1920s and 1930s Timeline

The Canadian Government only tried to attract immigrants to Canada who were white. Those who were Indian, Chinese, Black, or Japanese were not welcomed to Canada, and those who came faced persecution from the government. The Canadian Government made statements saying Black people were, "unsuited to the climate of Canada." Most immigrants were not given the right to vote, were separated from their families, and laws were made making it difficult for them to live in anything other than poverty.

Telephones were first created in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. In 1916 the first trans-Canada call was made and routed through American systems. You would first call an operator who would connect you to who you were calling. Telephones were very expensive and considered for only the wealthy. By 1927 the one-piece handset was created and the idea of having a telephone became more likely as prices dropped. In 1927, 13 out of every 100 Canadians had a telephone.

The influenza was said to have started in birds, then transferred to pigs, and then humans. Once the virus reached Europe it spread rapidly in the trenches during World War I. When soldiers were sent back to Canada they brought the virus home with them spreading it all across Canada. Meanwhile, the virus was spreading to many other countries as well. Historians believe the global pandemic killed as many as 50 million people which included 50 000 Canadians.

May 1, 1919, Winnipeg's building trade unions went on strike because their bosses wouldn't negotiate a pay raise. On May 15th at 11 am when things still weren't resolved, Winnipeg's Trades and Labour Council called for a citywide strike. 30 000 strikers came together closing stores, factories, and stopping cars in the streets. They were joined by postal workers, firefighters, and police officers but essential services like milkmen kept working but were still in support of the strikers.

In the 1920s as the technology of radios increased and radio prices fell, more and more Canadians owned radios. Some would listen to dramas, sports broadcasting, comedy, and music. Canadian radio stations weren't very popular and 80 percent of the population listened to the United States' stations. Even passengers on the Canadian National Railway could listen to the radio as they crossed Canada.

During WW1 Saskatchewan farmers were making lots of money selling wheat but due to tariffs and drought prices dropped in 1920-1930. Some farmers were just barely breaking even and some had to abandon their farms and file for bankruptcy. They had to deal with dust storms and high temperatures with no rain. Crops dried up and grasshoppers arrived to eat any wheat that had survived. In one year 14,000 farmers lost all their money and had no crops to harvest.

In 1920, those who had diabetes were usually fatally sick because of the little information known about the disease. A doctor from Ontario Fredrick Banting wants to test to see if injections of insulin would cure the disease. Along with researcher Charles Best, the two tested insulin injections on a boy named Leonardo Thompson who had diabetes. He got better and lived longer than other diabetics.

After WWI the Allies forced Germany to become a democracy as part of their punishment set in the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was not happy about this. Political leaders did not know how to work together and there was no solid voter support. While the rest of the world was booming in the 20s, Germany was facing poverty. They thought the answer to all of this was the new political leader Aldof Hitler who had served in WWI and now joined the NSGWP known as the Nazis and eventually became leader.

In 1920, Duncan Campbell Scott told the parliamentary committee he wants to, "Get rid of the Indian problem." They passed a law requiring all Native children between the ages of 7-15 to go to school. In 1931,150 000 Aboriginal students were forced to attend residential schools. In these schools, they were forced to learn English and Christian religious values. The living conditions were harsh and teachers were cruel. They lived in close living conditions which made diseases spread quickly.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada that banned most Chinese immigration to Canada. They also created a head tax on immigrants from China which made them have to pay extra to come into the country.

By the 1920s, due to better medical technology, people were living longer. Age discrimination was often seen in jobs but older people had to work until they died if they could. J.S Woodsworth supposedly solved the problem by giving out $20 a month to people who met very specific criteria that only very few Canadians met. This did not solve the problem for most elderly Canadians who worked on farms and in cities as long as possible- if they were lucky and a younger person didn't take their job.

When Europeans first started immigrating, having their children work on the farm was very common. In the 1900's as Canada became more urban, fewer children went to school and more began working in factories. In 1911, only 63% of 14-year-olds went to school. By 1929 most Canadian provinces banned all children under the age of 14 from working in factories and mines. School attendance was mandatory and attendance grew to 83%. Some children continued to work during the Great Depression.

In 1917 Emily Murphy, the first female judge in the British Empire was put forward to be in the Senate. The Canadian PM refused because she didn't meet the qualifications of a "person". This began the Person's Case, which dealt with the issue that women weren't treated as persons when it came to rights and freedoms but only when it came to penalties. Emily Murphy, Henrietta Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise Mckinney, and Irene Parbly worked to include females as "'persons" under the law.

In July 1935, 2000 men who had no jobs or worked in relief camps gathered together to take a train to Ottawa and rally for unemployment change and to talk to Prime Minister Bennett. Bennett did not want any more unemployed men to come to Ottawa so he stopped the train in Regina, Saskatchewan and just the leaders went to meet Bennett but nothing changed for the men. Bennett didn't care about their thoughts and said relief camps were a great idea. Workers returned home with nothing but lost time.

In the Spring of 1939, 900 Jews left Hamburg, Germany on a ship called St. Louis to seek refuge in Cuba. They had tourist visas but hoped they would obtain refugee status. Cuba refused to take them so they went to the United States and to Canada who also refused to let them into their countries. The ship St. Louis was forced to turn back to Germany and most passengers on board died in the Holocaust.