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The premise of the Unemployment Relief Camps were to provide strenuous work with poor conditions and low pay to single men, the only group desperate enough to comply.
This is reminiscent of the conditions that sparked the movement of the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919. The continuity here is that in times of trouble, the government has evidently tried to take advantage of manual labor workers who have little options. -
Now that there was a sudden sense of national unity as well as a need for production, labor and factory workers were employed again. Though this is an example of change, that doesn't necessarily make it a lasting change. Through history, labor workers have been employed and unemployed depending on the state of the economy. However, workers rights haven't been consistently valued or protected regardless of whether it's convenient to the government at that point in time.
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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tCr29hSF4kswKiHmZljGJuIR7nI_qJ5Fd1kUnARKzxI/edit#slide=id.p7
http://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/artifact/impact-world-war-ii-us-economy-and-workforce
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eSH-3wmW5ypTxlE88C9X0UtjyGCOyPdw7Nl3trRhdmY/edit#slide=id.g95a06d2f84_0_602 -
On October 29th, 1929, the Stock Market crashed. This launched Canada, as well as several other countries into a long, painful depression.
As a result of economic decline, the unemployment rate was at an all time high. The government's response to the disparity among workers was to create unemployment relief camps. Here, workers would receive food, a bed, access to medical care and 20 cents per day. -
When Canada entered into the second World War, there was a great demand for the production and manufacturing of weapons and vehicles. This meant that there was once again a place for labor workers, and that the depression could finally subside.
