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Spanish Flu
The Spanish Flu (also known as Influenza), hit Canada particularly hard between 1918 and 1920, with 90% of the deaths being in the fall of 1918. The international pandemic killed around 50,000 people in Canada, brought by soldiers returning from war. In 1919, the federal Department of Health was created in direct response to the influenza pandemic. -
Winnipeg General Strike
The Winnipeg General Strike took place between May 15 1919 and June 25 1919, with more than 30,000 workers leaving their jobs. Factory workers, police, firemen, postal workers, telephone operators, utilities workers, and more, all walked out and everything was shut down. However, the strike committee ensured that essential services continued. The strike did little to change the labor laws, but provided a sense of unity between workers, and paved the way for more activism. -
Bloody Saturday
"Bloody Saturday" was the height of the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919. Many of the returning soldiers were striking as well, and on Saturday June 21st 1919, they had a "silent parade" where thousands of people gathered and marched. The mayor requested back up from the RNWMP, who came riding horses and swinging clubs. Eventually, they started firing guns, with a total of 120 shots fired. There were 30 injuries reported and two deaths, both caused by gunfire. -
Flapper
The common 'flapper' was a young, white woman who would wear clothes that revealed her back, shoulders, and legs. She would often have her hair cut short, one of the signature looks of a flapper. The rebellious young women who were called flappers started appearing after WW1 and into the 1920's. It was a heavy topic of debate at the time, as the women who dressed/acted this certain way were often looked down upon. The movement of the flappers was to show society that women weren't one thing. -
Discovery of Insulin
A team of scientists and researchers at the University of Toronto started to try a new way of experimenting that was suggested by a scientist named Frederick Banting. Next year, Banting and his team, Charles Best, J.B. Collip, and J.J.R. Macleod, had been given permission to test their solution on people. Their first test subject, a 13 year old boy close to death, was originally unsuccessful, but the second test, on January 23rd 1922 worked. The team named the medicine insulin and released it. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act, legally known as the Chinese Immigration Act, was originally created in 1885, putting a head tax of $50 on Chinese immigrants. The tax kept increasing, but eventually, in 1923, the Canadian government passed the new Chinese Immigration Act, virtually stopping all Chinese immigrants from coming to Canada. Over the course of 24 years, under 50 Chinese immigrants were accepted. While other countries were restricted in some way, only Chinese people were singled out. -
Radio Boom
In the 1920's, the radio went from a forgettable possession to being one of the biggest media outlets that everyone just had to have. In Canada, most of our own stations were new and unpolished, but by 1930 there were many high-quality Canadian radio broadcasts. The Canadian stations were often working with American ones, and many American broadcasts were played on Canadian radios. The radio became a big fad, with broadcasts such as "The Happy Gang" and "Fibber McGee & Molly". -
Talkies
Talkies were movies with sound, as before the movies were silent, or with a live orchestra. Talkies were introduced in Canada on September 1st 1928 in Montreal. The movies with sound quickly overcame the silent ones and basically put them out of business. Many stars like Charlie Chaplin declined in popularity as his comedy relied on the lack of noise. Talkies grew in popularity all across Canada and eventually across the world. -
The Person's Case
The Person's Case was a ruling that allowed women to run and be elected for the House of Commons and the Senate. The women who fought for their rights, commonly called the Famous Five, were Nellie McClung, Henrietta Edwards, Irene Parlby, and Louise McKinney, all led by Emily Murphy. In 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women did not count as 'persons' according to the law. However, on October 18th 1929, The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overruled that and The Famous 5 won -
Black Tuesday
Black Tuesday is considered to be the day when the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. While the market had been losing value through October, the 29th was the day when people really noticed the crash. Billions of dollars were lost and sellers couldn't find anyone to buy their stocks at any price. 16 million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange in one day alone, with investors losing everything. Black Tuesday is what signified the start of the Great Depression. -
The Great Depression
Canada was hit very hard by the Great Depression, with millions of people unemployed, starving, and homeless. Canada was very dependent on extracting raw material and selling it, so when no one was buying the materials, hardly any money was being made. The western provinces were mainly surviving off of international trade, so they were hit the hardest. The government, under R.B Bennett for most of the Depression, did little to help. Many families were left without an income, relying on relief. -
Bennett Buggy
Bennett Buggies were vehicles that had their windows, roofs and sometimes engines removed and instead pulled by a horse. It was a term used in Canada during the Great Depression, named after the Prime Minister at the time, R.B Bennett. Many Canadians blamed him for the terrible poverty, and so they used this term to express their frustration. In America, these types of horse-pulled vehicles were called 'Hoover carts', after President Herbert Hoover. -
Five-Cent Speech
Despite Canada's struggling economy and desperate citizens, Prime Minister Mackenzie King remained firm on his belief that the unemployment problems were temporary. He refused any federal unemployment benefits to provinces that were against the Liberal government, and his most famous speech was the Five Cent one. On April 3rd 1930, King made a speech that ultimately lost him the upcoming election, saying that he 'would not give any provincial government that was against him a five cent piece'. -
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a dust storm and drought that affected the Canadian prairies during the 30's. It mainly came in 3 waves, 1934, 1936, and 1939-1940, but the general drought was throughout the entire decade. Farmers were forced to give up their farms and their living, simply because nature wasn't cooperating. While other parts of Canada did small things to help, such as people from Toronto sending money and Maritimers sent fish, more than two-thirds of Saskatchewan farmers relied on monthly aid. -
Snowmobile
The snowmobile was invented by Joseph-Armand Bombardier, a man who had grown up in the snowy Valcourt, Quebec. He had been interested in mechanics since he was little, and was very good at making working things. He worked on the snowmobile for a few years, and then in 1937 he took his invention to the market, and in that year he sold 100 snowmobiles. His sales kept rising, as many emergency services needed a way to travel through snow.