The Great Depression

1929-1939

The Great Depression Affected almost every economy in

the world Began with the Stock Market Crash

in October 1929 Supply and demand problems Stock market speculation Tuesday, October 29, 1929 became

known as Black Tuesday

Black Tuesday

1933- The worst year GNP in 1933 had dropped 40% from

pre-crash levels Canada’s exports declined by half Over-dependence on natural

resource exports 26.6% unemployment In some regions of Canada

unemployment was 30-50%

“A Five-Cent Piece” Prime Minister King did not acknowledge

the crisis Refused to give “a five-sent piece” to any

province with a Conservative gov’t “What is needed today if we are to solve

any unemployment problem is to get more capital into the country to increase the investment of capital; and we will get it as people come to have confidence in conditions here.”

Government inaction Government constrained by debt

from loans to the railway interests Most revenue came from tariffs and

sales taxes Aid would have to come from

provinces and municipalities The Conservatives won the 1930

election 137 to 91.

Richard Bedford Bennett

The Depths of the Depression Depression got worse not better after 1930

election No welfare, UI or medicare Bennett introduced the Unemployment Relief

Act $20 million for 1930 and 1931 The feds passed the responsibility of

distributing assistance to the municipal gov’t The provinces did not want to share the cost

of relief and the municipalities did not have the resources to distribute

Relief Most relief funds came in the form of

public works Disorganized attempt meant that only $4

million of the $20 million went in direct relief to people

Registering for relief was humiliating and difficult

Relief usually came in vouchers See letters pp 408 and 409

Soup Kitchens

Depression in the Prairies Record low prices for grain Most severe and prolonged drought in

history 1929-1937 drought in Paliser Triangle WWI $2 a bushel for wheat 1932-33 39 and 3/8 cents Bennett Buggies and Anderson Carts See letters pp 412 and 413

The Dustbowl

Labour Camps Riding the Rods made government nervous Work camps for unemployed, single men Under the jurisdiction of the Department of

National Defence 20 cents a day 1932 saw the establishment of the first

labour camps Lack of funds Single men could not get relief

Relief Camps

Unrest in the camps In the four years of the camps there

were 359 strikes, riots and disturbances

RCWU was associated with the Communist party and began to organize protests for decent wages

On to Ottawa began in BC

On to Ottawa Trek

The On to Ottawa Trek April 1935 3000 relief camp workers

converged on Vancouver riots and protests for weeks

1800 got on trains for Ottawa June 14, 1935 2000 men converged on

Regina Arthur Evans and seven of his men

agreed to a meeting with the Prime Minister

The Six Demands of the workers 50 cents an hour wage for unskilled labour and

union rates for skilled labour All workers must be covered by the

Compensation Act and adequate first aid for the jobs

Elected committee of relief workers Department of National Defence no longer be

in charge of the camps A genuine system of social and unemployment

insurance All workers guaranteed the right to vote

Regina Riot The meeting ended in a stalemate Evans returned to Regina July 1, 1935 rally in Market Square Riot ensued 1 police office dead and 100

protesters arrested 8, including Evans were sent to jail

Regina Riot

Confronting the Depression Tariffs for protection Smoot-Hawley tariff devastated

Canada (30-60%) In July 1932 Bennett alienated the

Commonwealth at the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa

Half hearted attempt at Free Trade

Bennett’s New Deal 1935 election year Laissez-faire had failed Proposed a “New Deal” like FDR’s in the

US Proposed a government program of

unemployment insurance Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act The Canadian Wheat Board The Natural Products Marketing Board

New Deal Thwarted in the courts, but also

proposed UI and national health insurance

Bank of Canada Act- created a central bank

Canadians did not trust Bennett

1935 Election Mackenzie King made few promises Promised to disband the work camps 1935 the Conservatives lost 3/5 of

the vote capturing only 40 seats King won 125 seats King adopted some New Deal

policies, but not much changed for Canadians

New Political Parties Social Credit- William Aberhart $25 a

month to make up for the lack of purchasing power

56/63 Albertan seats 15/17 seats in Ottawa from Alberta Certificates instead of cash were

given, but not accepted

New Political Parties The Co-operative Commonwealth

Federation formed in 1932 Regina Manifesto- social democracy Government control of key industries Welfare state- medicare, welfare and UI J.S. Woodsworth 1944 Tommy Douglas elected in

Saskatchewan

New Political Parties In Quebec the Church pushed for reform Anti-socialist but proposed programs to

regulate monopolies and improve conditions

Some Liberals broke away and formed the Action Liberale nationale

Maurice Duplessis of the Conservative party formed an alliance to create the Union Nationale in 1935

Maurice Duplessis After the election he dropped the

Liberal members and the reform platform

Duplessis became an ally of big business

Support came from rural Quebec Anti-communist= Padlock Act 15 years as Premier

Maurice Duplessis

The Antigonish Movement Resisted revolution and anti-

capitalist ideology Two Catholic Priests founded it Credit unions and cooperatives to

sell seafood or farm products 1930s saw many coops in the

Maritimes

The Communist Party Tim Buck leader Communist Party found an audience

during the Great Depression The Party was outlawed in 1931 Tim Buck and other leaders jailed

from 1932-1934 Protests, marches and hunger

strikes

The Communist Party of Canada

Aboriginal Peoples in the Depression Services cut back to bare minimum

as outlined by Treaties Birthrate twice as high Death rate 4x as high Metis had it worse as there were no

treaties 1934 90% of Metis in Alberta had

TB, paralysis, blindness or syphilis

Residential Schools

Residential Schools 1930 the number of residential

schools reached an all time high of 80

Every province and territory except NB and PEI

Fed and prov in partnership with Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian and United Churches

Residential Schools cont’d Goal was to assimilate children into civic-

religious values and ways of “typical” Canadians

Manual labour and homemaking skills Inadequate living conditions Abuse 1990s before the last residential schools

were closed

Confronting the Outsider Relief for Chinese $1.12 versus $2.50 a

week for non-Chinese Sections 40 and 41 of the Immigration Act

allowed for deportation of unemployable recipients of relief

In Alberta 1930-1934 2547 immigrants were deported

This discouraged many from applying for relief

Immigration Even before the Depression,

immigration was discouraged Jews were especially discouraged Canada not welcoming to Jews

escaping Nazi Germany Frederick Blair “none is too many”

Jewish RefugeesCountry admitting Jewish Refugees from the Nazis 1933-45

Number of Refugees

United States 240 000

Great Britain 85 000

China 25 000

Argentina 25 000

Brazil 25 000

Columbia and Mexico 40 000

Canada 5000 (pathetic)

Canadian Culture

Canadian Culture

Canadian Culture

Canadian Culture

Conclusion The demand for goods in World War

II finally pushed Canada out of the Great Depression

The growth of the welfare state and gov’t supervision of vital aspects of the economy continued into the 1980s as a result of the Great Depression