1. Great Depression

4. The Great Depression
A decade of despair

5. –After the booming 20s came the Thirties: A Decade of Despair
Crop failures
Jewish refugees

6. Causes of the Depression
CAUSE #1 – problems with the World’s economy
US wanted war loans paid back from France and Britain
Britain and France could not afford to pay US until Germany paid war reparations
Germany could NOT pay reparations
Problem not solved

7. Causes of the Depression
CAUSE #2 – overuse of credit
In the 1920’s many people bought items of credit
Bought manufacturing equipment for factories
Bought stock with 10% down (hoping to sell at a profit later)
When prices FELL, people had to sell stocks to pay debts, but prices plummeted and the STOCK MARKET CRASHED
Depression - PBS

8. Causes of the Depression
overproduction of manufactured goods
Radios, cars, kitchen appliances were made in mass quantities on the assembly line
Overproduction of wheat – led to problems for Canadian farmers who bought new equipment with credit
Wheat prices peaked in 1924

9. Assembly Line

10. Stock Market Crash

11. Causes of the Depression
Cause #4 – Environmental Factors
– Canadian Prairies suffered droughts, grasshopper infestations

12. Causes of the Depression
Cause #5 - Protective tariffs (taxes) made domestic prices cheaper than imported goods from foreign countries.
Led to the decline in world trade, and turned the Depression from a crisis in the USA into a global problem
US imposes high tariffs on foreign goods to protect US domestic market

13. Effect on Minorities Women few jobs
blamed for “taking the jobs” of men after the war
Aboriginals
on relief
got $5/month
expected to “live off the land”
Immigrants
viewed with hostility when competing for scarce jobs
Jews (anti-semitism) not allowed to work particular jobs/barred from organizations/club
deported
immigration stopped (restricted)

14. Responding to the Depression - Political
Prime Minister King was UNPREPARED for the Depression
Passed on problem to provinces and city governments
Everyone blamed Ottawa
King in a moment of stupidity promised not to give “a five- cent piece” of relief to a province with a Tory government (provincial exam question)
His attitude cost him the 1930 election

15. “One of the greatest assets any man or woman can have on entering life’s struggle is poverty” R.B. Bennett

16. What did Bennett do?
Gave $20M for work-creation programs, but economy didn’t improve
Raises tariffs – causes more harm than good - other countries put tariffs on our goods
Bennett feared a revolution would start by Communists=bans Communist Party
“Pogey”—modern day welfare system (lower than the lowest paying jobs to discourage people from wanting to go on it)starvation/diseases

17. Bennett’s Infamy
Even though Mackenzie King had very little success helping Canada emerge from the Great Depression, PM Bennett has taken the greatest amount of criticism for his policies. As a result, he has left behind a legacy of jokes such as Bennett buggies and Bennett blankets

18. Bennett started deporting immigrants without jobs
As many as 30,000 new Canadians were deported
Bennett over reacted and set up work camps-To stop a revolution
These work camps were for unemployed, single men.
Working in the “bush” these men were paid 20 cents a day.
They worked on projects such as building roads, clearing land, and digging drainage ditches.
The food was terrible and the bunks were often bug-infested.
Over 170,000 men lived and worked in these terrible conditions.

19. The On to Ottawa Trek
Many workers began to ride the rails in order to find work in other parts of Canada.
1000 relief camp workers climbed aboard freight trains and headed for Ottawa to protest their working conditions
CBC
Riding the rails: The
“On to Ottawa” Trek

20. The Regina Riot A riot breaks out in Regina as the
When the train reached Regina, Saskatchewan, the number of protesters had doubled.RCMP placed men in a stadium
RCMP were ordered to clear the stadium after a meeting with PM/Union leaders was not successful.
On July 1st, 1935 a riot broke out as the RCMP tried to arrest the organizers of the protest.
A Regina police officer was killed and 130 protesters were arrested.
The On to Ottawa trek was officially over.
A riot breaks out in Regina as the
Government tries to stop the
On to Ottawa Trek

21. Trouble in Vancouver Last protests by the unemployed in Vancouver
                                             
Camping out to protest lack of affordable housing is nothing new in Vancouver-in the Dirty Thirties, out-of-work men took to the streets and built shacktowns from tin and scrap wood.
Trouble in Vancouver
Last protests by the unemployed in Vancouver
Federal government closed relief camps (1937)
Provincial government reduced relief payments=workers feel lack of support
April 1937—1600 protesters occupy Vancouver Art Gallery/main post office/Georgia Hotel/”sit-ins”/battles between police and protesters

22. Politics of Protest Social Credit Party leader “Bible Bill” Aberhart
Bill Aberhart was a preacher and school teacher from Alberta
He thought that the Depression was caused by people not having enough money to buy goods and services; especially farmers.
His idea? Give every citizen $25 per month “prosperity certificate” so people could buy more products and help the economy- couldn’t print $ (only Federal Gov’t)
His party was called the “Social Credit” Party.
Social Credit Party leader
“Bible Bill” Aberhart

23. The CCF
J.S. Woodsworth – leader of the CCF – Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. (#17)
SOCIALIST
He proposed: Unemployment insurance, free medical care, family allowances and old age pensions.
Many of his ideas have been adopted in Canada.
CCF was later was renamed the NDP in 1961.
J.S. Woodsworth

24. The Union Nationale Maurice Duplessis of the Union Nationale
Maurice Duplessis blamed the existence of the Depression on the fact that many of Quebec’s industries were owned by Americans and English speaking Canadians. (#22)
He formed the Union Nationale so that people of Quebec would have more control over their economy.
The Union Nationale won the Quebec election in 1936 and remained a force in Quebec politics for the next 22 years
Maurice Duplessis of the Union Nationale

25. Bennett the Good!
R.B. Bennett was not a likeable man, however he did a number of good things.
1932 saw the creation of Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission forerunner of the CBC.
In 1934 he created the Bank of Canada to regulate currency and monetary policy.

26. “Bennett never forgave Canada for failing him”
In 1935 under the banner of “King or Chaos” the Liberals returned to power
Bennett left Canada to become a member of the British House of Lords and is buried in Britain.
King passed Bennett’s New Deal to the Supreme Court where it was ruled unconstitutional because most were provincial matters.
Canada’s First Nations were neglected.

27. Politics of Protest Communist Party
The Communist Party of Canada was formed June in Guelph, Ontario.
The Communist Party was outlawed during the depression.
In August 1931 Tim Buck, the leader, and eight other members were imprisoned for holding the wrong ideas.
Buck avoided assassination in prison.

28. Provincial Solutions Quebec (1936)
Quebec (1936)
Union Nationale Party (Maurice Duplessis), Nationalist French-Canadian Party, support of Catholic Church/rural voters
Blamed English minority for Quebec’s socioeconomic problems
Padlock Law=Which Charter of Rights and Freedoms does it violate?
B.C. (1933)
Pattullo, Liberal, believed in provincial spending power, the New Deal from US (=introduced reforms to better working condition/public works projects) Federal government did not like Pattullo

29. A Change in Government 1935—voters against Bennett
King PM again, still did not intervene to better economy
National Employment Commission: “unemployment still a problem-government should spend money to create jobs”

30. Increased Tension in Federal-Provincial Relations
King creates another Royal Commission (1937), Rowell-Siroise Commission, examined federal-provincial relations
Cause of bad relationship between federal and provincial governments=unemployment, tax money (which government should collect tax money/spend money to assist people??)
The Commission Federal government should control taxation and give money to poorer provinces (=equalization payments)be responsible for social and employment assistance (UI and Welfare)
Commission wasn’t important because economy began to turn around and WWII began to take place

31. Distractions from Despair
Entertainment=movies, magazines, and radio become popular
US programs more popular Fed. Government responds with creation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1936 in an effort to win over Canadian listeners
1934-birth of the Dionne quintuplets—“miracle babies” were placed under the Ontario government’s control put on display and government earned millions from them
Grey OwlEnglishman Archie Belaney lived the Aboriginal way of life and took on identityspent years on preservation of Canadian forests and the disappearing beaver=conservation