1. Effects of the Great Depression

2. Unemployment skyrocketed
1. High Unemployment
Generally 25% in industrialized countries
With no “safety nets”, effects on individuals severe
Led to decline in demand for goods, which caused the depression to deepen
Unemployment skyrocketed

3. 2. Banking failures
Banks use money deposited by clients to provide loans to businesses and farms
When businesses and farms who owed $$ to banks went bankrupt, depositors often lost their life savings
In USA – over 6,000 banking failures
In Canada - most banks survived, but were affected by US

4. 3. Political Consequences
In some countries, such as Germany, their democracy did not survive the Great Depression (rise of fascism)
In Canada – new political parties formed in reaction to the government’s inability to address the problems of the Depression
Examples: The Canadian Cooperative Federation (CCF – later – NDP), the Social Credit Party in Alberta, and the Union Nationale in Quebec
Nazism = Fascism

5. If you were in government…
Imagine you were alive in the dirty 30’s
Imagine you were so affected you wanted to make a difference
What would your political party fight for in the 30s?

6. 3) a. Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)
first leader was J.S. Woodsworth, a sensitive man and devout Christian who held strong opinions on helping the less fortunate
founded in Calgary in 1932 by a coalition of farmers, academics and Ottawa MPs associated with farmer & trade-union organizations

7. CCF cont’
produced the “Regina Manifesto” in 1933, calling for the creation of a political vehicle that would rescue Canada from the Depression
Outlining:
Public ownership of key industries
Creation of Welfare state:
Universal pension
Universal health care
Children’s allowance
Unemployment Insurance
Workers Compensation

8. CCF cont’
Later, on June 15, 1944 the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, won Saskatchewan to form North America’s first socialist government
King and his party responded to the CCF’s success by adopting some of the party’s most popular policies, cutting off “the threat on the left” and initiating the federal government’s involvement in social and economic affairs

9. Political Results
The Liberals hoped to prevent a post-war Depression and in the process laid the foundation for Canada’s welfare state
Old Age Pension plan,
unemployment-insurance scheme (1940)
system of family allowances (1944)
promoted policies to support home building, find work for demobilized war vets and increase federal assistance to health care

10. b. Social Credit Party “Give each citizen a monthly
$25 prosperity certificate,
guaranteed by
the government,
to spend on food,
clothing, and shelter.”
- William Aberhart

11. Social Credit cont’
advocated the distribution of money, or "social credit," so that people might purchase the goods and services readily produced by capitalist enterprise
in 1932 Alberta evangelist William ABERHART used his radio program to encourage other Albertans to adopt social credit as the means of rescuing the province and Canada from the drastic effects of the Great Depression

12. c. Union Nationale Party
Led by Maurice Duplessis
Won the 1936 Quebec provincial election
preached social, economic and political reform
Union Nationale was completely dominated by Duplessis until his death in September 1959

13. Union Nationale cont’ Duplessis is infamous for The Padlock Act (1937)
Quebec statute empowering the attorney general (AG) to close, for one year, any building used for propagating "communism or bolshevism" (undefined)
A judge could order the lock removed if the owner could prove that the building had not been so used during the preceding year
empowered the AG to confiscate and destroy any printed matter propagating communism. Anyone printing, publishing or distributing such material could be imprisoned for up to a year, without appeal

14. Charter of Rights Think back to our Government unit…
Although this happened before the addition of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, how would this law have broken the Constitution?

15. 4. Changing Role of Government
Before the Great Depression, governments generally responded to economic downturns by “tightening their belts” and cutting back on government spending until it matched revenues

16. Changing Role of Gov. cont’
Soon realized that government would have to take a more active role in caring for the poor
Unemployment benefits, sick benefits, child benefits, welfare, etc. all directly or indirectly originated during the depression

17. Gov Role cont’
Ever since the Great Depression, national economies have been strictly controlled by elected governments
Citizens expect governments to manage the economy through:
tax policy (increasing & decreasing taxes),
monetary policy (raising & lowering interest rates), and
fiscal policy (increasing and decreasing government expenditures)

18. Effects - Overall
Growth of “Protest Parties” (third parties) such as the CCF showed the naïveté of the federal government which seemed to have had no idea how desperate rural Canadians were.
In 1931, when they finally gave emergency relief, the Depression had already been in full swing for three years.
adopted a plan in 1939 for “arsenal of democracy” to help put people back to work
Ultimately, the production of goods and weapons for WWII ended the Depression for Canadians.

19. References Carrie Schlappner, (2009).
Cranny, M. & Moles, G. (2001). Counterpoints: Exploring Canadian Issues. Prentice Hall: Toronto.
Nick VanIersel, 2009