The Home Front• How did government

war policies affect Canadians?

• How did Canadians support the war effort?

Central Planning William Lyon Mackenzie King determined to

do things differently this time (e.g. Ross Rifle)

Member of King’s Cabinet, C.D. Howe – “The Minister of Everything” – handpicked industry leaders to make Canada into an industrial war machine

Government controlled many aspects of personal and business lives, e.g. wages, prices, what to produce, what you could buy, propaganda, etc.

Central Planning King created the Wartime Prices

and trade Board (WPTB) to control the economy:

Wage freeze (stuck at 1941 levels)

Price freeze (also stuck at 1941 levels; people should report overpricing)

Rationing (imported goods ,e.g. coffee, tea, sugar; butter, meat; gasoline; new tires for military only)

Paying for the war Raised income taxes

Victory bonds

Doubling of industrial production

Federal spending on the war effort, 1939-1950 = $21 786 077 519

Censorship To stop sensitive information from falling into

enemy hands:

Military censored letters to and from the front Telegrams from war reporters censored Media (news, radio, movies) was screened by

the government and media companies

Would this be possible today?

Propaganda Posters, radio broadcasts and

short films played with movies in theaters; their message:

War is necessary Showed the gruesome,

terrifying consequences of losing the war

The National Film Board was established in 1939 to make Canadian movies; during WWII, it made mostly films to boost morale – Churchill’s Island about the Battle of Britain won Academy Award for best documentary in 1941

Not Necessarily Conscription… To keep the country united (i.e. avoid alienating

Quebec), King rejected conscription for overseas service

National Resources Mobilization Bill (1940) allowed conscription for service at home

1942, King held a plebiscite, i.e. a special vote to see if Canadians would let him break his promise: “not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary.”

Anglophones: 79% yes Francophones: 85% no

…But Conscription If Necessary Parliament authorized

conscription for overseas service, but King didn’t use it till 1944 after heavy losses at Normandy, Italy, and the Netherlands

King ordered 16000 conscripts; 13000 sent; 2500 reached front lines; 60 killed in action

Internment Camps War Measures Act used

to create internment and POW camps

At their peak, camps held 34193 POWs

Also detained “enemyaliens,” anyone suspect-ed of sympathizing with Nazis or fascists, and members of the Communist party

30 000 Germans and Italians had to report to the RCMP monthly; many sent to camps

Japanese Canadians Before WWII, 22096 people of

Japanese descent lived in BC; ¾ of them born in Canada

After Japan bombed Pearl Harbour and attacked Hong Kong, they lost their rights, despite the military and RCMP arguing they were no threat

Men between 18-45 were rounded up and sent to camps; two days later, the rest were given 24 hrs. to pack up and follow.

Had to turn over property and belongings as a “protective measure only”: everything sold at auction for a fraction of its value; $ used to pay for housing in the camps

For years, Japanese Canadians campaigned to have the injustice recognized

1988: PM Brian Mulroney formally apologized to survivors and families:

Acknowledgement of what happened

$21000 to all surviving internees $12 million toward wellbeing of

Japanese community $24 million to set up Canadian

Race Relations Foundation Citizenship to all who had it

stripped

Japanese Canadians

How Did Canadians Support the War Effort?

Women took jobs vacated by men and in wartime industries

Women worked with the Red Cross, volunteered at soldiers canteens, and knitted socks

Children collected Victory Stamps and read Johnny Canuck comics

Despite hard times during the Depression, Canada’s industries were 4th among the allies in production; 70% went to help other countries

C.D. Howe directed manufacturers to produce for the war, e.g. munitions, parachutes, ration packs, first aid kits, naval crafts, vehicles, weapons, etc.

How Did Canadians Support the War Effort? Canadians were encouraged

to conserve and reuse scarce materials: rubber, bones, rags, fat, tinfoil, scrap metal, toothpaste/shaving cream tubes, etc.

Victory gardens: grow vegies instead of flowers

Put off education to join army or work in industry

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP)

Canada became the flight school for the allied countries

Every 4 weeks, the BCATP produced 544 pilots, 340 navigators. And 580 wireless operators and gunners

Canadian trained aircrew represented half of all British Commonwealth crew