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Many positive changes were made for women from the time of the Great Depression to the time of WWll. (See google docs for more)
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During WWl, women began working as men were fighting in the war. This was the first time women were encouraged to get jobs and it seemed like a change for the better. But, after the war would women still work? At the end of WWl, the stock market crashed on October 29th,1929 which brought the start of the Great Depression. This was a time of unemployment and many people looking for work.
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As men came back from fighting in the war it was expected that they would take their traditional roles of working while women would go back to taking care of the home and children. But women were still working and as there were little jobs they were discouraged from this because they were taking the available jobs from men. So many quit or were laid off from their jobs.
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This was a step back for women, as now they were no longer able to work and were back to taking care of their homes. All in all, during the Great Depression women were unable to work, even though they could just a short time before.
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Due to the Great Depression many men were struggling to find jobs and those that were lucky enough to have one worked in terrible conditions. In response to the lack of jobs, the Canadian government created relief camps where single men could go to work. However, these camps were hard to work in and the conditions were bad as well. This caused tension in the camps and the men wanted more than what was being given.
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They wanted less rules and regulations in the camp, better working conditions, and health and employment benefits. Strikes and demonstrations began, with the first one being in April 1935 where 1,500 workers participated. The leader and organizer of this movement was Arthur “Slim” Evans. He organized demonstrations, occupations of city buildings and meetings with government officials. After 2 months it seemed that no progress was being made, so Evans took the fight to Ottawa.
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From the Great Depression in the 1930s and WWll in the 1940s good changes were made for workers. (See google docs for more)
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On June 3rd, 1935 one thousand strikers boarded freight trains that were headed for Ottawa, and support grew along the way. But the train was stopped Regina by Prime Minister R.B. He agreed to meet Evans in Ottawa on June 17, but this meeting did not resolve any problems and on July 1st, the Regina Riot started.
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The RCMP charged the crowd and the strikers fought back with sticks and rocks. By midnight the riot was over with one police officer dead and 130 strikers arrested. The rest went home and the striking was over. Although nothing was accomplished and the workers did not get what they wanted, workers would still continue to fight for a better future.
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The beginning of WWll brought an end to the The Great Depression and the Canadian economy began focusing on producing weapons and supplies for the war. The War Supply Board, led by C.D Howe, worked to organize Canadian industry to support the war efforts. Factories began starting up again and they opened for 7 days a week and 12 hours a day.
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These factories needed workers to build and produce these supplies and had many jobs open for the people of Canada. After limited amounts of jobs during the Depression, both men and women were finally able to work. In fact most of the workers were women, something that was unsupported before this time. This was major as now men and women could support themselves and their children, men could leave relief camps, and the people of Canada had some way to support their troops.
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There were so many more employment opportunities and now Canada could boost their economy. Workers produced bombs, bullets, military vehicles, aircraft and ships for Britain and the Allies. These weapons were essential for the Allies to win the war and the workers were very important as they built them. During the Great Depression, workers needed to work and the war gave them just that.
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When WWll started, the Great Depression ended because Canada’s economy and factories began producing weapons and supplies for the war. Many men left to fight and as factories needed workers, women were now encouraged to work again. Although these women were supporting their troops by working and making supplies, women wanted to do more by actually serving in the war.
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Many women joined the Women’s Volunteer Reserve Corps and trained in military and physical conditioning courses that would prepare them for the battlefield. They asked for the government to form an official armed force for women and on August 13th, 1941 the Canadian Women’s Army Corps was formed.
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Any woman who had “excellent health, was at least five feet tall and 105 pounds, with no dependants, a minimum of Grade 8 education, aged 18 to 45, and a British subject” (Edmonton Journal, 1943), could join the CWAC. They were trained as drivers, cooks, clerks, typists, stenographers, telephone operators, and messengers. This meant that no women would fight on the battlefield, but it was still an exciting opportunity at that time and 3,000 women even got to serve overseas.
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Between the time of Internment Camps and the Custodian of Aliens Act a continuity of racism was shown. (See google docs for more)
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Racism towards Japanese people had occurred in Canada before WWll, in fact there were laws in British Columbia that prevented Japanese people to work in mines, to vote, and to work on province funded projects. But, when WWll started and Canada fought against Japan tensions and racism increased. The news of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour was the last straw, and fears of Japanese spies and invasions and Canada caused many to distrust Japanese people in Canada.
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Suspected spies were arrested, Japanese fishing boats were taken, and Japanese newspapers and schools voluntarily shut down. On February 24, 1942, Prime Minister Mackenzie King issued Order- in-Council P.C. 1486 ‘to remove and detain “any and all persons” from any “protective area” in the country’. This began the start of Japanese internment in Canada and on March 16, the first Japanese Canadians began their trip to internment camps.
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The camps were overcrowded, poor, there was no water, no electricity, and 2 families lived together in one hut. All of their belongings were taken into “protective custody” by the government. 22,000 Japanese Canadians were sent to these camps and those that resisted were sent to prisoner of war camps or were sent back to Japan. Finally the war ended in 1945, but sadly the internment camps remained in place until 1949, and racism lasted much longer.
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Another act of racism that happened towards Japanese Canadians was the Custodian of Aliens Act. This act was brought into place on January 19, 1943 and it meant that the possessions of the Japanese people could be confiscated or sold. Homes, businesses, farms, personal property and fishing boats were sold. All of the proceeds that were made were used to pay off costs of detaining Japanese Canadians and also went to the realtors and auctioneers who sold their possessions.
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This was very unfair to the Japanese Canadians as they were forced to turn over their items to the Government. As well, many of the Japanese people in Canada were born in Canada, but they were not citizens and were stripped of their rights. This unfair treatment was not right, but at that time people thought it was necessary as their enemy in the war was Japan. Even after the war, it took a long time for apologies to be made and for Japanese Canadians to be accepted in Canada.
