadian there totry to make money when the new settlers came). To have a province would protectthe Mtis from the onslaught of settlers.

The Ontario settlers tried to revolt against the Mtis. They were subdued.Thomas Scott tried a second attempt. He was caught - problem! Riel has to showhes the man in charge, so Scott is put on trial for rebellion, found guilty, and wasshot. In the eyes of most Canadians, Louis Riel was a Catholic Savage, and Scott

was a member of the Orange Order. Canadians (except for Quebec) are up in armsand want Louis dead.

Without any prospects and money, Louis dropped out after his reelection when hefound he could not do his job for fear for his life. He left Manitoba for a Mtissettlement in the US, to teach.

Canada didnt give any information to the Mtis; the transfer of the land was donein 1870. See the map here: http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1870

Date: Monday, January 10, 2011Topic: BC joins Canada with less ado than an election

We are still in 1870, and Canadian capitalists still wanted to build the Great Westrailroad (the Grand Trunk was falling short). It was to be private, but thegovernment would have to provide substantial help. No powerful Americanpartners were allowed. If you let the Americans in, they would make Chicago -New York the focal corridor to our railroad, and Canada was not interested inthat. The financier for the railroad was Sir Hugh Allan, who owned shipping andinsurance companies.

John A wants BC (British Columbia) to become a province of Canada. A port on


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the west coast opens up tra e to the Far East, an all-aroun -the-worl tra e route.BC was interested - in the 1850s they had had a gold rush, but accommodatingthe rushers left a tonne of debt behind.

George-Etienne Cartier (a big dandy with a mammoth ego, who had five funeralsand a monument erected in Montreal) negotiated with BC - a province rightaway, a railway within 10 years, and huge subsidies to cover their debt. So BCbecame a province of Canada in 1872.The 1872 election, Canadas first after Confederation, was a close election forJohn A. Another John A, this one being John Abbot, was the money man for theConservatives. A clerk who had been fired stole the voting registers and otherinformation, such as the money spent buying votes. When the Conservatives knewthe Liberals were up to something, one of the two John As called up a RoyalCommission. Lots of intrigue, more to come

Date: Wednesday, January 12, 2011Topic: The Pacific Scandal changes the government

Hugh Allan (the railroad financier) somehow got the Jesuits help in gettingGeorge tienne Cartier into election trouble. Georgie boy was the Grand Trunkrailroads lawyer. Georgie had to support Hughies bid for the railway. Hugh,however, was backed by American railway men, so he lost the contract. John Ahad to resign over the election corruption, which was called The Pacific Scandal.

So, the Liberals came in, led by Alexander Mackenzie. This man was unbelievablyhonest. He belonged to the Free Church of Scotland, where you werent allowedto enjoy yourself. The Liberals held power from 1873-1878, and rather little wasaccomplished although suddenly, in 1873, PEI decided to join Canada to gettheir potatoes to a bigger market. The world was in a depression, anyway, so there

was no money available to get the railway built , although they did manage tobuild the section on the northern edge of the Great Lakes.

The three directions and interests characteristic of the Liberals at that time were 1)Canadian nationalism - they objected to the degree of British control; 2) Reform -improvements to make moral policies and have honest governors, and 3) Free

trade - which a great many farmers wanted.Back to Louis Riel: in 1873, Ontario still wanted him arrested, and Quebec didnot. This put the Liberals on the spot - there were no grounds for power to arresthim. He had been granted amnesty by the British governor, Lord Dufferin - notby Mackenzie - to settle the problem and get it out of the way. But the Liberalskicked up a fuss, and so a British governor never did that without asking forpermission again.


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Date: Friday, January 14, 2011Topic: Other activities of the Liberals, 1874-1878

In 1874: If the West was ever going to be settled, there must be law and order[even the TV show Deadwood demonstrates a form of that]. An army would havebeen best, although the Americans would have protested. So a force, trained assoldiers and police, was set up and sent out there. They were known as the North

West Mounted Police. This established the Royal Military College.

One of the first effects was that each native group signed a treaty and agreed tosettle on reserves. BUTin 1870, there were millions of buffalo. By 1880, only20,000 buffalo remained. We had starved them into submission; they had to signthe treaties. This zocide - and yes, wantonly killing large numbers of animals is

worthy of -cide and the moral condemnation this suffix confers - and its quasi-

intended genocide still echoes down to today.The Liberals, as Reformers, had a problem with the courts system. Appeals couldbe sent to The British Privy Council, and this continued in one form (orinstitution) or another until 1949, which is when the Canadian Supreme Courtbecame the highest authority.

As a country, the US was the only other country we could negotiate a free tradedeal with, and they were not interested in competition.

The Liberals introduced the secret ballot for the 1878 election. It was an attempt

to prevent corruption. They also introduced a law which is still in effect: TheCanada Temperance Act. Any town can ban the sale of liquor within its borders.

Date: Monday, January 17, 2011Topic: The Liberals and liberalism vs. The Church

The Liberals had alienated Big Business in Montreal, as business wanted tariffs toprotect them from competition. They also alienated the Catholic Church, which

was huge, and subscribed to ultramontanism: The Church was to be dominant inALL things, even that priests should not be tried in court. People had to vote theway the priests said to vote. The Bishop of Montreal, Bourget, believed in thesupremacy of the Church and he built Mary Queen of the World basilica - whichis also a scale model of St. Peters in Rome - right in the heart of ProtestantMontreal. There is a statue of Bourget on the corner of as shown here - http://

www.imtl.org/montreal/building/Basilique-Marie-Reine-du-monde.php?id=96.He died long before it was completed.


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Liberalism historically stoo or the rights o the in ivi ual, hence the oppositionfrom the Church. But Bourget didnt limit opposition to politics. There was amens club called the Institut Canadien, where the men met for readings anddiscussions of whatever topic they pleased. Bishop Bourget insisted on obtaining alist of their library so he could approve what they could read. They did notcomply, so he excommunicated the members of the club. Guy Bourque, one ofthe members, died excommunicated. He wanted to be buried in Cimitire Cte-des-Nieges, and it was fought all the way through the courts so he could be. Oncehe was interred, they poured concrete and scrap iron on the grave, so that he

would not be dug up. Bishop Bourget then deconsecrated the ground he wasburied in.

Date: Friday, January 21, 2011Topic: The Election and the return of Riel

In 1878, John A, now sober, was still the leader of the Conservative party. He wasstill a friend to Catholics and to Big Business. The Conservative policies were:

1) High tariffs to develop Canadian manufacturing. This would anger the farmers,so they didnt call it a tariff, they gave it a new name: National Policy. In order toset the tariff, he asked manufacturers to set the tariff. If there is full employment,then farmers can get a good price for their goods.

2) Close relations with Britain to promote that railroad! Must attract investment,and only Britain had the capital needed. So, establish a High Commissioner in

lieu of an ambassadorship.The Conservatives won the election.

So, over in Manitoba, settlers were surging west, and they formed a SettlersUnion which seemed to be in opposition to Canadian and American Natives. Thenatives were starved, demoralized, had almost no weaponry, and were on reserves.In 1869 there had been a Mtis rebellion that went off in the middle of winter,and it had been impossible to deliver the military. The Church had supported thisrebellion, but the one that began in spring of 1885 was not supported. TheChurch fell away from Riel because he had come to believe, without question, that

God had chosen him to lead the West to become a promised land for all peoples -an ideal society. He had in mind a faith that was something like Catholicism, butRiel would be the prophet.

Date: Sunday, January 23, 2011Topic: The North-West Rebellion


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By the time of the 1885 spring rebellion, the railway had reached almost all theway to Batoche, Manitoba. Several regiments were swiftly sent from Nova Scotia,the Eastern Townships of Quebec, and Ontario. They were militia, part-timesocial soldiers, and they were sent west on open flat railway cars, in early Prairiespring.

Riel had, among his military, a man named Gabriel Dumont a brilliant soldier.However, he wanted a rebellion without bloodshed. The Canadians were led by aBritish officer who had initially held the officers back, but then took Baths whenthe Mtis ran out of ammunition. The rebellion was thence suppressed, theCanadian Pacific Railway (Great West) project was saved, and the gratefulCanadian government gave the railroad company funds to finish it. The Mtis

were henceforth swept under the carpet.

Louis Riel was found guilty of treason and was hanged. He should not have been he was neither an inspirational leader nor a villain. The Governor General canonly speak with the advice of his government, which was Conservative. Quebec

wanted life imprisonment, though they didnt, early on, support Riel. They justdidnt want hanging because thats what Ontario wanted, in revenge for ThomasScott. There were more voters in Ontario than in Quebec. This is the powerstruggle of Confederation.

If Professor Decarie, the lecturer from which these notes were taken, were to tracethe rise of separatism, hed start with Louis Riel. After his hanging, the firstnationalist party began in Quebec, led by Honor Mercier.

And to finish this chapter, Gabriel Dumont and other native chiefs, includingSitting Bull, ended up in Buffalo Bills Wild West Show.

Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2011Topic: Then as now, now as then: Federal-provincial power struggle

There has never been anything but friction between the federal and provincialpremiers. The Federal government controlled the banks and railways, and therailway was a big draw for foreign investment. Most big business was federally

controlled.In 1867, the Maritimes had the worlds fourth-largest merchant marines. Theyhad the wood to build ships, a sandbar to build it on, and the sea-going peopleto do the shipping. New ships were being built with iron and were powered bysteam. These couldnt be built by Maritimers. They saw their economy go downthe tubes, so to speak and they had no money. Nova Scotia voted to consider theidea of separation. The premier at the time: Fielding.

The Northwest Territories hated the idea of the railway. They wanted short


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railways to connect with the American railway. Every wee , one o the newspapersran a train wreck photo.

Canadian law allows a veto of provincial law by the federal government. The lasttime it was used was the 1930s. It is only used for companies, the professor said.

In the 1870s, the Provincial Conference yielded the Compact Theory of

Confederation (which was an absolute crock, John A had all the power anyway),where basically all the provinces (colonies) got together to create a constitution.

Date: Thursday, January 27, 2011Topic: Liberalism vs Conservatism

The Liberals economic policy was free trade to a point of religious fervour. Too

many Canadians had come to depend on the high-tariff National Policy. Theywere not competitive. But Canadian goods from the east were shipped by CPR,and its management and manufacturers voted Conservative.

Sir Wilfred Laurier was a LIberal leader - he had tons o charisma. He campaignedin 1888 for a policy called Commercial Union - AKA free trade. In 1891, it wascalled unrestricted reciprocity. The Conservatives made fun of Laurier andaccused him of being disloyal. A political cartoon of the time: John A carried on aUnion flag by workers, with the caption: Old man. Old flag. Old policy. But, theConservatives won the 1891 election.

The Liberal party was hugely handicapped in Quebec. So what Wilfred (Laurier,that is) did was squeeze the Old liberals out, and brought in the old members ofthe Conservative party. It then became a carbon-copy of the Conservative party,and from time to time drifts leftward and back.

Our old friend John A died of a stroke. He was then replaced as the head of theConservative party by the other John A (Abbott). He had poor health, so he leftsoon. He was followed by Sir John Thompson, a Catholic who then died of aheart attack while visiting the Queen. The Conservatives then lined up MackenzieBowell, who had been the Grand Master of the Orange Order. He wasstupendously ineffective, so he was kicked out and replaced with Sir Charles

Tupper, whose nickname was the Cumberland Ram, for being a total pervert.

Date: Thursday, February 3, 2011Topic: Sectarian squabbling on schools

The fundamental liberal belief is that you must make your own decisions. No one


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can ma e them or you. It is a Protestant belie was that only you eci e whetheryoure saved. This was why the Scottish tradition was to educate people, in orderto make correct decisions.The fundamental Catholic belief was accept the Church, believe, and obey(ultramontanism). Quebec was, and in some aspects still is, a profoundlyconservative or orthodox society - only one opinion is permitted.However, contrary to modern interpretation, conservatism dictates that socialprograms are a necessity - because we are concerned with the well-being of society,

we must be concerned with the well-being of its members. John Donnes poetry isinformed by this ethic: dont ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.From 1840 - 60, Quebec was the most fervently Catholic place in the world. Evenin 1911, three million people supplied the funds to build St. Josephs Oratory onthe slopes of the West peak of Mount Royal, whose magnificent dome can be seenfrom most parts of Montreal.The Pope had disbanded the Jesuit order in the late 1700s. In the interim, landbelonging to the Jesuits was sold to the Canadian government. Later, the Pope(not necessarily the same one) reinstated the Jesuit order, but the land was gone,requiring some kind of compensation. This caused an incredible amount ofagitation, from a religious cause, and not all Canadians were Catholic.Catholicism used schooling to spread its power.Honor Mercier, from Quebecs Parti National, provided the settlement for theJesuit estates of $400,000, but he also gave $60,000 to the Protestant schoolboard. He was worried that the ultramontanes 1) wanted more money, and 2)objected to the money given to the Protestant school board. Therefore, he askedthe Pope to approve the deal, which Canadians considered Papal Aggression - thePope should not rule on Canadian matters. Thirteen members of the House ofCommons ruled against inviting the Pope to rule. They were known as theNoble Thirteen, or alternatively, the Devils Dozen.

Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2011Topic: The Manitoba Schools Question

The issue of the 1896 election was The Manitoba Schools Question. Manitobahad voted to put an end to religious schools. Catholics were furious, of course,because the secular schools were really Protestant.

In the late 1880s, Dalton McCarthy, Irish Protestant, left the Conservative partyto found the Protestant Protective Association. He toured Canada, and went toManitoba. The Manitoba government bought the idea of secular schools as a

good way to win votes and cover up various railway scandals. Catholics took it tocourt, all the way up to the British Privy Council. They hoped:

1. The federal government would disallow the secular school law. Ottawadidnt want to touch it.

2. The Court would decide that Manitoba couldnt do it.3. That the federal government would pass remedial legislation to impose

Catholic education on the province - but Ottawa said no.The Court decision was that yes, the Manitoba government had the right to close


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Catholic schools. It also sai Ottawa has the power to pass reme ial legislation.

For the 1896 election, the Conservatives (under Charles the Cumberland Ram)pretty much had to come down in favour, even if reluctantly, of remediallegislation. They tried to pin Laurier (Quebecer, Catholic, Liberal) down to aposition. Laurier didnt bluster at all, and he won - by getting the Quebec vote,but he lost the Manitoba vote.

The LIberals left the secular schools in place, with permission for religiousinstruction after hours.

Date: Thursday, February 10, 2011Topic: Glamourous, romantic Canada

Wilfred Laurier is characterized as being charming, a gifted speaker, lucky, andconstantly selling people out. So well call him Willie from now on. At the sametime as Willies PMship, Canada was just starting its biggest growth period, forthe duration of his tenure (1896 - 1911). The 20th century belongs to Canada- with predictions that we would be #1! Whatever that means. But it is true thatCanada repeatedly topped the UN Human Development index at the end of thecentury, which measures health, life expectancy, education, and standard of living.

South African gold money was invested in Canada.

The world industry needed our lumber and minerals.

Canadian wheat was becoming a major project. Government labs developed ahigh quality, short-season wheat.

Shipping had a big capacity and cheaper boats.

Immigrants came pouring in. In 1910, 25% of all Canadians were immigrants. in1914, 40% of the soldiers sent to WWI were not born in Canada.

The US frontier had filled up. A large proportion of the Prairie population is ofAmerican descent. 90% of the gold prospectors in Canada were American.

Robert Service, a major Canadian poet, hit the $1,000,000 sales mark.Stephen Leacock wrote a novel showing the confidence of that time: SunshineSketches of a Little Town.

And then there was something noteworthy about Commander Steele of the NorthWest Mounted Police (but I cant say what without Googling it).

Willies work essentially built upon the economic policies of John A.


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Date: Sunday, February 13, 2011Topic: Are you fond of the railway entries?

Well, trainspotters, youre in for a real treat.The core of Canadas capital was the St. Lawrence Valley. Nobody built railwayslike us! Most of our leading capitalists were building railways in other countries.One was started from Key West to go 90 km over the sea to Cuba - this must havebeen the boat-train concept that still is in use in Europe. All railways in Brazil,such as the Traction - as my notes say - were Canadian-built, as was British Africa(Sir Percy Gerard was that builder or sponsor). [Even today, Bombardiers raildivision gets important contracts, the jewel of which is Berlins Hauptbahnhof.]

The Canadian Northern Railways company/network was put together by

Mackenzie and Mann. The Mann trophy is the most expensive trophy in theworld; it is solid gold. It gets awarded to the Canadian Lacross Championshipteam.

So, the provinces would give incentives (freebies in my notes) to anyone whowould build a railway. Mackenzie and Mann started in the West, a collection ofsmall railways from Manitoba to BC, then extended east to Lake Superior(Lakehead, now known as Thunder Bay, where Lakehead University is). They hadto find a way to export grain eastward to Montreal and from there to the world.Remember: the Grand Trunk was in the east; Rivire-du-LoupMontreal

WindsorUnited States. If you connect the two railways, then you will have a

transcontinental railway (perhaps two, as there may have been one in the U.S.already, but we dont care about that here).

But Willie did NOT want to connect the two railways - he wanted to build athird! Which meant, I presume, that the Great Lakes steamships would then loadin Lakehead/Thunderbay and ship down to Windsor, at the isthmus of LakeHuron and Lake Erie.


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Date: Thursday, February 17, 2011Topic: The National Transcontinental Railway

Building a railway, we know, required giving out tonnes of contracts. And thetwo things essential to doing anything such as building a railway is 1) unboundedoptimism, and 2) political will.

The Canadian Northern Railway went from Halifax Quebec City (Williesriding; Montreal didnt support Liberals) Laurentians Northern Ontario(Catholics settle the North!) across the Prairies (close to the Canadian Pacificline) and out to the west coast.

The Grand Trunk got the contract to build Winnipeg to the Pacific, then when itwas finished the lease would go to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.

However, the Canadian Northern still had to extend down to the docks inMontreal; it terminated above-ground on Jean-Talon Boulevard one mile east ofDecarie Boulevard (now Expressway). They then dug underground, tunnelling


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un er Mont Royal, an then they built the train station where the Gare Win soris today. This terminal is in operation today as part of the Agence MetropolitanTransport suburban train network.

Since they had bought all the land surrounding the station on Jean-Talon, whynot build a north-side suburb to well-off people who can then take the train to

work in downtown Montreal?

Here, for some reason unknown to us yet, the professor digressed into a pillory onprosperity for the rich. Lord Strathcona paid entirely for a cavalry division for the

war. The Canadian Government gave out very few bank charters. Business then,as now, works to protect billionaires, capitalists were particularly rapacious, thegovernment was in their hands, and there were no unions. Through the Laurier

years, the wages for a 10-hour day was $1 for a man, 50 for a woman, and 25for a child.

Date: Monday, February 21, 2011Topic: Farming in transition

In Toronto, Massey, as in Massey-Ferguson, the largest machinery manufacturer,was protected from competition by tariffs. Canadian ploughs cost $100, andAmerican ploughs cost $80 + $25 tariff. The farmers were unhappy about thetariff, as they must buy at Canadian costs but sell at an international price. There

was a tremendous change of pace in farming. At the beginning of Willies tenure,work was done by horse and ox. At the end, it was done by steam and gasoline

combustion tractors. Apparently, Willie was shocked to find an Angry West. Andthen there came a world-wide recession in 1912 where the demand for wheatdropped and British investment dried up.

The capital expenditure [acquisition of machines] put farmers heavily into debtwith the [EVIL!] banks. Many were heavily mortgaged and went bankrupt. Theend of the farm meant that boys would end up moving to the cities and work infactories or end up in jail; the girls who couldnt work in servitude would end upin the sex trade. The depopulation of the countryside began the real rise ofpolitical power to the cities. Farm votes have been decreasing in proportion of thepopulation ever since these times. Farmers have gotten, and continue to get, a bad

deal, and as their population dwindles and generations distance themselves from arelation to the work and the land, misapprehension does little to abate the issues.

[I suspect we are better off with using beasts as labour and living close to naturalcapital that we own outright or have under trust. Therefore, we are better offliving in widely dispersed towns, than in concentrated cities, for the distributionof food and resources.]


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Date: Friday, February 25, 2011Topic: Demographics 1896 - 1911

In 1910, the American government offered Canada a free trade deal, calledreciprocity. The American farmers were angry and wanted free trade, too. Lowertariffs all around, so they say. It looked for a while like Willie (Wilfred Laurier,recall), the great Free Trader, would actually deliver. When they announced it, itseemed that he and the Liberals had the election all sewn up.

But first, we look at shifts in demography in Canada.

In 1876, immigrants to the New World mostly went to the USA.

In 1896, we had fewer than 400,000 people on the Prairies (from Ontario, theUK, and the US)

In 1905, two new provinces were created: Alberta and Saskatchewan.In 1911, immigrants came mostly to Canada, including Americans, and an influxfrom southern and eastern Europe, especially from Ukraine, something about theczarist draft, few landlords, very rich - these immigrants were used to farm life. Wehad about 1,500,000 people on the Prairies.

From 1910 to 1940, the streets from St. Dominique to De Bullion in Montrealwas a brothel district, surrounded by factories with poor, immigrant bachelors asunskilled labour. There was an incredible amount of prostitution.

Canada didnt train people - we imported our educated people. By the end ofWillies tenure, No more working class allowed for immigration to Canada,particularly from Britain, where they were skilled in union organizing. Theimmigrants were neither English nor French nor Protestant nor Catholic. They

were often Orthodox or Jewish. It was the beginning of the large-scale Jewishimmigration.The intersection of Ontario and St. Laurent was the old Jewishghetto/quarter.

Canadians were shocked - these people do. everything. differently. And there weretwo types of reactions: 1) nativism, or 2) racism. A racist view is that people aredifferent for inherited reasons, you cant change them, especially regardingintelligence or morality. Many people were nativist towards one group, and racistagainst another.Ideas that Northern Europeans were the highest evolutionary type abounded.Even living in a cold climate was thought of as superior (I hardly fail to disagree!).Cold is invigorating, stimulatingand industrious.


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Date: Sunday, February 27, 2011Topic: Unions and farm movements

Until 1872, there were no legal unions in Canada. Prior to that there wereassociations, mutual help groups. They didnt have power to strike or negotiate

wages. Typically, they organized according to the job the person did.The Printers Union in Toronto went on strike against the newspapers in 1872.John A passed a low that allowed strikes, so it was legal to have a craft union.Then, an American industrial union came up, called the Knights of

1886: A federation called the Trades and Labour Congress began as an umbrellaorganization.

Quebec was different, of course! The Church was suspicious of anyone organizingthemselves. Later, the Church organized Catholic unions.

But heres a reason why unions were necessary: big business _was_ brutal. Forexample, a 14-year-old lost his arm in a factory accident. The instance his armcame off, his pay was stopped.

Government sided with business pretty reliably. They were concerned about theeconomic ramifications of strikes. The army and militia was used for suppressingstrikers: between 1880 and 1920, Canadian troops were called out 120 times todeal with strikes.

Farmers had very little in common with the unions, but the Western farmers were

more influenceable than the Eastern farmers by the farming movements in theUnited States. In Quebec, these movements only affected the Eastern Townships.The Grange wanted lower tariffs and control of the railway prices. The Patronsof Industry - because farmers make everything else function - wanted the sametwo premises, but also cooperatives (which, at the time, did not extend to thegrain elevators. Grain elevator companies were owned by the railways, and you hadto store your grain there, or the railway would not transport it.). In 1909, theUnited Grain Growers Association and the Canadian Council of Agriculture

wanted lower tariffs and rates for rail, but the _end_ of the railway grain elevators.

Date: Saturday, March 5, 2011Topic: Introducing a new character

And so we come to William Lyon Mackenzie King. He was short. He was balding.He was chubby. He used to cry when he sang hymns (well, I do, sometimes, iftheyre really good.) He was desperately lonely. He wanted a beautiful, rich, anddevoutly religious woman. After his mother died, he talked to the dead on a


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regular basis (to be air, everyone i in those ays). Because Ive alrea y useWillie for Laurier, Ill have to use Mackie for Mackenzie King.

He believed he was born poor, so he said, but he was not - the exact opposite!The professor said He was such a hypocrite, he even fooled himself.

His grandfather, William Lyon Mackenzie, was a non-famous rebel leader. So hismother made him struggle against the establishment and fight for the poor anddowntrodden [and here I interject, as Concordia students matching Mackiescharacter description have done ever since!] and also receive praise and honour -two contradictory goals.

Mackie studied unions in his Masters thesis in sociology - a rare subject in thosedays: Industry and Humanity. Something about the thesis recommended acompany association, in other words, a tiger with no teeth. Business loved thisidea, but thats not enough to condemn it.

And so, Willie saw a use for Mackie, and appointed him to do a report on anindustry that showed terrible working conditions. The chosen industry was verysmall: the companies that made mail bags for letter carriers.

Mackie King was given a civil servant job he ascended from some position in theMinistry of Labour to the Deputy Minister. His main job was to settle strikes.

When he settled strikes, it pretty much had the business as the winner. He becamethe Minister in 1910. The government had to make a show of cracking down oncorruption and bad working conditions.

Companies were definitely making a combine - price fixing. Mackie introduced

a typical piece of legislation called the Combines Investigation Act. This made itillegal to fix prices. In order to get an investigation, an employee had to enter acomplaint. If there was an investigation and conviction the fine was $50.

Date: Monday, March 7, 2011Topic: Temperance Societies

By Willies (Laurier) time, Canada was run by a small number of big businesses. Itwas no longer a society of small businesses. Instead, there was enormous poverty.Montreal had the worlds worst infant mortality rate.

The change in peoples thinking didnt come through politics. It came throughthe Temperance Movement.

In the 1820s, people drank a lot. Not drinking was considered an unhealthyanomaly. Whenever anyone was sick, you gave them alcohol. Liquor was cheap - abottle we paid $18 for in 1999 dollars cost probably 10 back then.

Two Presbyterian ministers started a Temperance Society, which also occurred inthe US and the UK. In 1840, they became total abstinence societies. In the


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1850s, they wante a law prohibiting alcohol.

But temperance did not start because of religion. Consider this: No pension, nosick pay, small wages for long work hours. When you have to depend on yourselffor everything, alcohol is a major obstruction. So, Temperance societies helpedpeople make ends meet and get ahead.

Prohibition was proposed because working class folks did not pay any mind to thetemperance movement. They were poor, violent, uneducated, disenfranchised. Ifthey didnt drink, theyd get to work on time, not take unnecessary sick days, saveor better spend money not spent on alcohol, and be less prone to violence.

This was the first time that social ills were looked at and addressed by Canadiansociety. The Temperance Society was the first to work on these problems, andsome realized that alcohol was not the source of the ills. They were the first groupto propose the existence of social programs for social problems. Canadianpoliticians didnt start to deal with the idea until the 1940s, 50 years after the idea

was first introduced.

Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2011Topic: Women!

Women were second class citizens all through the 1800s. It was OK to beatthem, they were to be told what to do at all times, the daily news was none of herbusiness, and there would be no political discussion!

Women were active in the prohibition movement, in a subordinate role. Thischanged in 1871 when a woman named Letitia Youmans arrived on the scene. She

was a big, ugly, Ontario school teacher. She didnt get married until late in life, toa widower farmer with a family of seven.

In 1876, she went to a Sunday School convention in New York. She went to asermon that was given by a preacher woman, who had organized a group calledthe Womens Christian Temperance Union. So this inspired Letitia to start up thegroup in Canada. They petitioned to close the liquor store, and the men refused.But the women of Picton, Ontario, found they could do whatever they theydecided to - and then the women of Canada did, too.

Why did the men allow the organization to happen and spread? Because

prohibition was in the womens interest, as the care of the family is theirjurisdiction, and alcohol impacts the family as much as it impacts the sales at thecounter.

In 1890, the WCTU was the biggest womens organization in Canada. They alsodiscovered that men were not all that politically bright. So women began thesuffrage project, as they were good, superior to what was expected of them and

what was being delivered by politicians, and they figured their involvement wouldclean up politics.


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Date: Friday, March 11, 2011Topic: Canada's issues with the Boer War

In Lauriers time, Britain was our only ally in the world. Willies policy was tomaintain good ties with Britain, but not to take any obligation.

In the 1890s, Britain could foresee that a war would happen with Germany. Itwould be at a disadvantage, as Germany was bigger. Britain needed allies andmoney to help build up its armed forces.

After years of ignoring its empire (?? It was the largest in the world, comprising20% of either the worlds countries or population), it realized it would need thisasset. So it came up with the idea of an Imperial Federation. Under extreme views,it would have one government, one military, [one trade policy?] across allcountries.

In 1897, Queen Victoria had reigned longer than any monarch in Englandshistory. It was her Diamond Jubilee - 60 years. (There was also a slight reductionin the tariff of British goods here in Canada.) There was a big, big celebration,and Wilfred Willie was given the centrepiece of honour amongst the primeministers of the empire states but he said no, he would not attend.

In 1899, there was a war in South Africa with the Transvaal Orange Free State ofDutch farmers, called Boers (hence Boer War). Britain wanted to pulverize them(profs words, or my youthful ones) to send a message Fight me, fight myempire. Canada was somewhat opposed, the pro-side being, of course, theImperialists.

Willie agreed to recruit the troops and send them over. Once they got there, theybecame British, and Britain pays them. He sent a total of 2000 men. Instead ofpleasing people on both sides of the issue, he alienated them.

Henri Bourassa broke from the Liberals then, and started up a CanadianNationalist party - one opposed to imperialism. He also started the newspaper LeDevoir.

English Canadians started up the Canadian Club.

Imperialists just got mad.

Date: Sunday, March 13, 2011Topic: Why Canada has a stupid border along the West Coast

In 1903, we had the Alaska pan-handle crisis nobody was sure exactly where theborder with Canada was. Right at the bottom of Alaska, there was a river calledthe Lynn Canal - the only waterway that went up to the Yukon, where there was


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gol (now Im con use , because uring theWashington Con erence, when theBritish negotiated with the US to close off their colonizing aspirations, Canada

was granted the full length of the Porcupine and Stickine, two northern rivers thatrun through Alaska).

Teddy Roosevelt was President. He was an aggressive man. He also created thePanama Canal. He was threatening force over the border dispute.

Canada was still unable to negotiate on its behalf, only Britain could. The AlaskaBoundary Commission was set up with an equal number of Canadian and

American judges, and a British High Commission judge (Supreme Court), LordAlesworth. There is a tie in the decision making, and if you were the British judgebreaking the tie, what would you do?

Britain didnt need any enemies, a confrontation with the States was not worth it.It then acted in its own interests, and infuriated Canadians. This became thereason why some Canadians started singing O Canada, rather than God Save theQueen. [I suspect the history books need to be checked on that.]

http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1901

Would it not be better for Canada had we kept the original Districts andconvened them to Provinces? I think so.


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Date: Sunday, March 20, 2011Topic: War and election issues

The biggest cost in preparing for war was the battleship - a new type called aDreadnaught. Intended to be invincible at sea, it was 70,000 tonnes with a heavybelt of armour (12 - 17 thick) on the sides. It carried eight to ten big guns.Shells were 12 in diameter, 4 long, with a velocity of three thousand feet persecond.

Britain and Germany got into a race to build these incredibly expensive ships. TheEmpire was obligated to pay for them. Australia immediately chipped in for theone they needed. As for Canada, if Laurier had dared to chip in, hed lose the nextelection. So hecompromised. No money to offer, but he would create aCanadian Navy. It would be of relatively small ships, and in wartime, our navy

would come under British command (to which Bourassa replied Are youcrazy?). Imperialists in Canada called it a tin pot Navy.

Now to the Election of 1911: Conservatives were led by a Halifax lawyer namedRobert Borden. He played both sides beautifully. He was a total imperialist inEnglish Canada, and in Quebec, he used some dirty tricks, such as dress up in anaval uniform, and go door-to-door doing a census of young men. [I dont quiteget it.]

The reciprocity that Laurier had dreamt up with the United States was free tradein non-manufactured goods - which wasnt any good for farmers. Business stillconsidered this first step a threat, though, to their preferential tariffs.

Laurier won 70 seats in Quebec, where Bourassas Nationalists took 15 seats. Therest of Canada voted Conservative. Borden won the election.

Date: Thursday, March 24, 2011Topic: Government funding in wartime

Because Britain was spending on the Dreadnoughts, they didn't have any moneyto invest here in Canada. We had a recession. In 1914, Britain declared war.Givine the mood in Canada at the time, we sent troops. It employed [soaked up]the unemployed right away.

People had no idea of the new destructive power of weaponry. Five hundredrounds of ammunition could be shot in one minute by a machine gun. In oneday, Britain lost fifteen thousand men. At any given moment, we had sixtythousand on the front line.

95% of the first thirty thousand volunteers were British-born. Ergo, Canadianswere really not very enthused about fighting. The longer theyd been in Canada,the less likely they were to join the army.


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Throughout the Great War, the standard of living of the average Canadiandropped. The wealthy became much, much wealthier due to war profiteering.Income tax had not yet been introduced - that came in in 1917.

The major source of government revenue in 1914 was customs duties, but duringa war, imports drop off (transport risk). The government also raised funds byselling bonds, which we traditionally sold to the British. During the War, weturned to New York to sell the bonds.

In 1916, the Americans were getting ready for their own war over there, so webegan to sell the bonds internally, to Canadians, at a high rate of interest. Toeveryones great amazement, the government raised more money than ever before.80% of all bonds sold were to wealthy individuals and banks.

In 1917, income tax was introduced as an emergency wartime measure. Intereston the bonds, however, was tax-free. By 1935, income tax was the most importantsource of government revenue.

Date: Tuesday, April 5, 2011Topic: A really dirty election.

Wow, hope that isn't prescient, given that were going into another election now.

Farmers made a profit during the Great War because the armies needed wheat, andthe price rose spectacularly. Wheat ships were being sunk by submarines at analarming rate.

The government stepped in and said it would be the only buyer of wheat toprevent skyrocketing prices - but they didnt do that to uniform, munitions, andother big business operations. [Now, if youre about to go all lefty like a collegestudent about hitting the farmers, think: who in wartime is going to be thepurchaser for munitions and uniforms and those manufactured goods? And thepeople who labour to make them - what are they going to eat if exporters out-bidthem on foodstuffs?]

By 1917, the Canadian government was in deep trouble with Canadians. BordensConservatives were going to lose this election year (1916 was the scheduled year,but they had an extension for patriotism). Borden proposed a coalition

government, which Laurier would have been a fool to accept. A partial coalitionwas also refused. What the Conservatives could do, though, was load the election.They used conscription as an issue, pitting the French (who were not signing upto fight) against the English (who were greater in number) to try to win.

The Wartime Election Act took the vote away from any person born in an enemycountry who had become a citizen of Canada after 1902. This devastated theLiberal vote, as Prairie people fit those criteria. It also allowed women whose next-of-kin were in the armed forces (who would likely, therefore, vote in favour of


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conscription). The Military Voters Act allowe all sol iers in the Cana ian army,regardless of age or nationality, to vote. Most didnt have a riding, so their votes

were assigned by the Chief Returning Officer, who was assigned by theConservative party, to where Conservative votes were needed. Professor Decariecounted fifty seats across Canada decided in the above manner.

The Liberals were devastated by this election. Many abandoned the partyhenceforth. Eighty-nine Liberals, mostly from Quebec and the Maritimes werebrought into the Conservative Nationalist government. Not a single Liberal waselected west of the Ottawa River, although the swing ridings still voted in favourof the Liberals.

For the conscription election issue, farmers' sons were exempted, but this promisewas subsequently rescinded. Of fifteen thousand young men who wereconscripted, only two hundred saw combat. Riots occurred everywhere over thisissue.

Date: Friday, May 13, 2011Topic: An unprecedented war

Canadians fed and trained horses for a cavalry charge on the front that would havebeen useless, and (at least) never occurred. The French army experienced mutiny.The Russian army gave up. Old battle methods no longer worked.

General Currie was not a traditional soldier. Baron Byng was traditional, butfought the new war intelligently:

1. With conscientious, meticulous planning

2. Do not throw bodies at the enemy, let the Germans come to you. Use yourmateriel!3. The rolling barrage artillery assault.

General Currie wasnt very good at the beginning of the war, but he was probablythe best General by the end.

The war ended as much from exhaustion as from anything else. The German armywas in retreat, but still intact.

On November 11, at 11 AM, the Canadian army had captured Lons, Belgium,which is precisely where the war had started in 1914.

The Peace Treaty between France, Germany, and England was drawn up over sixmonths at Versailles. The British insisted that it would sign the peace treaty forthe whole empire. Borden, no longer an Imperialist, wanted to sign for Canada,same for the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand.

France never recovered its monetary and human loss from that war [until muchlater, perhaps]. Its collapse in the second World War is explained in that context.


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The war also en e Cana ian immigration an investment in the railways. TheCanadian Northern went bust; its last achievement went through Mont Royal todowntown Montreal. It became property of the government, and became what isnow known as CN. The government paid $11 million for a worthless railway -

why? Because thats how much the Canadian Northern owed the Canadian Bankof Commerce. The financing had been arranged by the banks president.

Date: Friday, June 10, 2011Topic: Aftermath of the Great War

The Canadian nation was forged on the battlefields of Europe. We came out ofthe Great War savagely divided.

The League of Nations came about at President Wilsons behest. The idea was thesame as the United Nations, but it was less effective. By being asked to belong toit, Canada was recognized as independent. We were also invited to send anambassador to Washington. It took us 7 years to send one!

In 1919, there was a strike in Vancouver that was so contentious (contractorsrefused to recognizes strikes of unions), the Canadian government consideredasking Britain to shell Vancouver. There was a fear of communism as Russiaunderwent the Communist Revolution in 1917 and there came close to arevolution in France and in Germany - the German Navy mutinied and ran up redflags on their ships.

A strike in Winnipeg spread to everyone, including police. It wasnt a communiststrike, but it was general. People were fed up with low wages, high cost of living,etc. The City of Winnipeg hired a special police force to break up a

demonstration, and they didnt. The RCMP came in with baseball bats andrevolvers. The crowd broke up, and while breaking into side streets, people wereambushed. This ended the general strike.

Prairie farmers were heavily in debt to support heavy demand. They hated therigged election, the cap on their profits, the reneged conscription promise. Whendemand dropped, the government threw them back onto the open market. Thefarmers wrote off the Liberals. The result: a political vacuum. New farmers partiesfilled the void. One such party, the United Farmers of Ontario, won theprovincial election. The United Farmers of Alberta did as well. The UnitedFarmers party at the federal level was called the Progressive Party. It was a coalition

of labour, farmers, and the clergy. The United Farmers party was critical of bigbusiness but not opposed to capitalism; it was pro-farmer and private property. Itis a direct ancestor of the Reform party of the 1990s. The Rev. JS Woodsworth,later head of the Progressive party, was interested in the social Gospel. Thesepeople were critical of capitalism itself, as it is unChristian to be greedy,competitive, and exploitive.

For the later iterations of third parties in Canada - the CCF, Social Credit,Reform, and NDP - their strength is in Ontario or in the West.


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Date: Friday, June 17, 2011Topic: 1921 Election

The Liberals had to rebuild and have a leadership convention in 1919. Laurier wasrecently deceased. It was a very emotional convention - two years previously,several Liberals had defected from Willies camp, and they were never forgiven.

They needed to find a way to get back the West, farmers, and working class vote.They had to hold on to the Church AND big business, too. Canada was morethan 50% urban. This necessitated some social programs. The Catholic Church

was opposed to all social programs as that was their job. Business didnt want itstaxes going to programs, either.

[I wonder what Canada would be like if, instead of government social programsand complex corporate laws and subsidies, there was a simpler management oftaxes and better labour laws and codes, unions were guilds instead of expansionarybully-boy blocs, and non-partisan non-profit organizations had the intellectualand fiscal integrity to manage social programs in their immediate contexts,instead.]

William Lyon Mackenzie (Mackie!) King ran for the Liberal leadership. Businessliked him, because he settled strikes. He was also seen as loyal to Laurier.

In the1921 election, the leader of the Conservatives was Arthur Meihgan, whohad put together the Military Voters Act. He was blunt and honest. Mackie was

vague - it helped him win the election, as he held on to the Church! The Liberalparty discipline was tight. Progressives were similar to the Liberals, except thatthey wanted free trade.

The vote tally was 117 to the Liberals, 50 to the Conservatives, and 65 to theProgressives (including one or two in New Brunswick). The Progressives leadersname was Cotton.

Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2011Topic: 1923 - 1929

During this time, there was a gridlock on all domestic affairs, and there wasnothing to do about any issue, so Mackie capitalized on the isolationist mood ofthe voters, and began to meddle in foreign affairs. He refused to consult at the1923 Imperial Conference on foreign affairs. He instructed the Ambassador andrepresentative to the League of Nations to never commit to anything.

In 1923, for the Halibut Fishery Treaty day, when the US and Canada were to setlimits to the number of fish caught on the West Coast, Canada was not allowed tosign, even though we drew up the Treaty. A British guy was present, but a


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Cana ian signe it anyway. The Americans accepte it.

In 1925, Mackies Liberals had a minority government. It had the largest party,but the other parties were greater in the number of seats held. Mackie asked

Woodsworth for permission to have a majority, and Woodworth agreed on onecondition: The Old Age Pension must come in.

The Statute of Westminster was when the British Government officiallyrecognized Canada as an independent country - but we still did not control ourconstitution. We couldnt agree on the Constitution until Trudeau repatriated itin the 1970s. By then, the provinces were so powerful that the Constitution isnow virtually unchangeable.

In 1927, Canada finally assigned an Ambassador to the US. His name wasVincent Massey. Later he became Governor General. This year, the price of wheatdropped to its lowest level since the fifteenth century.A ten-year drought alsooccurred in the Prairies. The unemployment rate ranged from 25 to 40%. Those

with jobs lost their pensions and vacations and did overtime for free. Peoplesuffered - starvation, debt, etc. - the Depression for years after it was over.

Date: Sunday, June 26, 2011Topic: Politics during the Depression

For all his talk about poverty, Mackie didnt understand a damn thing. Thepoorest provinces asked for help, and he didnt give a red cent, since they wereConservative ridings. In the next election, the Conservatives won under a mannamed RB Bennett.

Bennett blasted his way into world markets - the idea was a flop. Everyone wasraising their tariffs as the Depression coalesced. It was a complete collapse of thecapitalist system all around the world. The prof said, You would think that people

would rise up agains the system when the system doesnt serve them, but theopposite happens - people become more reactionary.

In Ontario, a Liberal named Mitch Hepburn came in. He looked for simple,obvious problems, which are easy to pick on and solve - not, of course, fluctuatingor spiralling markets, but SOLID BRASS COAL SCUTTLES in offices,Lieutenant Governors in MANSIONS, and AMERICAN UNIONS coming in toorganize Canadian boys!

The Social Credit party rose in the 1930s, founded by a preacher named BillEberhart It was formed to attack big business in favour of small business.Interestingly, big business loved the Social Creit party. Thats because it didntactually interfere with big business.

In 1933 the CCF - or Cooperative Commonwealth Federation - published theRegina Manifesto. It argued that the capitalist system is fundamentally flawed andfundamentally unfair. They were going to introduce controls on it.


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There was also a Royal Commission called on the price spread and mass buying -big business made its largest profits in the Depression. They cut their costs bydriving down wages and squeezing their suppliers, thereby increasing profits andexecutive compensation.

Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2011Topic: War measures

At the advent of World War II, Britain asked our help several times from 1939onward. Britain declared war in 1939. Canada did too, one week later.

The Wartime Price Control Board controlled everything, including,unsurprisingly, wages. If there is extra money in circulation, then prices will go up(people will be able to pay more for things in short supply). Everyone, therefore,had an account for a forced savings plan.

Taxes help a country pay for a war as they go. Businesses were allowed a fairmargin of profit; everything more than that was taxed back. Even though business

was heavily taxed, they still made profits, and costs were streamlined - there was noonerous bidding as the production was controlled - though control was onlyOK for the emergency of war.

[Quite frankly, this is something like what we should do in sectors and incrementsin order to tackle the environmental crisis were facing.]

All bonds for this war were in small denominations, and you could buy them ontime, so anyone could buy them. Children could also buy war savings stamps for

25, and a book of 16 (saved up by the children) would cash in at the end of thewar for $5. Now we are beginning to talk about something that would beremembered by my mother.

Every person in Canada got a book of food ration stamps, and that was all youcould buy. You would be registered with the government, and they would send

you the stamps in the mail. Most people ate better through the second World Warthan they did before.

No purchasing was allowed across the border.

All of these measures allowed for 1) planned production in the economy, so therewould be little waste, and 2) maximizing of resources for the war effort, such astransportation space. And Mackie proved, without wanting to, that a controlledeconomy could be more efficient than a free-market economy.

Date: Friday, July 1, 2011Topic: Thinking about the election during the war

Todays special note: Happy Canada Day!


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1943 had the first Gallup poll in Canadas history. Canadians were asked whichparty they would vote for. The results were close, but the CCF was in the lead.Mackie realized that Canadians had suffered enormously through the depression;the free market had hurt them, despite what the government and the media said.The war showed how a controlled economy worked, so they were very reluctant torevert to the pre-war economy. Everyone was scared in 1945 that we would fallback into a Depression of some sort. Before the War, Canadians wereextraordinarily unhealthy and unhappy. Over half of the war volunteers wereturned down for bad health - imagine other groups in society, how poorly they

were.

The most important thing for Mackie was that, whoever won the war, he and theLiberals stay in power. Therefore, he didnt want very many Canadians killed inbattle, because they could not afford to have conscription (lesson learned).

So Mackie offered a social program: the Baby Bonus for families - nothing aboutbusiness interference. Big business chipped in with a propaganda campaignagainst the CCF, and the Liberals were reelected.

Very slowly the government delivered on one program at a time. The first hadbeen the old age pension. Saskatchewan was the first to introduce medicare -Quebec was among the last. Since the late 1970s, fewer and fewer voters know

what its like to have no protection. Indeed, we take it for granted and identifywith it overmuch.

Date: Wednesday, July 6, 2011Topic: Our military in WWII

The Canadian military was first only sent to England. The UK then asked us in1941 for 2000 troops to Hong Kong. They arrived just in time for the Japaneseinvasion. They fought well. A lot died in concentration camps as POWs.

Later on, we were under pressure to get some action! The troops were bored.They were sent for a quick raid on a little town called Dieppe; it was a very poorlyplanned raid, and over half were lost.

Canada developed two more forces almost by accident. Our navy had long beenneglected. The Americans offered to take over defence of the East coast, but if weaccepted, wed likely never get it back. So, we developed our Navy to 50 times itsoriginal size. The Americans had a Navy 20 times bigger, and the British, seventimes bigger. We handled the protection of convoys.

On June 6, 1944, Canadians landed in Normandy. Our job was to go with theBritish army along the coast, to open up the ports to supply the Allied forces


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when they inva e France. We ha to ta e out missile launchers.

The military began demanding conscription. In 1942, you could be conscriptedfor service in Canada, but not overseas. Mackie finally introduced it in 1944, aftera long cooperation with the Liberal party in Quebec - it was accepted this time.

It may be interesting for readers to find out that during WWII, there were manypeople in France who were themselves amazed to discover that there were French-speaking white people from the opposite side of the Atlantic.

Possibly around 40 million were killed in World War II - out of a globalpopulation of around 2 billion.

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011Topic: Here ends the course.

In 1942, the Canadian government knew about the death camps. We refused2000 Jewish children, and we didnt accept them for years afterward. Why?

1. We had a racist Immigration minister2. The Catholic Church in Quebec was antagonistic3. If they came, they had to bring their entire family, and have death records

for absent membersWe also had Japanese-Canadian concentration camps. We seized their property topay for their internment, and then after the war, forced them to scatter (DavidSuzukis parents experienced this). Some were sent back to Japan, to Hiroshima,

where they were then bombed.

Some Italians were imprisoned on le-Ste.-Hlne, just off the island of Montreal.(Then again, Ntre-Dame-de-la-Dfense church in the Little Italy part ofMontreal has a mural depicting Mussolini on horseback. Concerns were probablylegitimate.)

The average education of a Canadian soldier in WWII was Grade 6.

The optimism that Canadians had from the first part of the twentieth century -the sense that we can make Canada a better place - dissipated in the latter half,perhaps because life got a lot more complicated.

The Quiet Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s in Quebec was a response tobeing the last to organize with the necessity of having more educated people inthe government and civil service. Formerly, education was only for the educatedelite and for leadership in the Church - but people abandoned the Church as thesource of education and power - and transferred this expectation to the State.

In the years following the war, Canadians tried to establish ourselves as a middlepower, not too close to the United States nor to Britain or a lesser power. Now,however, our foreign policies are pretty close to identical with the US. And that is


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a whole new course in Cana a-US history, which you can rea about elsewherethan here.

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Canadian History 202 - Big City Little Homestead

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