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Period: to
The 1920s and 1930s
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Spanish Flu
This flu was spread from the western front. It came to Canada when when the soldiers came home from World War I. It was soon spread epidemic throughout Canada, and many died from this. This lead to the creation of the Department of Health in Canada, which allowed Canada to grow as a country. -
Prohibition
After World War I, Prohibition was made official by the federal government. This was the banning of all liquor in Canada. The government introduced this law in order to reduce the crime rates as it had increased a lot. Many men who got drunk began to abuse their families and most went to work drunk and unable to efficiently do work. Prohibition indeed decreased the crime rates in Canada by a lot. This affected our economy as Canada lost a lot of money which were from taxes in liquor sales. -
League of Indians
During this time, Aboriginals were dicriminated, and Aboriginal veterans were only allowed to vote if they gave up their Aboriginal identity. This lead to the formation of the League of Indians in order to fight for their rights. Which resulted in the banning of Aboriginal nations to raise funds for land claims and restricted them in forming political organizations. -
Hockey Night in Canada with Foster Hewitt
Foster Hewitt was a famous radio broadcaster who was known for broadcasting "Hockey Night in Canada" as the game was being played live. This became a thing that Canadians listened to every Saturday night. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
This act banned all Chinese except for students, merchants, and diplomats from coming to Canada. The government of Canada created this act in order to reduce the unemployment rates in Canada as many European immigrants began to go to the cities to find employment where limited jobs were found. It was because of the economic depression which led to the banning of Chinese. This resulted in that only eight Chinese were allowed into Canada before it was repealed in 1947. -
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
After World War I, Canadian pilots who fought in the war were made use of when they came home. This lead to the establishment of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). This was created by the government to make use of the military planes by using them for peaceful purposes. These pilots would help patrol the coastlines to check for smuggling, flying mail, and looking for forest fires. -
The Persons Case
This is an issue whether woman are considered as a person under the law. This was first mentioned when the first woman judge in the British Empire, Emily Murphy, was questioned by a lawyer that she wasn't considered a person under the law and therefore was not eligible to judge the case. -
Black Tuesday
During the 1920s, many participated in the buying of stock markets. As a result, when the stock markets in New York crashed, many people lost everything in one night. This led to the unemployment of many people as banks and other companies crashed as a result. In Canada, one in five workers were unemployed. -
The Five-Cent Speech
This was when Mackenzie King, the prime minister of Canada during the time when the stock markets crashed, insisted on social welfare was the responsibility of the provinces. He stated that he would not give financial aid to provinces - not even five cents. This was because he claimed that none of the provinces asked for relief, and some even said that there was no employment problem. -
R.B. Bennett is Elected as Prime Minister
R.B. Bennett was elected as prime minister because the Liberals (Mackenzie King) was voted out of office. The Liberals were voted out because Canadians still remembered the "five-cent piece" speech he made a few months before. This resulted in the voting of the Conservatives instead. -
Statute of Westminster
This was a law that British passed which declared Canada was now a self-governing nation and was fully independent. This allowed Canada to reach complete autonomy at this time. This law was passed because Canada started to grow apart from Britain and thought they should be completely independent. -
On-to Ottawa Trek
This was the event in which unemployed men, during the great depression, rode ontop of trains travelling across the country to Ottawa. This was the result of the stock markets crashing in 1929 which caused many people to lose everything. They wanted economic reforms and better working policies like unemployment insurance and minimum wages. These men were stopped at Regina by the RCMP. This led to a riot that broke out, and led to many injured and police officers killed. -
Bennett's "New Deal"
This was something that R.B. Bennett made before an election. This deal was that unemployment and social insurance would be established, minimum wages would be made, maximum number of hours of labour would be set, and prices of products would be controlled. This was made due to the increase in the great depression and the economy did not seem to improve. -
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
This was changing of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission into the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This was the first Canadian radio station that was created in an attempt to compete with the American stations. This created a sense of national unity throughout Canada. -
SS. St. Louis
This refugee ship carried over a thousand Jews from Germany. They were rejected in Cuba and other Latin American countries, so they came to Canada in search for sanctuary. The Canadian government regected them because the Jews were believed that they were not going to be good settlers. This resulted in them going back to Germany, so when World War II began, many were killed by the Nazis.
