The Labour Movement

Soldiers Come Home• During the WWI,

labour shortages were constant

• bargaining power of workers = high

• Soldiers return

Russian Influence

• Bolshevik revolution – Private ownership banned– Collective planning instead

• Unions became more radical

• Government clamped down on unions, some were banned

• First “Red Scare” in Canada

Why Unions?• In 1919 workers did not have

– Unemployment insurance– Workers compensation– Pensions

• Workers formed trade unions to gain– Improved housing– Job training– Higher pay

Unions in Winnipeg• By 1911, Winnipeg

was the 3rd largest city in Canada

• Also the most unionized

• 1917 – talk of a city wide strike over conscription

Unions in Winnipeg• 1918 – Winnipeg City council outlaws

the right to strike– Municipal workers striked in protest,

joined by others– City backs down

in defeat– Lesson = strength

in numbers, victory through militancy

Winnipeg General Strike• 1919 a General Strike was called

– Massive Unemployment– Social Unrest– Rising Inflation

• Union leaders saw it as straightforward fight for collective bargaining

• Government saw it as an attempt to launch a full scale Bolshevik Revolution

What Did They Want?• Decent wages (85

cents/hour)

• Eight hour work day

• Right to collective bargaining

Winnipeg General Strike (cont)• Opposition to the strike

came from the Citizen’s Committee of 100

• Police strikebreakers were deployed – at one point the numbers were at 272– Machine guns were mounted on trucks– Full operational assault tank armed with

a crew of 11 men– Army standing by– Mounties were ready

• CC 1000 called for the arrest of strike organizers

• This was against the law so the law changed– Revised to allow the government to arrest,

detain and deport naturalized citizens on the suspicion of advocating revolution.

• June 21, riot broke out– Strikers overturned a trolley– Police started hitting and

firing• Two killed - 20 injured - 80 arrested

Strike Continues…

Ending the Strike• By dusk the army ruled the streets• This day was called Bloody Saturday• Was over by June 25 (lasted 6 weeks)• Many families never recovered from

the financial loss• Some strikers did not have

jobs to go back to• Some strike leaders got

involved in politics

Your Task:On the sheet provided to you, you

must:sum up the events

beforeduring

and after the Winnipeg General Strike in

the six boxes through illustration and (short) captions.

The Women’s Movement

Getting the Vote• Western Canada was the poop

disturber

• Nellie McClung led the fight– Known as the “Holy Terror”

• Clashed with Manitoba MP over the issue of women getting the vote– MP dismissed her as a “hyena in a

petticoat”

Mamma Bear Gets Mad• McClung stages a female

parliament– Addressing the question

“Should men get the vote?”

“Man is made for something higher and better than voting. Men were made to support families…why if men start to vote, they will vote too much. Politics unsettles men, and unsettled men mean unsettled bills, broken furniture, broken vows, and divorce” – McClung in her play

Victory…sort of• MP Roblin was

defeated in next election

• New liberal leaders give women in Manitoba the provincial vote in 1916 (federal vote not given until 1918)

First Female MP - 1921• Agnes MacPhail won her

riding in rural Ontario

• She called for prison reform

• 1954 she was going to be appointed to the senate, but died before the appointment

The Person’s Case• Emily Murphy (from Alberta) wanted a

separate women’s court

• Alberta attorney general agreed – Emily first female magistrate in 1916

• Nellie McClung appointed in Edmonton 1921

• Oh wait…we forgot to tell you that…

Women Aren’t Persons• According to the BNA Act,

only qualified “persons” could hold such positions (like a magistrate)

• British common law, held that women were not considered persons in matters of “rights or privileges”

You’re Not The Boss of Me!!• Cases heard by women were

immediately challenged.

• The women made note of the issue and continued…but they continued doing their job illegally

**the men weren’t arguing that women weren’t human beings – just that under the legal definitions, women were not eligible to hold public office **

Lizzie Cyr• 1917, female prostitute Lizzie Cyr

brought before Allie Jamieson for charges of vagrancy

• Sentenced to 6 months hard labour

• Cyr’s lawyer petitioned the court on the basis that women aren’t persons

• Alberta Supreme Court said “yes they are!” (June14, 1917)

Famous Five• The issue was settled in Alberta, but

not nationally.

• Emily Murphy noted that under section 24 of the BNA Act, only “qualified persons” could be appointed to the Senate, so she issued a challenge to Ottawa

• Ottawa tried to avoid it but…

• she also discovered something during this time

– A rule stated that any five concerned citizens could request a hearing from the supreme court of Canada on any point in the BNA Act. So in 1927 she got four other leading suffragists, all from Alberta, to launch a challenge. They are the “Famous Five”

The Famous FiveEmily Murphy police

magistrateHenrietta Edwards

co founder of the National Council of Women

Nellie McClung former Alberta MLA

Louise McKinney

former Alberta MLA

Irene Parlby Alberta MLA and provincial cabinet minister

How can I get to the Senate?• 1. Is power vested in the Governor General

of Canada, or the Parliament of Canada, or either of them, to appoint a female to the Senate of Canada?

• 2. Is it constitutionally possible for the Parliament of Canada, under the provisions of the BNA Act, or otherwise, to make provision for the appointment of a female to the Senate of Canada?

Justice Minister decided to frame their questions like this:

Does the word ‘Persons’ in section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?

Emily wrote to the Minister of Justice proposing a third question for referral to the Supreme Court aimed at establishing how women could be appointed to the Senate:

“If any statute be necessary to qualify a female to sit in the Senate of Canada, must this statute be enacted by the Imperial Parliament (the Parliament of England) or does power lie with the Parliament of Canada, or the Senate of Canada?”

• But he ignored it, so we remember the question asked as being the ‘revised’ one:

Does the word ‘Persons’ in section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?

The Challenge• On April 24, 1928 the SCC announced

that womenwere NOT legally persons.

• The Famous Five convinced the Canadian government to take this to the British Privy Council in London.

• On October 18, 1929, Britain ruled for Canada and reversed the verdict.

“The exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours.”

– Lord Chancellor Sankey of the Privy Council

Bittersweet for CanadaUnderlying issue:

Canada still not completely independent

. Britain had overruled the decision made by Canada’s highest court.

It was a victory for women, but a blow to Canada’s sovereignty.

• 3 things you learned• 2 things you already knew• 1 thing you still wonder about

Today we learned about women’s struggle to become ‘persons’. What other contemporary struggles do women have today?

Agenda• Hand in any assignments• Move for Independence

Move for Independence

King-Byng Crisis• In 1926 = scandal

– kickbacks and bootlegged liquor in the customs department

• King asks Julian Byng (GG) to :– dissolve the House and call an

election

• Byng refused (sort of). Invites Meighan to form a new government – lasts 4 days

King-Byng Crisis• In the election that followed, King made

this a crisis of sovereignty and about the GG.

• King won a majority

• The man of principle. Meighan, had been

humiliated

King-Byng Crisis• And Lord Byng, who was a war

hero, was vilified

• Canadian political independence had been reasserted

• Message was clear – royals were to be ornaments – they were not to interfere

Paris Peace Conference - 1919• Canada has own seat

• Canada had an independent signature

• This upset the USA.

Chanak Crisis - 1922• British troops were

sent to Turkey – Turkey might occupy

the port of Chanak,– control of waterway

from Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

• Britain tried to force Canada into getting involved in an overseas conflict

Chanak

• King - Canada would not automatically send troops

• 1st time Canada refused to supply unconditional support for British– Only the Canadian Parliament would

decide if Canada would send troops– Sent volunteer force that never saw

action

Halibut Treaty - 1923• Canada signed its very

own first international treaty with the USA

• The Halibut Treaty with the U.S. helped protect Canada’s Pacific Fisheries

Balfour Declaration - 1926• Imperial Conference, the Balfour

Declaration recognized Canada and other dominions as

“autonomous communities within the British Empire, equal in status [and] in no way subordinate.”

• Acknowledged that GG was only a rep of the British monarch (like today)

Statute of Westminster - 1931• Created the British

Commonwealth

• These dominions were free to make their own laws

• Canada became a sovereign state as part of the British Commonwealth of Nations

BUT…wait! There’s more…• 1931, sort of marked Canada’s

political independence – we just couldn’t change our constitution

• Canada couldn’t agree on an amending formula so…

• any future changes would have to be passed by the British Parliament first– (this changed in the 1980s – yes, that’s

Justin’s Dad).

Economy Basics

Supply and Demand• Supply – how much is

available

• Demand – how badly people want the product

Supply and Demand• Cost of product is HIGH when

– Demand is high, supply is low

• Cost of product is LOW when– Demand is low, supply is high

Business Cycle• It is normal for economies to

go through cycles of

– Prosperity (extreme = boom)– Recession (extreme =

depression)

Boom (prosperity)

recession

depression

recovery

prosperity

recession

depression

recovery

Combat Mode: ON• Americans and Canadians

– Different views on helping the poor

• Americans are afraid of government involvement

• Canadians welcomed it

• Welfare State emerges

• Relief Camps

• Situation is worse for women– First fired, last hired

• Canada’s Prime Ministers– Different views on how to help

• King:– “temporary seasonal

blackness”– “I wouldn’t give _______________

a 5 cent piece”

– Bennett elected in 1930

Poor Law 101• BNA Act

– Municipality are responsible for poor– municipality has no power of taxation

• Municipality appeals to Prov. Gov’t

• Prov. Gov’t appeals to Fed. Gov’t– Feds say it’s not their problem

• Bennett:– Conservative Govn’t

• Doesn’t like spending money– The depression was “a

psychological problem”– Escapism– A little bit of poverty would

make you stronger– Raised tariffs– Gave relief

New Political Parties

Communism – The Red Menace

• Founded June 1921

• August 1931, 9 of its leaders were arrested– For having the wrong ideas

• Party Leader Tim Buck sent to jail

• Guards try to kill him, but fail

Cooperative Commonwealth Federation• Later became the NDP in 1961

• Founded 1932 in Calgary, Alberta

• Advocated for “democratic socialism”

• Leader: J.S. Woodsworth, Tommy Douglas 1944

Cooperative Commonwealth Federation• Regina Manifesto (party platform)

– Nationalize key industries– Provide guaranteed minimum income– Free health care– Children’s allowances– Unemployment insurance

Social Credit• Founded by Radio evangelist

William “Bible Bill” Aberhart

• Advertised a new theory– Problem = people don’t have

enough purchasing power

Social Credit• Solution:

– Provide cash dividends

• Bible Bill vowed that he would give every adult $25

• Tried to back out of it – prints his own money

• Against the law…

Union Nationale• Organized 1937

• Leader: Maurice Duplessis (until 1959)

• Appealed to Quebec nationalists

• 1937 – Padlock Law

Padlock Law• Allowed the Quebec government to:

– Lock up and evict anyone from any location if they are suspected of being used by communists

– Anyone printing communist material = jail for 1 year

• No definition of what communism was

• Duplessis argues that communism was something “that can be felt”

KKK• Flourished in the 1920s

• Posed as the “defender of Britishness against the alien hordes”

• Opposed to liberal government

• Popular in Saskatchewan

KKK

A White Canada• 1923 – Chinese Immigration

Act

• 1920 , Duncan Campbell Scott – wanted to eliminate Indians through assimilation– One way of doing this =

residential schools

• “Our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic, and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department

King or Chaos• Bennett is PM during depression

• Isn’t doing enough

• King wants to make a comeback

• 1935 election – King or Chaos – King won

Our prime ministers so far:

Robert BordenWLM KingMeighanWLM KingBennettWLM King