The Depression in Canada

The Depression had a huge impact on the lives of many Canadians:

Unemployment – many Canadians lost their jobs

Homelessness – many Canadians were evicted from their homes

Crime – as people became desperate, crime increased So what did the government do about it?

Life during The Great Depression …

When the Depression began, Prime Minister Mackenzie King did little to stop it.

He believed it was temporary. He believed the government should stay out of

the economy. When he was asked why he was giving absolutely no

help to anyone, he said that he wouldn’t give a “5 cent piece” to any province with a Tory (Conservative) government.

Result: King was defeated in the election of 1930. The new Prime Minister was the Conservative, R.B.

Bennett.

▪ So what did Bennett do about the Depression?

Mackenzie King & R.B. Bennett

Bennett tried to end the Depression through

Work camps These were camps for single,

unemployed men. They were usually far away from cities. The men working here earned 20 cents a

day. Result:▪ Most relief camps workers were unhappy.▪ The money they made was so little, they

could not have any impact on the economy.

Work Camps

Tariffs

These are taxes on goods that come from other countries.

The purpose was to make Canadian goods cheaper and easier to sell than foreign goods.

Result: Other countries increased tariffs on

Canadian goods, and our exports declined. This hurt a lot more than it helped because

the Canadian economy depends on exports.

Government Assistance for the poor

The government gave poor families assistance of about $10 per month.

This was also called pogey or the dole. Pogey was not easy to get. Applicants had

to Stand in long lines where they could be seen by

everyone. Publically declare their financial failure. Swear that they did not own anything valuable. Prove that they were being evicted from their

home.

Pogey and The Dole

Results: All of Bennett’s efforts ended up in failure,

and Canada went deeper into recession. An election was coming up in 1935, so

Bennett looked to the USA for examples of how to bring the country out of Depression. In the USA, President Roosevelt had improved

his country’s economy through the “New Deal”. Bennett’s proposals included:

▪ Minimum wage▪ Unemployment insurance▪ Regulation of wheat prices▪ Old age pensions▪ Health and accident insurance

Bennett as a symbol of The Depression

F.D.R.’s “New Deal”

Bennett still lost the election of 1935 to Mackenzie King. Mackenzie King’s slogan during the election was “King or Chaos”.

Mackenzie King’s Plan:▪ He had no plan!▪ In 1937, he appointed a Royal Commission

to look into solutions for the Depression.