The Homefront

World War Two

The Conscription Crisis, 1942

• Canadians could volunteer for military service • The National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA)

– Gave the government powers to draft men into the military for short periods, and for service within Canada

• Volunteer rates varied in different regions of the country • Ontario’s volunteer rate was more than double that of

Quebec’s • Politicians argued that there was a need for soldiers on the

warfront • Prime Minister King promised numerous times that there

would be no overseas conscription and he did not want to break the promise that he had made to Canadians

The Conscription Crisis, 1942• Plebiscite

– Reflects the views of Canadians on an issue, but the results the results do not have to be put into place by the government

– The results- the majority voted YES in all provinces except for Quebec

– King viewed this as a divided response and decided to avoid the issue

• 1944: shortage of trained soldiers – 15,000 soldiers were needed and there were

not enough volunteers to meet this demand • November 1944

– Beginning of conscription government conscripted NRMA soldiers to be sent overseas

– First conscripted soldiers left for Europe in December and reached the warfront in February 1945

– War was almost over – Only 2643 conscripts ever reached the

warfront

Propaganda

• Materials designed to convince the public of their opinions/beliefs

• The Canadian government produced sources of propaganda (posters, films, radio advertisements)

• Designed to convince Canadians to contribute to the war effort, to express the threat of the enemy, and to increase pride among Canadians

The Treatment of Japanese-Canadians• 1941

– 23,000 Japanese Canadians living in Canada

– 22,000 of those lived in British Columbia • Many of them lived in Japan and had later

come to Canada • More than half were Japanese descendents

who had been born in Canada • Japanese Canadians were looked at as

suspicious – Worried that they supported Japan, not

Canada • Many Japanese-Canadians served as soldiers

during WW1 – Were promised the right to vote in 1918

because of this – The outbreak of war led to this promise

been broken

The Treatment of Japanese-Canadians

• The bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan led to increased discrimination towards Japanese-Canadians – They were worried that Canada would be

attacked from within

• “Relocation Centres”, 1942 – Japanese-Canadians in BC were invited to

move to an area called the Okananagan Valley where they would live in temporary camps

– 750 moved voluntarily

• Internment Camps – The government forced the rest of them to

leave their homes – Families were split up – Lived in central BC in wood cabins without

insulation or proper heating – Some chose to move to another province so

that they could remain with their family

The Treatment of Japanese-Canadians

• January 1943 – The Custodian of Enemy Property (federal government official) was

given the power to confiscate the property of Japanese-Canadians • Sold at low prices, and the owners received little to noting

• 1945 (at the end of the war) – Japanese-Canadians had two (horrible) options

• Apply for repatriation to Japan, or permanently settle east of the Rocky Mountains

– 3964 repatriated to Japan, 1979 of whom had been born in Canada – Repatriation order cancelled in 1947

• 1988, the government apologizes for its actions – Paid $21,000 to each of the 1400 people still living who had been

affected by the Repatriation policy