1. Scenario:
you took a pay cut while your country was at war - you went and fought for your country, got PTSD, no coverage, no support - there are no jobs for you, no services - you can get work if you are willing to work 6 days a week, 12 hr days for less than pre-war wages…
What do you do?
- Soldiers returning home from World War I expected to find good jobs instead they were faced with unemployment, rising prices and strikes. Significant changes were also taking place such as the new role of women, prohibition (the ban on liquor) and urbanization. -In the mid-1920's the economy turned around and gradually more people could afford new luxuries such as automobiles and radios. People enjoyed the excitement of investing in the stock market. It seemed as though prosperity would last forever. I. Prohibition:
- The 1920's were called the "Roaring Twenties" for a variety of reasons as it was a time of glamour and prosperity for many. It appeared that people were making up for the misery of the war by enjoying many new forms of entertainment: 1. "Hot" jazz
2. Dance halls
3. Moves
4. Radio
5. Cars
- The 1920's were also a time of crime, corruption and extreme poverty for some. Much of the crime centered around Prohibition. -Prohibition was introduced for a couple of reasons: 1. The grain used to make alcohol could be used to feed people
2. Money spent on alcohol could be used to feed families.
-Despite prohibition alcohol was easy to get because of bootleggers such as Rocco Perri and Bessie Starkman. Some Canadians made fortunes smuggling liquor into the United States. - Prohibition had some positive social effects: 1. The crime rate dropped
2. Arrests for drunkenness decreased
3. Workers took paychecks home
4. Industrial efficiency improved
- However it became obvious during the 1920's that prohibition was impossible to enforce, plus governments were losing millions in potential taxes on liquor sales.  
II. Postwar Problems:
-When World War I ended many wartime industries closed down laying off many workers; women were pressured to return to household duties so men could have jobs. - Thousands of veterans returned to unemployment, they were bitter wondering why there were no jobs for them in a country they had fought to defend. They also resented that business people had made millions while they risked their lives. -People with jobs were not much better off. Inflation had more than doubled the cost of living between while wages had not. Many joined unions to fight for a better living and working conditions.

2. Imagine what it was like for soldiers, returning from the horrors of World War I… What would it have been like trying to survive, to make a living?

3. = tensions between workers & employers
Return from War:
veterans had no pensions
no medical services for wounded
few jobs
many angry b/c employers made $ - profiteers
during war, many workers accepted wage decreases, now cost of living increased
= tensions between workers & employers
Civilian Reintegration
The transition from military to civilian life was often difficult for men and women who had been away for years. Soldiers lobbied for greater financial benefits and forms of recognition while adjusting to civilian lives. Governments sought to remain financially responsible while still treating veterans appropriately. Post-war social and economic unrest affected the prospects for both.
Something Owed?
Wartime propaganda had promised veterans a "land fit for heroes," but the fragile Canadian economy had difficulty supporting hundreds of thousands of demobilized soldiers. Some veterans returned to pre-war jobs, which had often been held for them by patriotic employers, but others struggled as industries geared to military production reduced their workforces or closed altogether. The federal Department of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment, founded in 1918, provided vocational training as well as medical treatment, but an economic downturn in left many veterans out of work, along with 200,000 other Canadians.
Canada developed a progressive, if complicated, pension and benefits scheme, but not all veterans were equally eligible. Those suffering from poison gas, chronic illness, or mental trauma, for example, often had difficulty convincing pension adjudicators that their symptoms were war-related, the prerequisite for a successful claim. Soldiers without arms, legs, or eyes were difficult to refute, but those with disease, debilitating illness, or psychological ailments encountered greater skepticism and more frequent rejection
Veterans Push Back
Many veterans believed that government should do more. Some joined labour actions that swept the country in 1919, including the violent Winnipeg General Strike. Thousands united in organizations such as the Great War Veterans Association to exercise greater influence in Canadian society. One of their primary demands was a $2,000 bonus for each veteran as compensation for lost income during years of wartime service. While the bonus issue rallied many veterans' organizations, a succession of governments rejected the proposal as unaffordable in a debt-ridden country.
Veterans and their supporters helped strengthen the nature and extent of Ottawa's post-war benefits regime but, for most returning soldiers, political advocacy was a relatively minor aspect of the repatriation period. They reconnected with loved ones and rebuilt civilian lives, often relying on new federal programs in order to do so.

4. Workers Protest:
workers demand:
- increased wages
- better working conditions
- right to have unions
 leads to strikes, some were long and bitter

5. Workers Protest cont. In the West:
In the West:
- union leaders more socialist  (believe in gov’t services for all)
influenced by 1917 Bolshevik revolution  communism:
no private ownership of businesses or land, all means of production (farms, factories) and distribution (railways etc.) publicly owned
- found OBU “One Big Union”
 represent Canadian workers in one organization
 get workers w/ more control of industry & gov’t
 use strategy of “General Strike” – walkout by all employed workers

6. Winnipeg General Strike: What happened:
- Winnipeg, May/ June 1919
metal and building workers walk off job
 demand higher wages
 shorter working week
 right to collective bargaining (union leaders could negotiate on behalf of the union)
- General Strike results from widespread union support
- 30,000 people strike
Winnipeg paralyzed

8.  believed union leaders were part of communist conspiracy
- Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand: created by those who opposed the strike
 believed union leaders were part of communist conspiracy
 Reaction:
- Federal Gov’t:  amended the Immigration Act: could deport foreign-born union leaders
- Mayor of Winnipeg appointed special police, fired many civic workers, had strike leaders arrested.
The committee was made up of Winnipeg's most influential manufacturers, bankers and politicians. Rather than giving the strikers' demands any serious consideration, the Citizens' Committee, with the support of Winnipeg's leading newspapers, declared the strike a revolutionary conspiracy led by a small group of "alien scum." Though evidence failed to support its charges that the strike was initiated by European workers and Bolsheviks, the Citizens' Committee used these unsubstantiated charges to block any conciliation efforts.

9. “Bloody Saturday”:
- Strikers held parade to protest actions of the mayor
- parade becomes violent, NWMP charged into the crowd.
- One striker died, 30 injured, many arrested
- strikers returned to work, strike lasted 43 days

10. Negative & Positive Results of Strike:
- Union movement suffered setback
- 7 arrested leaders jailed
- many striking workers not rehired
- many workers had to sign contracts vowing not to join unions
- increased distrust / division between working class and business
- Royal Commission found that workers’ grievances were valid
- gradually much of what they fought for was achieved
- some who were involved in the strike became politicians who sought reforms ie. J.S. Woodsworth (formed CCP)
Seven Winnipeg strike leaders were eventually convicted of a conspiracy to overthrow the government and sentenced to jail terms ranging from six months to two years. The charges against Woodsworth were dropped. It would take another three decades before Canadian workers secured union recognition and collective bargaining rights.

11. Regional Protest:
Canadian politics challenged by regionalism  concerns of various regions for local problems
Regionalism led to
creation of new political
parties to represent
local interests.
NEW
NEW
NEW
LIBERALS
CONSERVATIVES

12. - Federal Election held in 1921 resulted in minority government
New Leaders: Liberal leader  Mackenzie King
Conservative leader  Arthur Meighen
New Party:
Progressive Party:
-created in 1919
-reflected demands of farmers in the West
-wanted a new National Policy – free trade & public ownership of railways
Progressive Party became the balance of power between the Liberals & Conservatives
-forced government to implement Old Age Pension Act – begin social services

13. Canada and the “Roaring” Twenties

14.  A. SOCIETAL CHANGES: Urbanization: - many people moving to cities
air pollution from factories
Winnipeg 1920s

15.  poor & working class people lived in slums: crowded, unsanitary

16.  wealthy families move to suburbs, easy to do with automobiles

17. Bootlegging:
During WWI, Women’s Christian Temperance Union succeeded in Prohibition

20. - By 1921, provincial gov’ts regulated sales of alcohol, rather than ban product
- Prohibition continued in the US until 1933 = illegal smuggling of alcohol from Canada to US
History comes alive in the Moose Jaw tunnel tour. Actors in period costumes take you on a journey back to a time when Moose Jaw was known as "Little Chicago.“
The Moose Jaw tunnels were built in the late 1800s by Chinese people who lived under the stores and hotels illegally. Many worked on the CPR. It was the time when many western Canadians were afraid of what was known as the “yellow peril.” Ottawa had brought in restrictions on the number of Chinese immigrants that were allowed into the country so as not to take away too many jobs from Canadians. The government even imposed a head tax on every Chinese immigrant.
Many of these workers were unable to afford the tax, so they went underground to hide from the authorities. Eventually, many of the immigrants smuggled in their wives and even raised families in the dark secret tunnels under Moose Jaw.
History comes alive in the Moose Jaw tunnel tour. Actors in period costumes take you on a journey back to a time when Moose Jaw was known as "Little Chicago." The Tunnels of Moose Jaw
However, by the 1920s, decades after the railroad was completed and the workers long gone, the tunnels took on an entirely different purpose. With Prohibition firmly enacted in the U.S., Moose Jaw became an American gangsters’ haven. The Moose Jaw CPR station was a major stop along the Soo Line that linked Canada to the U.S., and it quickly became the perfect place for mobsters and rumrunners to smuggle alcohol onto the trains and ship it south of the border.
1920 – Al Capone
“I don’t even know what street Canada is on,” American mobster Al Capone famously told police, claiming that he had never visited, nor knew anything about, the country to the north. But the gangster who bootlegged liquor was spotted in Moose Jaw, Sask., from time to time escaping the perils of a life of crime in Chicago.
In the 1920s, Moose Jaw was a safe haven for Capone, who reportedly used the city’s underground tunnels to travel between hotels and restaurants unnoticed.
Dr. Hugh Young, a physician in Moose Jaw, says he was summoned late one night, blindfolded and led through a series of tunnels to Capone’s hotel room. The gangster, he says, had an abscess on his tonsil and asked Dr. Young to remove it without anesthetic.
Stories of Capone’s presence have circulated for years, but no hard documented proof has come to light, save for eye-witness accounts from Dr. Young, a local paperboy and others.
However, the American gangster did have business in Moose Jaw. During American prohibition the town was a pivotal place for booze deliveries to the U.S. And Capone is known to have organized large shipments of liquor from distilleries across the Canada-U.S. border via rail cars and boats.
-Jessica Bell
(Photo: United States Department of Justice)

21. A Roaring Twenties "Flapper Girl" removes a flask of liquor from her Russian boot. It's believed that the term "bootleg" originated from the practice of concealing a flask in high-top boots.

22. Women:
many lost jobs that they had gained during war period, and resumed "household duties"

23. - Flappers: A new style of post-war rebellion
- Flappers: A new style of post-war rebellion. These women drank, smoked, wore short hair,
short skirts, mantra of living life like it could end tomorrow.

25. Women - continued fight for rights:
- Agnes Macphail  first women elected to House of Commons only woman until 1935

27. Agnes McPhail
When Agnes Macphail entered politics in 1921, Canadian women in Ontario had only recently won the right to vote at every level of government, the repercussions of the first World War were being felt at home and abroad, and farmers were organizing themselves to battle for financial recognition and rights. Coming from a farm family, Agnes Macphail had always taken an interest in farming politics and spoke honestly and clearly about the issues affecting rural communities, which made her a choice representative for the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO). Agnes Macphail's nomination to represent South-East Grey County was met with some protest, but her campaign meetings that autumn were always crowded. The early limelight on Agnes Macphail as the first woman in Canadian politics was rarely flattering, and though at times the criticism hurt her, she refused to back down and return, as one man claimed she would, "to the obscurity of a little school in the back concessions". She was a woman and an exceptional person who demanded equal rights and fair treatment for the farmers who had voted her in, but also championed for miners in eastern Canada, child labour in China, prisoners, women, immigrants, and other marginalized groups. Her unorthodox behaviour and beliefs, her independence and marital status, and her relentless pursuit of justice marked Agnes Macphail throughout her political career, but also garnered her some strong allies.

28. - #1 role of women still wives / mothers
- unmarried women still limited career options: teachers, nurses  poorly paid
- some became doctors, lawyers, professors, engineers
- most worked in business or industry as secretaries, telephone operators, or sales clerks

29. The Persons Case: -Supreme Court of Alberta decided she was a person
- 1929, Emily Murphy appointed a judge in Alberta
appointment was challenged  only “persons” could hold office, women were not “persons” according to law
-Supreme Court of Alberta
decided she was a person

30. - Famous Five (Murphy & four other women) challenge King to appoint woman senatorVS

31. Nellie McClung’s Mock Parliament

32. -Supreme Court of Canada rules they are NOT persons
- famous five appeal to courts of Britain who support the women.

33. Emily Murphy Heritage minute
"The world loves a peaceful man," declared Emily Murphy, "but it gives way to a strenuous kicker." Murphy herself was a strenuous kicker, one who opened the path of reform in the legal landscape of Canada. Emily Murphy began her career as a writer of sunny, patriotic travel sketches, which she published under the pseudonym Janey Canuck. Known for its liveliness and humour, her writing also expressed serious concern for the welfare of women and children. Increasingly she found herself speaking out frankly and publicly on behalf of the disadvantaged. Born in 1868 into a prominent legal family, Emily Murphy became a self-taught legal expert at an early age. When she and her family moved to Alberta in 1903, she began a campaign to ensure the property rights of married women. Largely because of her work, the Alberta legislature passed the Dower Act in 1911, protecting a wife's right to one-third of her husband's property. An event that changed Emily Murphy's career occurred in 1916 after she and a group of concerned women tried to attend the trial of Edmonton prostitutes arrested under "questionable" circumstances. The women were ejected from the court on the grounds that the testimony was "not fit for mixed company." Murphy was outraged, and protested to the provincial Attorney General. "If the evidence is not fit to be heard in mixed company," she argued, "then... the government.. [must] set up a special court presided over by women, to try other women." To her surprise the Minister agreed, and offered Murphy the post of presiding over such a court. Accepting the offer with some reluctance, Murphy became the first woman police magistrate in the entire British Empire. This appointment led to an even more significant chapter in Murphy's eventual life. Although the new magistrate was welcomed by some of her colleagues in the courts, others challenged her position on the grounds that a woman is not a "person" under the British North America Act of This argument coincided with a similar one that had been mounted in opposition to the idea of appointing a woman to the Canadian Senate. Murphy fumed at the injustice - the status of women should not be dependent upon an outdated and outmoded law! The law itself had to be changed, and she vowed to do it. For twelve years Murphy led the fight to have women declared legal "persons" in Canada. When petitions from various women's organizations failed to open the Senate to women, Murphy turned to the law. She found a section of the Supreme Court Act that allowed any five interested persons the right to petition the government for a ruling on a constitutional point. Murphy lost no time in enlisting the help of four other Alberta reformers. Her first choice was her friend, Nellie McClung, a tireless worker for human rights, a suffragist, and a former Member of the Alberta Legislature. Next, there was Louise McKinney, ex-M.L.A. and crusader against the evils of alcohol and cigarettes. The third petitioner was Montréal-born Henrietta Edwards, a vigorous campaigner for women's rights with an unsurpassed knowledge of the laws pertaining to women and children. Irene Parlby, Murphy's fourth choice, had entered politics with a desire to improve the lives of the rural women of Alberta. A Minister without Portfolio in the Alberta Legislature, Parlby's participation signified the support of the Government of Alberta. The Persons Case, as it is called, reached the Supreme Court of Canada in March The court ruled against women, but Emily Murphy would not rest there. She carried the case to the Privy Council in Britain, which, in its celebrated ruling of October 18, 1929, declared that women were indeed legal "persons" under the B.N.A. Act. There is a plaque in Canada's Senate Chamber that pays tribute to five persons from Alberta. It reads: "To further the cause of womankind these five outstanding pioneer women caused steps to be taken resulting in the recognition by the Privy Council of women as persons eligible for appointment to the Senate of Canada. This movement was inaugurated by Magistrate Emily F. Murphy." "Nothing ever happens by chance," Emily Murphy liked to say. "Everything is pushed from behind." After twelve years of pushing, the doors of the Canadian Senate finally opened to women, but it was too late for Emily Murphy to enter. She died on October 27, 1933.

34. Aboriginal Nations:
- did not benefit from the 20’s
not “persons” under the law: get provincial vote in 1949, federal vote in 1960
conditions on reserves poor.
-those who worked in the city were discriminated against – lots of racism

35. Residential Schools:
still operating
students traumatized by separation from family, foreign surroundings, physical & emotional abuse

36. BC Aboriginals challenge courts:
-three issues:
potlatch ceremony
 important cultural ceremony, tradition.
 missionaries & gov’t saw it as obstacle to
assimilation
banned in 1884, but law enforced after WWI
 consequences included jail terms for
participants

37. 2. Aboriginal title
 land claims
 few First Nations in BC had negotiated treaties
most land in the province not signed to gov’t
3. cut-off lands
 Federal gov’t took lands from reserves w/out consent

38. 2. the Allied Tribes of British Columbia appealed to the Federal gov’t
a chief of Squamish people traveled to London, England, to present land-claim petition to King Edward VII
2. the Allied Tribes of British Columbia appealed to the Federal gov’t
 claimed removal of reserve lands was contrary to Indian Act
 Fed gov’t then changed the Indian Act so
they could do it

39. Allied Tribes kept petitioning gov’t for treaty negotiations
Department of Indian affairs defended gov’t actions; Indian Act changed to prevent anyone from fundraising or accepting money to pursue land claims.

40. In Quebec 1921  Courts rule in favour of separate seating in theatres
African-Canadians:
- Nova Scotia 1918  Education Act: separate schools for “blacks” and “Europeans” (didn’t change until 1954)
In Quebec 1921  Courts rule in favour of separate seating in theatres
- In Toronto 1929  black delegation denied hotel rooms
8 November 1946: Black Woman Sits in Theatre's "White Section" The Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NSAACP) united civil rights forces. The NSAACP supported Viola Desmond, a Black woman from Halifax, in her case against a New Glasgow theatre where she was arrested for sitting in the "White-only" section, even though she was willing to buy the more expensive ticket.
2-3 September 1954: Toronto Telegram Covers the Dresden Story Black discrimination continued in the 1950s, despite legislation prohibiting it. In 1954, two Blacks visited rural Dresden, Ont. and were refused service in two restaurants. The Toronto Telegram sent Black "testers" to investigate, who were also refused. When the Telegram ran the story, it confirmed what many Blacks suspected, that Canada's laws and regulations were ineffective.

41. “Chinese Immigration Act” aka “Exclusion Act”
Immigrants:
Russian & Eastern European immigrants accused of revolutionary activity
Severe restrictions on Asian immigrants – stopped Chinese immigration from
“Chinese Immigration Act” aka “Exclusion Act”
economy improved, immigrants allowed, lived in slums / paid terrible wages
June 1923 Chinese Immigration Act. This Act prohibited all Chinese immigrants except diplomats, students, children of Canadians and an investor class. Aside from protests from the Chinese community in Canada, there were virtually no voices of opposition. The day on which this Act came into force - July 1 - became known to Chinese Canadians as "Humiliation Day"

42.  B. POLITICAL AUTONOMY:
Mackenzie King took on Liberal leadership fr. Robert Borden
cont’d push for greater indep from Brit.
Examples:
1). King refused to support Britain when it planned to invade Turkey (The Chanak Affair)
Chanak Affair
​The 1922 Chanak Affair was Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's first major foreign policy test.
The 1922 Chanak Affair was Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's first major foreign policy test. Turkish forces were threatening British troops stationed in Turkey after the First World War. King declined to automatically provide Canada's military support to Britain – another step on the path to an independent Canadian voice in world affairs.
Trouble in Turkey
In the early 1920s, military forces from Britain, France and Greece occupied large portions of western Turkey under the Treaty of Sevres, which was imposed on Turkey following its defeat in the First World War. British troops were stationed around Chanak (now called Canakkale), a small seaport on the Dardanelles strait, the international sea route that divides Europe and Asia.
In the fall of 1922, nationalist Turkish forces, which opposed the presence of foreign troops, had succeeded in pushing the Greek army out of the country. The Turks then threatened British forces pinned down at Chanak.
King's Response
On 15 September, Britain sent a telegram calling upon the Dominions (including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) to contribute soldiers to the crisis in a demonstration of the Empire's solidarity against the Turks.
At the time Canada was an independent member of the newly-created League of Nations. Yet Canada had no distinct foreign policy, nor even a foreign affairs minister. British Prime Minister David Lloyd George expected Canada to fall in line with British wishes.
In Ottawa, however, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was non-committal on whether Canada would send troops. On 18 September, King's Cabinet agreed that only Parliament could decide such matters. Conservative Opposition Leader Arthur Meighen criticized the King government for being disloyal to Britain. By the time Parliament could address the matter, however, the crisis in Turkey had passed.

43. 2). Canada signed an international treaty w/out the signature of a Brit rep (The Halibut Treaty)
Uncle Sam: “What I cut off goes to you Johnnie Canuck and what’s left belongs to me.”
Halibut Treaty
The Halibut Treaty was signed on 2 Mar It is a Canadian-American agreement concerning fishing rights in the North Pacific Ocean, and the first treaty independently negotiated and signed by the Canadian government.
The Halibut Treaty was signed on 2 Mar It is a Canadian-American agreement concerning fishing rights in the North Pacific Ocean, and the first treaty independently negotiated and signed by the Canadian government. Although Canada's right to negotiate commercial treaties was well established, the British wished to sign the convention along with Canada, as they always had. Prime Minister Mackenzie King argued that the matter was solely the concern of Canada and the US, and threatened separate Canadian representation in Washington, and the British acquiesced. The Halibut precedent, confirmed by the Imperial Conference of 1923, was an important step towards establishment of Canada's right to separate diplomatic action.

44. 3). Challenged Britain’s influence over Canadian internal politics (King-Byng Crisis)

45. King-Byng Crisis

46. 4). Participated in the Imperial Conference that led to Balfour Report & Statute of Westminster

48. 2 restrictions on Canada’s independence: 1)
2 restrictions on Canada’s independence: 1). Constitution (BNA Act) remained w/ Brit b/c provinces could not agree on amending formula 2). Judicial court of appeal for Cdns stayed in Brit until 1949

49.  C. ECONOMIC CHANGES: - trade w/ US increased during the 20’s
Wheat exports, manufacturing, pulp & paper, mining, & hydro-electric power were among the industries that grew during the 20’s
US investment: pre-WWI trade  Britain
post-war trade  United States
- trade w/ US increased during the 20’s
- US investors  Branch Plants
Canadian auto industry taken
over by US companies: “Big Three”
 GM, Ford, Crysler
also oil, machinery, chemical, rubber,
& electrical companies
-instead of lending money to Canada, US set up branch plants         - owning businesses in Canada         - avoided Canadian tariffs -GM, Ford and Chrysler took over Canadian car industry (McLaughline gone) -led to lack of secondary industries in Canada

52. Social Changes:
Flappers
Credit
Automobile
Prohibition