Unit 6: The 1930s Flashcards
Final Exam (Post-Confederation)
October 29 1929: “Black Tuesday” and the Stock Market Crash
Wall Street Stock Market crashes.
This is the symbolic beginning of the Great Depression.
It does not cause the Great Depression, but signifies the beginning. A massive real estate bubble was forming (real estate and buildings tell when the stock market is going to crash).
1927-29 were good years for the Canadian economy. In 1928, Canada harvests one of its largest crops ever; but the problem is that it was way more than the market could bear. This is a crisis in capitalism (e.g. when grain is rotting but people are starving).
The Five-Cent Piece Blunder
On April 3 1930, King is being hammered on the issue of the growing problem of unemployment. The Unemployment problem becomes the central issue of Canadian politics, and the issue focuses on who’s responsibility it is. Constitutionally, it is a provincial responsibility (first municipal, then provincial, but not federal), but provinces cannot deal with it anymore, especially on top of roads, health and education. This leads to a crisis in “federalism.” Provinces can no longer balance and afford their debts (roads, health, education, unemployment), and are calling on the federal government to step in. King did not anticipate the severity of the coming storm and clung to orthodox methods of handling economic crises: fiscal restraint and balanced budgets.
King makes one of his political mistakes while he is being hammered with questions on the issue of unemployment. He says that his government “would not give a five-cent piece” for these “alleged unemployment purposes” to provincial governments “diametrically opposed” to his won.” Almost all of the provinces have Conservative governments, and Kings displays a lack of sympathy and partisanism (party-biased). He uses the term “alleged” for a real issue, and shows that he is out-of-touch, unsympathetic and parisian-biased.
One of the things that comes out of the Great Depression is deficit financing (going into debt), a product of Keynesian economic. In 1938, Canada goes into debt to pump up the economy and try to get consumers spending again. The word “relief” (relief payments, relief bills) was used during this time.
1930 Election
The Election of 1930
In the election of 1930, the Liberals are shocked, and King does not expect the outcome at all. R.B Bennett and the Conservative party win over King and the Liberals. Bennett’s plan is essentially the exact same as the Liberals (e.g. protectionist; putting up barriers to trade). There are no government programs to help people (no welfare, no insurance, no pensions). These social programs are implemented as a result of the Great Depression. There is no social welfare state, and that is a lesson of what comes out of the Great Depression. The prairie west suffers the most (the newest region that is home to many immigrants, the devastation of the wheat economy, and the drought).
Drought and the West
Palliser’s Triangle: Triangular area in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba that goes through cycles of drought.
In the 1930s, this area goes through a drought, because farmers are not practicing care for the soil properly. The soil is exhausted from wheat, so when there is not rain in the early 30s, the crop blows away. With a drought comes insects (e.g. grasshoppers) which leads to crop disease too.
Breadwinner Model
The breadwinner model is not just a social expectation, but it is being reinforced by the government (e.g. mother’s allowances, welfare). These systems are ordered around a gender ideal of one person working, and of course, it is the male.
1932 Unemployment Rate
32%
Political Responses to the Depression: R.B. Bennet
Bennett is getting into nasty battles with the premiers over the issue of unemployment.
Bennett lectures premieres on fiscal management and how to be good with their money. The provinces warn that they are going to go bankrupt (this will affect the province’s credit, and thus is a serious concern). The Conservative government is forced into passing what are called Relief Bills (to give the provinces emergency funds to help deal with unemployment), but this does not solve the problem, it just drains federal funds .
The fear of the radical arises (the social danger of single, angry, unemployed men creates fear of communism). By 1932, the Bennett government comes up with a new plan: Relief Camps. The government puts together a scheme to offer men cheap labour; they put together camps for young men that are in remote places away from the cities where young men sign up to go work for public construction. They are given work far out of the cities where they can build things (e.g. national/provincial parks and airlines)
The Bennett Buggy: cars pulled by horses as wagons.
Relief Camps
The fear of the radical arises (the social danger of single, angry, unemployed men creates fear of communism). By 1932, the Bennett government comes up with a new plan: Relief Camps. The government puts together a scheme to offer men cheap labour; they put together camps for young men that are in remote places away from the cities where young men sign up to go work for public construction. They are given work far out of the cities where they can build things (e.g. national/provincial parks and airlines)
Bennet in Trouble
In 1935, after 5 years, Bennett’s Conservative government is in deep trouble politically. Even though his policies are not that different from the Liberals, the party in power during crisis ends up carrying them and being blamed. The problems of depression climax in On-to-Ottawa trek. The issue of unemployment relief led to relief camps to house single, unemployed men and keep them away from urban centers, because in urban centers, they’re vulnerable to radicalism.
Spring/Summer 1935: The On-to-Ottawa Trek
The On-to-Ottawa-Trek is the culmination of all of these forces. By 1935, the relief camp workers are well-organized, and they decide to take political action in the Spring of 1935. In April 1935, relief camp workers (mostly from BC) decide not to go back to camps for summer, and go on strike. They are going on strike against their employer, the federal government and they are striking for living wages (“Work for Wages”). They strike against the Conservative government, and take over the City Hall in Vancouver. They receive national attention and gain national support. Their strike is so successful, that in May 1935, they hop on a train and across Canada to Ottawa. Strikers (from towns that the train goes through) join the railway cars and head to Ottawa in the spring and summer of 1935 to take on the issue with Bennett himself.
Bennet hopes it will lose steam as it crosses, but it doesn’t. As it goes across country, it grows. There are lots of young guys with nothing else to do, and each province wants to get strikers out of the province as fast as possible, so it doesn’t really stop them. They move out of BC, through Alberta (where there is an election taking place), and Bennet agrees to meet strike leaders. The strike leaders go ahead of the trek to Ottawa to meet the PM, where Bennet basically calls them communist radicals; they call him a fag, millionaire pig.
Strikers return to the train, which has made Saskatchewan, and Bennet decides to take action because he does not want the train to reach Winnipeg. Winnipeg is a volatile city (think back to Winnipeg General Strike) divided by class and race, so he decides that the strike is going no further than Regina. Regina is the last chance before Winnipeg, and the home of the RCMP depot. Also (unofficially), Bennet does not like the Premier of Saskatchewan (Gardner), who is a very Liberal politician. Bennet says the trekkers are trespassing on state property and uses legal position to stop the strike.
On July 1 1935, Dominion day (now Canada day), the Regina Riot takes place. Strikers are giving speeches on exhibition ground, and the RCMP move in to arrest the strike leaders and a RIOT breaks out. The downtown is destroyed, two people are killed, and the On-to-Ottawa-Trek is brought to a halt. The federal government sets up a Royal Commission to investigate the strike, and concludes that it is a riot instigated by communist radicals. Bennet’s policies for Depression come to a head in the riot in Regina, and ultimate failure in policies for handling the Great Depression.
Election of 1930
Bennet’s Conservative government came into power at the time of economic crisis, and although his policies for handling the economy were similar to the Liberals, the party in power is blamed for failures in policy. His failure to help the Depression and his response to the On-to-ottawa-Trek have him and his party in deep political trouble going into the 1935 election.
In October 1935, the first Election since the Depression began takes place. The Election of 1935 slogan is “King or Chaos.” There is not a lot of doubt how it will go. King and the Liberals have rally in former Maple Leafs Garden; and every single Premier is on the platform with King. The Liberals campaign does not really have ideas for handling the Depression, but the Liberals do not even have to promise anything to gain a massive majority government.
Election of 1935: New Deal Broadcasts
In January 1935, Bennet made a last-ditch effort to save his government: the New Deal Broadcasts. The country and the Conservative cabinet are stunned when PM Bennet goes on the radio and delivers national broadcasts to the country. This shows that there is a new communications medium being used. The name of the broadcasts echoes the US government’s “New Deal”, Roosevelt’s policy for helping the Great Depression in the US - which Bennet tries to replicate via the New Deal Broadcasts. His opening line is: “Capitalism is in crisis. Federalism is in crisis.” He introduces an entire state of social reform measures and welfare state: programs for old age pensions, reduction in the work day, worker’s compensation, minimum wage, mother’s allowances, family allowances, unemployment insurance. He conducts 4 broadcasts in 1935. The country does not know how to interpret these measures, and the Conservatives do not know how to handle it, because Bennet is a one man show and does not really talk to his cabinet.
King and the Liberals Respond by doing virtually nothing. After Bennet announces these and gives the “speech from the throne” in the House, Bennett waits for the Liberals to oppose him, but King does not oppose them. King knows that what Bennett has proposed is not legally possible, because it goes out of federal jurisdiction. It would require Constitutional Amendment to the BNA, which is incredibly difficult No one in Canada really knows how to deal with the broadcasts, and most wonder if is actually an ideological shift for the Conservatives. But it doesn’t matter, because King does not fight it. The court says it is “ultra vires” (out of federal jurisdiction), and the Liberals end up back in power, with no idea how to solve the Great Depression. The only thing they do differently from Conservatives is that they do not raise the tariffs. The worst years are over, but the GD is still dragging on
Successes of Bennet
Some things Bennet Conservatives are not given credit for are…
The creation of the Bank of Canada; a federal lending institution. Canada has its own central bank to try and control inflation and monetary policy.
Bennet starts the process of hiring in experts into government. We are moving into a time period where begin to see the growth and establishment of impressive bureaucracy in Canada. Before this, different ministerial positions were based off of patronage (e.g. an ou economist is not running the economic role). But in the 1930s, university-trained experts are entering the administration, and historians calls this generation “the government generation.” Bennett hires some impressive experts into the bureaucracy, which King will keep on in the Liberal government. These experts are conditioned by the experience of WWI, and they’re in place to deal with WWII, which will be a very difficult experience
Bennett Creates the Wheat Board in 1935. It had been created in 1917 during WWI to regulate price of grain, but after the war ended, the Board disappeared. Wheat Pools were created in 1920s, which were volunteer groups that tried to control the price of rain, but went bankrupt in the depression. The Bennett government sets up Wheat Board to regulate again.
Bible Bill and Social Credit
In 1935, there is a New Political Party called “Social Credit” that emerges in Alberta out of the blue. In 1935, there is a provincial election in Alberta. Alberta usually always governed by one-party rule; there was a long period of Liberals and United Farmers of Alberta. In 1935, it seems that the UFA will be out of power (premier caught up in sex scandals) and the Liberals will take over, BUT along comes Bible Bill.
William “Bible Bill” Aberhart is a preacher, school teacher, and fundamentalist from Alberta. He has become popular in Alberta through the radio, and has a popular radio show in Alberta of evangelical preachers, which is broadcast across Midwest Canada and the US. Social theorist (Douglas) develops Theory of “Social Credit” and Bible Bill uses this theory to support his message. The Theory of “Social Credit” is the idea that the moral code of the country is broken and there are blockages in the system (“poverty when you have plenty”). The problem can be fixed by removing the blockages, and handing them out to Albertans. Bible Bill blames the problem of the Depression on “Eastern” Canada, big banks, and capitalists for trampling on the poor consumer. He believes that every Albertan could be given a dividend. Bible Bill enters politics, wins an election and sets up social credit office. He has promised that every Albertan will get a $10 credit in dividends (this cannot actually be done, but he promises it anyways). He tries to (1) institute Social Credit platform (2) stifle the press; everything press writes should go through government first and (3) control all the banks. Most of the ideas are ultra vires (out of his jurisdiction), and he is taken to court over some policies which are ruled out of provincial jurisdiction. He tries to use the power of disallowance, which is still out of his jurisdiction.
Social Credit holds power until 1971. After Bible Bill died in 1943, it was taken over by Ernest Manning. Over time, the party ideology starts to shift to a right-wing party. When the party fades out of power in the 70s, the Conservatives take over and gain power in Alberta. The 1930s reflected a crisis in Canadian federalism
Rise in Aurocratic Leaders
Elsewhere in the world, these powerful, autocratic figures are taking power (Germany, Italy), and at the same time, the provinces start to be governed by premiers who are increasingly autocratic.
On top of Bible Bill in Alberta, there is Maurice Duplessis in Quebec and Mitch Hepburn in Ontario. Maurice Duplessis in Quebec is the leader of Union Nationale party; he is the figure of French Canadian nationalism. He is tight with Catholic church and fights with the federal government and labour union. His roots are in Catholic, Rural Quebec, and he runs Quebec almost unchecked until 1959. He holds Quebec back in traditionalist, nationalistic cast. Mitch Hepburn in Ontario is a liberal, BUT, gets into a national feud with Mackenzie King; he is “not a King Liberal.” Ontario is in a battle with Ottawa.
These autocratic premiers highlight the crisis in federalism in Canada.
