Canada’s drive for Autonomy• Treaty of Versailles (1919)

– Canada given seat but no vote at the conference.

– Canada did sign but opposed the treaty as too hard

• Chanak Crisis (1922)– The 1920 peace treaty with

Britain allowed British occupation along the Dardanelles, however in 1922 Turkish nationals moved in and pinned the British down at Chanak.

– Britain asked Canada to send troops, Prime Minister Mackenzie King responded that parliament would have to debate the issue and vote on sending troops. • Never again could Britain

automatically assume Canada’s support in a conflict that did not impact her.

• Halibut Treaty (1923): Canada and the USA negotiated a treaty over fishing in the North Pacific.– Britain wanted to send her

delegate but King refused saying that Canada’s minister of fisheries had sufficient power and it was of no concern to Britain.

– The 1923 imperial conference that year King made his position clear that he felt the dominion states were autonomous. Meaning that they were responsible for their own foreign policy and defence.

• Balfour Report (1926): As a result of the imperial conference agreed to the recognition of the autonomy of the dominions and the special ties that existed with all British Commonwealth nations.

• King-Byng Affair: 1926 Mackenzie King’s coalition government was plagued by scandals as ministers and other politicians were taking kick backs from rumrunners to look the other way. – Rather then waiting for a vote of non-

confidence and being defeated King went to the Governor General Byng and asked him to call an election prior to news of the scandal getting to the electors.

– Byng refused giving Meighen the opportunity to form the government. King stirred up a public up roar over a British official denying the request of the elected prime minister of Canada as being unconstitutional.

– Meighen was soon forced to resign and King won a majority in the following election

• Statute of Westminster (1931): Confirmed Canada’s independence in international affairs

• Supreme court of Canada (1949): Made Canada’s final appeals court (St Laurent)

• 1982 Constitution Act: Trudeau’s government patriated (brought home) the constitution. Meaning that he was able to get agreement with the provinces on an amending formula for the constitution (sans Quebec) allowing him to approach Britain and as that Canada finally be given control over their own constitution.

Closer Ties to the Americans

Economy• US companies invested in

heavily after the great war– Raw material exported to

the USA (news print/ metals

– Branch plants set up to avoid paying Canadian tariffs. These decimated the Canadian auto industry

– US companies owned great portion of Canada’s industry manufacturing, oil, chemical and electric.

• Prohibition: starting in 1915 by 1918 all provinces and the federal government had prohibition legislation. – pressure came from the

WCTU (women’s Christian Temperance Union) and the war effort.

– By 1921 provinces changed to regulation of alcohol.

– The USA maintained its prohibition until 1933 creating the main source of wealth for many Canadian families who chose to help quench the thirst by supplying illegal alcohol. Bootlegging

Art

• Jazz• Flappers were women

with bobbed hair and who wore dresses that came to the knees which ends were trimmed with beads.

• Men went to single breast suits with baggy trousers and vests (gangster style)

URBANIZATION• Canadian cities followed the American model of development

with factories near the inner city and the wealthy moving to suburbia.

• Slums and inner city decay started to evolve in both.

ORGANIZATIONS• Service groups that started

in the USA moved north of the border. Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis clubs

• The Ku Klux Klan also moved north of the border

ENTERTAINMENT • Movies dominated by American

makers yet provided opportunities for many Canadian like Mary Pickford “America’s sweet heart or Jack Warner of Warner Brothers or Louis B. Mayer of MGM.

• Sports: Americanization of the NHL, and American football moving north of the border.

Canadian Society

• Group of Seven: were Canadian painters who’s unique style of broad strokes and vivid colours gain world recognition.– Franklin Carmichael,

Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald and Frederick Varley.

• Emily Carr while not a member of the group was closely associated and painted coastal BC.

Emily was born and used Victoria as her base of operation 1871-1945

Grey Owl• Lived as an aboriginal but

was not (had blue eyes)• Canada’s most famous

naturalist in the 1920’s and 1930’s

• He wrote many books and was filmed working with animals in nature.

• Originally a trapper he served as a sniper for the black watch in the great war.

Foster Hewitt1902-1985

• First radio broad caster of hockey (1923), Considered the voice of hockey for over 40 years

• "he shoots, he scores!" • history minute• Summit series• One of the first owners

of the Vancouver Canucks

Bluenose• Bluenose

– was a Canadian fishing and racing Schooner from Nova Scotia built in 1921

– From 1931 and for the next 17 years of racing, no challenger, American or Canadian, could wrest the Lipton cup, International Fishermen's Trophy from her.

– Commemorated on the dime

Canada at the 1928 Summer Olympics• Medalists• Gold• Percy Williams — Athletics, Men's

100m • Percy Williams — Athletics, Men's

200m • Ethel Catherwood — Athletics,

Women's High Jump • Ethel Smith, Bobbie Rosenfeld,

Myrtle Cook, Florence Jane Bell — Athletics, Women's 4x100m Relay

• Silver• Bobbie Rosenfeld — Athletics,

Women's 100m • James Ball — Athletics, Men's 400m • Joseph Wright Jr. and John Guest —

Rowing, Men's Double Sculls • Donald Stockton — Wrestling, Men's

Freestyle Middleweight

• Bronze• Ethel Smith — Athletics, Women's

100m • James Ball, Stanley Glover,

Phil Edwards, Alexander Wilson — Athletics, Men's 4x400m Relay

• Raymond Smillie — Boxing, Men's Welterweight

• Frederick Hedges, Frank Fiddes, John Hand, Herbert Richardson, Jack Murdoch, Athol Meech, Edgar Norris, William Ross, John Donnelly — Rowing, Men's Eights with Coxswain

• Munroe Bourne, James Thompson, Garnet Ault, Walter Spence — Swimming, Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay

• James Trifunov — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Bantamweight

• Maurice Letchford — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Welterweight

Canada at the 1928 Winter OlympicsGold for Hockey

The Olympics brought Canadians a sense of national pride that help whether French or English.

Impact of Technology in the 1920’s• Automobile:

– mass production techniques, allowed the automobile be sold at reasonable rates to the average Canadian.

– This transformed rural life by allowing Canadians to travel quicker and more freely than ever before.

– automobiles became new items for Canadians to enjoy some friendly competition; for example, races involving hill climbs and endurance were very popular

– This also changed the development of cities as it enable suburbia to develop

– New industry opportunities, factories, garages etc…

Radio• Gugliemo Marconi- invented the

first wireless radio, set up the first commercial radio station in Toronto in 1919.

• Ted Rogers- In 1924/1925 he discovered a way of plugging the radio directly into household electric current, he invented the word's first battery-less radio (sold for $150), set up his own radio station in Toronto (1927).

• People in the remotest areas of Canada were no longer isolated and were brought in contact with other cities of the nation

• 1923 there had been less than 10,000 radio sets in Canada, but by the end of the decade there were 300,000.

• The Radio brought Canada and the U.S together

• The first dial phones appeared in Toronto in 1924 and three years later the combined handset with mouthpiece and earphone on the same unit came into use.

• -By 1929 the phone became widely used.

• -Three out of four families had one, and calls could be made across town, across Canada or across the sea on a “pay when billed” basis.

• -The telephone shrank distances

• Planes opened up Canada for development with bush pilots flying into regions that were previously inaccessible.

• By the end of the 1920 planes became used more and more for transportation

• In 1924 the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was formed

1st Feminist movement

• There were two goals:– Right to vote – Persons under the law

• In Canada women were not recognized as the BNA act talked about man which our male politicians took to heart.

Persons case• 1916 – Emily Murphy

became the first female judge in Alberta. Defence lawyer argued that she could not judge his client, as she was not a person under the BNA act.

• 1919 – Emily petitioned Prime Minister Borden to appoint a female to the senate he responded that he could not as they were not persons under the law of Canada.

• 1927 – Using rule that 5 people could petition the supreme court for and interpretation on any point in the BNA act Emily Murphy with Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby & Henrietta Muir Edwards asked for clarification. – The Supreme Court up held

the interpretation.• 1929 – The Alberta 5

petitioned the Privy Council in Britain, who are responsible for the BNA act. The Privy Council declared that both men and women were persons in Canada.

• First wave of Feminism ended because– They accomplished their

two main goals– The on set of the

depression in 1929 caused most women to worry about survival of their families.

Aboriginal Issues• 1876 Indian Act: policy of

assimilation, where the natives became the most regulated people living in Canada.– Banned potlatch – Elective system of

government imposed – No alcohol or billiards

• During this time aboriginals were pushed on to reserves and became wards of the state.

Residential Schools

• 1st school opened in the 1840’s

• By 1920 it became compulsory for aboriginals 7-15yrs of age to attend residential schools.

• Most residential schools were phased out in the 1960’s with the last one closing down in 1988

• Residential schools were set up due to the influence of 3 groups.– Federal Government: saw

the schools as a way to assimilate aboriginals into the Canadian culture and promote economic self-suffiency

– Church wanted to convert native children to Christianity.

– parent / community wanted their children to participate in the new economy and make the band stronger

• 2 types of schools were set up– Boarding schools where

students lived at the school during the school year.

– Industrial schools where ½ day in class and ½ day working.

• ¾ of the native students were in grades 1-3 while only 3 in 100 went past grade 6.

• Native students suffered from:– physical abuse– sexual abuse– verbal abuse– depression

• These led to high rates of suicide, substance abuse and later family problems.

• In the end– Federal government apologized and paid 350 million in

compensation for victims to be used in community projects– Several church groups have apologized – Community and Bands commenced the healing circle.

Black Canadians• Lived in cities• Discrimination in work:

general laborers, Janitors, waiters, barbers and porters.

• 80% of black women, domestic servants

• 1924 Court case in Ontario said it was legal to segregate or not serve black people

• Churches were the center of support for their communities

• It was not until the 1940’s that anti discrimination laws were passed.

Immigration• Was slow after WW1 until

the end of the 1920’s were it increased rapidly up to 150000 a year.

• Immigration was based on the concept of fundamental character, as Canada wanted to maintain its British heritage.

• French Canadians were concerned with the low amount of French speaking immigrants coming to Canada

• Pier 21 in Halifax was the point of which immigrants entered the nation, most ended up as cheap labour, working as servants or working in the factories.

• During the depression discrimination and hostility towards immigrants increased. Laid off first, refused relief and even deported “shoveling our the unemployed”

• Anti-Semitism was rampant during the depression as well

• The name given to travelling tent shows which originated in the USA and flourished in Canada 1917-35.