Economy in Canada - WWI

Evolution of a War Economy The outbreak of war threatened Canada with economic crisis. Existing manufacturing orders were cancelled, some factories shutdown, and construction halted on many pre-war civilian projects. Some feared that war would cause the collapse of Canada’s already fragile economy.

Evolution of a War Economy But the demand for war supplies, equipment, and shells soon provided economic stimulus and employment. Output grew and fears of collapse were replaced by the challenges of rapid expansion. Due to the combined demands of military service, industry, and agriculture, unemployment had virtually ceased in Canada by 1916.

Evolution of a War Economy One of the greatest economic surprises of the war was the military’s near-insatiable demand for vast quantities of artillery shells. No Allied economy was organized to produce shells in anything near the quantities required. Canada’s Minister of Militia and Defence, Sam Hughes, initially established a Shell Committee to coordinate production, but its failure to deliver on contracts led to angry recriminations between Canada and Britain and widespread rumours of corruption.

Munitions Scandal Many of the friends of Sam Hughes, Canada’s minister of militia and defence, were wealthy businesspeople. With Hughes’s help, these businesspeople formed a group called the Shell Committee. Committee members used their influence to land $170 million in contracts to make artillery shells. They then gave out these contracts to Canadian munitions factories. Along the way, committee members took a big share of the profits.

Munitions Scandal By 1915, news of this profiteering -making excessive profits began to leak out. The scandal became worse when the committee was able to deliver only $5.5 million worth of shells, and even these deliveries were late. Hughes had already been criticized for supplying Canadian soldiers with the Ross rifle, which did not work well in combat. The munitions scandal ended his political career. He was forced to resign, and the Shell Committee disbanded.

Imperial Munitions Board In late 1915, Prime Minister Borden replaced the Shell Committee with the Imperial Munitions Board (IMB), which answered solely to Britain but was run by a Canadian. The Board was organized according to sound business practices and hired professional managers to oversee its operations. It eased the problem of scarce labour by hiring 30,000 women to work in its factories and offices.

Imperial Munitions Board From only a few companies having the capacity to produce shells to in 1915, to dozens of companies by 1917, including crown corporations, that collectively produced some $2 million worth of goods per day. By 1917, almost one-third of all British shells were being manufactured in Canada. By war’s end, IMB’s 600 factories had completed some 103 naval vessels, 2,600 training aircraft, and 30 flying boats. When the IMB ceased operations in 1919, it was Canada’s largest civilian employer, with over 289,000 employees.

Conscription Crisis

Is it ever right to force citizens to go to war? When Britain declared war, Canada had no choice but to go to war too. But the government did have a choice about how much it would help, including how many troops it would send. At first, Canadians were so enthusiastic about the war that volunteers were turned away Prime Minister Robert Borden promised that the government would not introduce conscription

Definition Conscription Forced enlistment in the armed forces Why might Prime Minister Borden have promised not to introduce Conscription?

Volunteers Decrease As the war dragged on, more Canadians were injured or killed. This resulted in fewer volunteers Weapons manufacturers created high-paying jobs Farmers worried about their farms if they left French Canadians reluctant to enlist because of a lack of ties to Britain or to France French speaking soldiers were often placed in English units and all army documents were written in English

Introducing Conscription Because of the lack of volunteers Prime Minister Borden decided that conscription was the only solution The Military Service Act, was passed in June 1917. This introduced conscription Many people supported this act Who would be in support of conscription?

Introducing Conscription However, many people were opposed to conscription which resulted in violent protests and riots, especially in Quebec Henri Bourassa, a politician and newspaper publisher was one of the leaders of the opposition to conscription. Conscription was the main issue during the federal election of 1917

Introducing Conscription After a close and bitter campaign, Borden won the election and conscription became a reality In January 1918, more than 400 000 men received a letter ordering them to report for duty Many requested to be excused, others ignored the order, and some went into hiding to avoid arrest In the end, only about 24 000 conscripted men fought in Europe

Show You Know Questions Imagine you are Robert Borden, the Prime Minister during World War I. Would you have introduced conscription if you had known how things were going to turn out? Explain the reasons for your answer. Imagine that they are sitting on a panel that is deciding whether to grant conscripts’ applications to be excused from military service. What criteria would they use to decide whether someone should be excused? Explain the reasons for your answer.