Women on the home front• Women were expected to sacrifice for the war effort• Women rationed food (especially meat), made vegetable

gardens and sewed their own clothes• Also, women knitted socks for men in the trenches• The white feather campaign was a tactic used by women to

shame men into enlisting

War on the Home Front

Women’s RightsThe Conscription Crisis

The Election of 1917

Women’s work• Before the war, women

were expected to stay at home

• Women who did work were usually single and could only get jobs as teachers, nurses or secretaries

• Also, women’s fashion was very constricting

• Women were expected to wear long dresses at all times, covering up arms, ankles and neckline

Women during the War• With thousands of young men

leaving to fight in the war and the huge demand for food and war material, women were asked to join the work force

• For the first time, women took on jobs like bus driving, factory work, and farm laborer

• Factory production and efficiency went up with female workers

• In addition, thousands of women went overseas as Nursing sisters

Women and Prohibition• Canada was a hard drinking country• Many men would waste their

money at bars and saloons• Also, the rate of domestic violence

was very high• Women’s group had been pushing

for laws against alcohol for years• During the war, the need for public

safety and increased food production caused many in government to listen to women’s concerns about alcohol

• By 1918, production, distribution and consumption of alcohol was illegal

The Struggle for Women’s Rights• Since women were doing so much for

the war effort, they wanted a share in making decisions about the country.

• Women who fought in the women’s right movement were called suffragists.

• Women fought for the right to vote (suffrage), work for political equality to men, and equal opportunities in employment.

• Nellie McClung was Canada’s leading suffragist at the time.

• The movement was so strong the Canadian Government allowed some women to vote in the 1917 election

Key points

• Women had few rights in Canada before WWI• During WWI, women took on new jobs, wore

new clothing and discovered new confidence • Women were most responsible for passing

prohibition (no alcohol)• Some women gained the right to vote in 1917

Conscription

• Conscription: all able-bodied men would be required to join the army.

• The war had dragged on much longer than everyone had expected. As a result, casualty numbers rose and volunteer enlistments dropped.

Because of these numbers…

• Borden was convinced by military officials that the war could not be won without more reinforcements.

• He asked parliament to pass the conscription bill.

4 Corners Activity• Imagine yourself living during WWI knowing what

you know now about the war efforts overseas and at home.

• Would you be…1. 100% in favour of Conscription2. Leaning toward conscription3. Leaning against conscription4. Completely against conscription

• Move to the corner where your choice is posted• Discuss with your classmates standing with you

your reasons for your choice

Conscription Debate

• After hearing the points of views of your classmates, would any of you like to change your position?

A Country Divided• Talk of conscription caused much uproar and

essentially divided the country, especially between English and French Canadians.

• There was much protest in Quebec.• English-Canadian newspapers accused Quebec

of not doing their part because they sent the fewest volunteers in proportion to its population.

Conscription Crisis: Comparative Chart

Your Identity in 1917

• Based on your identity card, decide how you would vote in the upcoming election using the comparative chart.

Union Government = For Conscription (2)Opposition (Laurier) = Against Conscription (3)

CAST YOUR VOTE!

Soldiers' Ballot.Broadsheet produced by the Union government showing soldiers how to cast their

votes in the 1917 election. This leaflet notes that a vote for the Union government is a vote against slackers.

George Metcalf Archival Collection

Conscription is Law• In summer 1917, Borden passed the Military Service

Bill making conscription law:– Military service was compulsory for all males between the

ages of 20 and 45. Only men in vital wartime production jobs, those who were sick, or conscientious objectors (those for whom fighting was against their religion or other beliefs) did not have to join.

• Conscientious objectors were also known as Pacifists: those against war based on religion. (Mennonites and Quakers who came to Canada to escape military service in their own countries and for religious freedom.)

Swaying the Vote

• Two more bills were passed in winter of 1917, both to strengthen Borden’s position on conscription.

• The Military Voters Act: allowed soldiers overseas to vote

• The Wartime Elections Act: – gave the vote to female relatives of soldiers • The War Measures Act:– took the vote away from people born in enemy countries

or who spoke the language of an enemy country, and conscientious objectors.

Does your vote count?

• Based on the Military Voters Act and the Wartime Elections Act, does the vote you cast based on your identity count?

If yes…put a on your ballot

If no…put a on your ballot

Submit your ballot at the polling station!

Let’s Count the votes!!!

The Election of 1917

• Borden and the union government won by an overwhelming majority.

• 153 seats to 82 seats• In Quebec, however, Borden only received 3

seats to Laurier’s 62.

Did Conscription Work?• By 1918, only 45 000 conscripts reached the

battlefield.• They was a huge divide in the country.• Many say that national unity was a high price

to pay for 45 000 soldiers.

Aftermath• Borden wins the election in every province except

Quebec• French men are specifically targeted for conscription• Massive Riots in Quebec City and Montreal!• Canada was divided just as Laurier feared

Key Points

• The Canadian Army was Shrinking and needed more men

• Sir Robert Borden wanted conscription• English Canada supports conscription• French Canada doesn’t• Borden wins the 1917 election by using the War

Measures Act, Military Voters Act and Wartime Elections Act

• Quebec Riots and has negative feelings towards English Canada that never go away!