The Depression of the 1930’s

The Depression Sets In RB Bennett had just taken over as PM of Canada Bennett promise to end unemployment He would use tariffs to blast onto the world market (this backfired) Spent 20 million on the provinces for make work projects

Depression Sets In By 1933 the depression was worsening still Hundreds and thousands of farms and businesses were ruined Mines, mills and factories from coast to coast were shutting down A quarter of all Canadians were out of work In 1928 farmers had purchased 17,000 tractors, in 1932, 832 were bought

Depressing Song about the Poor Conditions in the Dirty 30's

The railway For Canada, railways had represented growth and development In the 1930’s they represented despair Thousands of men rode the train back and forth across Canada in search of work this is known as “Riding the Rods” Or “Riding the Rails”. Transients were considered bums or hobos

Government Relief Camps The provinces could not cope with unemployed workers Major General AGL McNaughton, head of the Canadian Army came up with the idea of relief camps. He is also responsible for inventing Radar, which he sold to the government for $1. He calculated that for $1 a day including 20 cents pay a man could be housed, fed and put to work with simple tools

Government Relief Camps At first everyone welcomed the idea The mood soon changed Liberals branded Bennett a dictator with Army run camps characterizing his rule Some termed them slave camps Men felt like they were being cheated of their lives and working for no reason

On to Ottawa Trek In April, 1935 communist organizers persuaded half the 7000 workers in BC to strike for work and wages Having no success in Vancouver they decided to lobby the federal government BC strikers would lead unemployed people from Vancouver to Ottawa

On to Ottawa Trek The 1200 young men who began the trip grew at every stop The government viewed the trek as a start of a revolution The government decided the trekkers should be stopped in Regina

On to Ottawa Trek Regina was chosen because it was the location of RCMP headquarters Also Bennett was a Conservative and Regina was a Liberal held riding. Bennett did not want to stop the trek in a Conservative riding and potentially impact the popularity of a Conservative MP The trek was halted and the leaders were allowed to continue on to Ottawa Bennett was appalled by the trekkers and wanted them stopped Strikers in Ottawa remained peaceful for a few days. Under the eyes of the RCMP they remain calm in Regina also.

On to Ottawa Trek On Dominion Day, July 1 1935,Rallies were held in Regina’s Market Square Suddenly violence erupted By midnight a policeman was dead and 80 people were injured Bennett later insisted that he had defeated a communist revolution This event is known as the Regina Riot Led to the Bennett government being defeated in the fall of 1935

Canadians grow angry A Bennett buggy was a term used by Canadians during the Great Depression to describe a car which had its engine and windows taken out and was pulled by a horse. The term was named after RB Bennett, the Prime Minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935, who was blamed for the nation's poverty. During the boom years of the 1920s, many Canadians bought cars for the first time, during the depression, they found they did not have enough money to drive them. Especially true in the Prairie Provinces. Increased poverty played an important role, as the farmers could not buy gasoline. The price of gas also increased. Gas taxes were also one of the best sources of revenue for the provincial governments. When these provinces went into deficit, they increased these taxes, making gas even harder to buy. Bennett seemed to have little understanding of what ordinary people were going through as the depression deepened his name became attached to all kinds of expressions used to describe, with bitter humour, what life was like. Besides Bennett Buggy there was also: "a Bennett barnyard" - an abandoned farm "a Bennett blanket" - a newspaper "a Bennett coffee" - roasted wheat "Eggs Benedict" - roast chestnuts

Dust bowl Bennett's tariffs helped out Manufacturers but not farmers The 1930’s brought economic and natural disaster to the prairies The drought of 1929 continued and by 1931 the topsoil of Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan began to blow away in the wind. This is worst in the area known as Pallisar’s Triangle a region that never Should have been used as farm land.

Dust bowl Dust clouds were blown so far they could feel the dust on the ships in the Atlantic Ocean In 1932, a plague of grasshoppers devoured every green living thing The next year it was wheat rust and frost, followed by drought and hail Farmers often lived off a bag of flour and a few vegetables to serve an entire family

Dust storms Dust bowl first hand account Dust bowl Black Sunday in the USA

No Progress In 1930, Canadians had voted for Bennett because he had promised them a cure for the depression By 1932 four provinces were bankrupt The liberals did not have the solution either Canadians were looking for something new to ease the suffering

New Deal Introduced in US by Franklin Roosevelt Canadians were exposed to him via radio Even Bennett was impressed The New Deal of 1935 called for unemployment insurance, minimum wage, maximum hours, marketing boards to raise farm prices and government intervention

Election 1935 The liberals won the election of 1935 easily following Bennett and the conservatives inability to lift Canada from the depression In 1938 King and the Liberals put the bank of Canada under government control The economy was beginning to improve under a new reciprocity agreement with the United States