1. Canada: On the Home Front

2. Government and the Economy
Lecture Outline
Total War
Government and the Economy
C.D. Howe
Camp X
Conscription
King’s Decision
Conclusions

3. Total War
All industries, materials and Canadian helped with the war effort.
Examples:
Ration cards, reduced production of luxury items (liquor, silk stockings etc.)
Bacon fat and bones saved for making explosives and glue
Scrap metal and rubber salvaged
Victory bonds

4. Government and the Economy
The unemployed men of the depression soon found jobs as either soldiers or in wartime industries.
However, there was still a labour shortage which many women soon filled.
The Minister of Munitions and Supply, C.D. Howe, quickly re-organized Canada’s economy

5. C.D. Howe and the Economy Some significant changes:
28 Crown corporations created
Canadian industries produce bombs, shells, and bullets
Shipbuilding becomes Canada’s second largest employer
Many aircraft produced
1942 all automobile plants turned over to wartime production (eg. Jeeps, tanks, radar etc.)
Farms and fisheries provide much of the food for the allies

6. Camp X
Camp X was a special training school located on the shores of Lake Ontario, near Oshawa.
Disguised as a deserted farm its purpose was to:
Train Allied spies.
Send and receive coded messages through a system called, “Hydra.”

7. Conscription
At the beginning of the war, Prime Minister Mackenzie King promised no one would be forced to fight overseas.
He was determined to avoid dividing French and English Canadians as conscription had done during WW1.

8. King and Conscription
In 1940, King passed the National Resources Mobilization Act requiring all adult males to register for service within Canada.
In 1942, King had a referendum on conscription.
9/10 the ten provinces voted in favour of conscription.
Quebec was the one province to vote overwhelmingly against conscription (72%).
In 1944, King announced men would be conscripted into the army.

9. Conclusions
Life on the home front was very different from peacetime. Everyone did their “bit” for the war effort.
Families lived in fear of hearing a loved one had died overseas fighting.
This event would continue to shape the growing identity of Canada.