Political Reactions

Liberal Prime Minister during most of the 20s Believed the Depression was a temporary slump and that the economy would correct itself if left alone He did Balance the Budget, Lower Taxes, increase trade with England and Decrease Tariffs Lost the 1930 election mainly due to the 5 cent speech

Won the election of 1930 (Conservative) on the promise of solving the Depression with government intervention Rich and Successful business man Raised taxes and provided subsidies (money) for small business Bennett also gave out his own money to assist needy families

A tariff is a tax on imported goods By highly taxing foreign products, Canadians would be forced to buy Canadian products For example: - Company A (from Canada) makes Product X and sells it for $110 - Company B (from USA) makes Product X and sells it for $ Without Tariffs, most Canadians will buy from Company B - With a 15% Tariff on US products, Company B will be forced to sell their product at $115 - Canadians will then buy from Company A and the money will stay in Canada Overall, the plan failed to achieve any real results

The Unemployment Relief Act set aside $20 million for the unemployed To qualify a person must be: - a man - unemployed - no car - no radio - no telephone - no alcohol Also, you had to stand in public lines to receive your money; it was very embarrassing

The Dole system was full of problems It was too little for a family to live on Also, the money was given to each municipality Therefore, each city was responsible for taking care of its own people Major confusion and disorganization, (especially with all the drifters and hobos around) The Dole was one of the biggest reasons why hobos were treated so badly when they entered a town Finally, no money was given to Farmers because they had a job (even if they couldnt grow any crops)

Bennett Buggy: A horse-drawn car named after Bennett because he did little to help farmers

Bennett was concerned about the amount of young men riding the rods Communist ideas were becoming popular again as more people became frustrated with the lack of jobs and opportunity The Red Scare was back! To combat this problem, Bennett created relief camps; a place where men could work and stay out of trouble

The relief camps did more harm than good They were organized by the military in isolated locations Back-breaking work Poor food Inadequate clothing Harsh conditions Only 20 cents a day Almost like a prison! These camps created even more unrest and resentment among workers

In April 1935, Relief Camp workers in BC struck their camp and began a long march to Ottawa to demand better conditions in the camps As they crossed the country, thousand of men joined them When they reached Regina, Bennett sent for the leaders of the movement and demanded that they break up the rally (he didnt listen to any of their demands) Bennett then used the police and RCMP to break up the Trek So began the Regina Riots, one policeman died and hundreds of workers were arrested and beaten

Bennett was extremely unpopular during his time as Prime Minister The Regina Riots were simply the last straw for Canadians Bennett was crushed in the 1935 election and McKenzie King took over again Bennett was heart broken by the election and his unpopularity He left Canada and never returned (only 3 people went to say goodbye!) Its King or Chaos!

To combat the depression Bennett: 1. Donated his own money 2. Raised Tariffs 3. Gave Relief Money (the Dole) 4. Created Relief Camps The On-To-Ottawa trek was crushed (The Red Scare) All Bennetts ideas failed and the depression only worsened Question: Did Bennett deserve the hatred he received from Canadians?