1. Conscription Crisis
Conscription- A plan created by the government to force citizens to join the armed forces.

2. The Beginning of WWI
Recall – At the start of WW1, many people volunteered to fight in the Canadian army.
For the volunteers, the war was to be an adventure. As well, the war would be over very quickly.
It did not go as thought. The war was long, and everyday, more and more soldiers were killed or wounded.
By late-1916, people stopped volunteering.

3. Borden and Conscription
In the summer of 1915, Prime Minister Borden went overseas to visit the Canadian troops. He was appalled by the harsh realities of trench warfare and the growing casualty list. In his 1916 New Year’s Eve address Borden declared, “On this last day of the old year the authorized force will be This announcement is made in token of Canada’s unflinchable resolve to crown the justice of our cause with victory and with an abiding peace.” Given that Canada’s population was barely eight million citizens, this was an incredible request.

4. Borden and Conscription
By 1917, conscription appeared to be the only means of finding sufficient troops to fight overseas. Yet while conscription was meant to solve the shortage of soldiers in Europe, it created conflict at home.
In May 1917, Borden announced to Parliament his plan to introduce conscription, His statement divided Parliament along French and English lines and had a similar effect across the country. Quebecois, who felt little connection to either Britain or France, were outraged. Conscription was not simply an English / French issue however, as farmers from across the country, especially in the prairie provinces, resisted mandated service, fearing that their livelihood would be lost if young men were forced to leave the family farm.

5. 1917

6. Military Voters / Wartime Elections Act
An election was called for December Conscription was the main issue and Borden passed a series of controversial acts that helped him secure victory. The Military Voters Act gave the vote to men and women serving overseas. Even British subjects, serving with the Canadian forces were given the vote.
The Wartime Elections Act was passed that gave Borden the means to pick and choose his voters. He gave the right to vote to women at home who had relatives serving in the military. This was the first time women were allowed to vote in a federal election. He also ensured that Canadian citizens who had emigrated from enemy nations were unable to vote.

8. Conscription of 1917
Borden ultimately won the election with 153 seats .
In total, just over men were called up to service under the Military Service Act. Of these, sought exemptions and only draftees ever made it to France.

9. Military Service Act
The Military Service Act was passed in the House of Commons on July 24, 1917 and on August 28, conscription became law.
Subjected all able bodies males in Canada between 20 and 45 to compulsory military service. The exceptions were conscientious objectors, those necessary to vital industries and those whose absence would pose serious hardships for their families or themselves.

10. Conflicting Opinions
French-English tensions were running high; French were enraged Ontario banned French language instruction in its schools in 1913.
400,000 Canadians volunteered for service in WWI, fewer than 1 in 20 were French. Of English Canadian volunteers, 70% were recent immigrants from Britain.
French felt confident it could remain removed from the action in Europe because PM Robert Borden had promised no obligatory military service known as conscription.

11. Supported conscription for the most part
Conflicting Opinions
Canadian woman. You want a say in what happens in the country. You have
been working in a munitions factory for 2 years and you are just as qualified to vote.
Your husband is fighting on the western front. You want him to come home safely.
You lost your son at the battle of the Somme. He was only 21. You do not want any other woman to go through the pain that you experienced with the death of your son. You do not want to send any more of our boys overseas.
Enough Blood has been shed by this war. No one knew that the war would last this long and it has cost Canada far too much.
If your sons and husbands are not listening to you when you tell them to enlist, then hopefully they will listen to the law and do their patriotic duty.
Supported conscription for the most part
English Canadians
Your 19 year old son is fighting in the war. You want him to come home safely.
Your son died at Ypres. If there had been more troops, he
might still be alive.
You feel a duty to Britain as your parents immigrated from England just 25 years ago and it is their homeland. As a former British Colony we must help Britain.
You do not want those Germans to gain any more ground. The allies have to win this war and if that means sending more troops, then that is what we have to do!
The French Canadians from Quebec have contributed very little so far to the war effort and their boys are not signing up to defend our country! If you have to have conscription in order for the French to do their part then so be it!
You have a large business that does a lot of trading with Britain. If Britain loses the war, Canada will suffer and lose foreign trade. It is our duty to protect the interests of Canada by helping Britain win the war.
Canada has been fighting in this war for over 2 years! We cannot just stop in the middle of the war!
Canada has shown to the allies that we are a strong and dependable country. If we see the war through to its end we will be able to feel pride in our accomplishments.

12. Conflicting Opinions Farmers, Pacifists, Union leaders
You are a farmer. You run a farm with your father and it is your duty to provide the troops overseas with food. If you go to war, who will provide food for the soldiers?
You are an English Canadian. Canada is a democratic country, you cannot force people to fight in a democratic country!
You are a farmer. You own a farm and need your sons to help you run it as you are not as young as you once were. You cannot afford to have your sons go overseas.
You immigrated to Canada in order to avoid this kind of dictatorship.
Farmers, Pacifists, and Union Leaders
You are an English Canadian. Prime Minister Border promised that he would not pass a law forcing men to enlist, and now he is breaking that promise. How can you trust a government that does not keep its word?
You are an English Canadian. You do not believe in war. You are a Pacifist and you would never harm another individual.
You are an English Canadian. You live in Canada and not Britain or France. Your family and city are not being threatened. Why should you go and get butchered like all the others for some King on the other side of the ocean?

13. The Pros and Cons of Conscription
It would help our Allies win the war.
It would allow soldiers that have been fighting for a long period to come home safely.
It would force French Canadian men to play a role in the war effort.
It would ensure that Canada would keep the strong reputation they had gained by fighting in the war to this point.

14. Cons
French threatened to riot if this happened because they did not want to fight for the British Empire. They also felt that the military did not treat them equally because officers did not speak French to them.
Farmers felt that they were playing an important role by being at home, producing food for the Allies. Factory workers felt the same way because they were building weapons for the war.
Pacifists did not want to be forced to fight in a war because they felt that violence wasn’t the solution to this international problem.