Canada at the Turn of the Century: The Laurier Era (1896-1911)

1. Canada at the Turn of the Century: The Laurier Era (1896-1911)

2. “Canada has been modest in its history. In my estimation, it is only commencing. It is commencing in this century. As the nineteenth century was that of United States, so, I think the twentieth century shall be filled by Canada.”-Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 1904

3. Setting the Scene • In early 1900s, Canada was made up of only seven provinces (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Manitoba & PEI) • Eventually (in 1905) Saskatchewan and Alberta also joined into Canada • By 1900, the population of Canada was 5 million • Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Regina were all still small pioneer cities (rural cities) • Toronto, Montreal and Halifax were the largest cities

5. The Laurier years were a time of rapid economic growth for Canada and were often called the “Golden Years”. • By 1910, most of the Prairies were settled and being farmed

6. What resources would Canada have to offer the world markets? • Minerals • Lumber • Wheat

7. ECONOMY • Most people made their living as farmers and completing hard manual labour • Emerging industries were: railway building, timber, farming, mining, and city building

8. RAILWAY BUILDING • The completion of the Canada Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, B.C. took place on Nov. 7, 1885. • The railway allowed: • Quick and easy movement of people into the west. • Quick and easy movement of tools and supplies • Quick and easy movement of grain to eastern port cities. By 1914 Canada had 3 trans-continental railways.

9. IMMIGRATION- The Open Door Policy (1896 - 1905): • Clifford Sifton was appointed Minister of the Interior in 1896, and he decided on an “Open Door” immigration policy. • Sifton wanted farmers to settle in the Prairies and avoided recruiting urban workers. • First, he pinpointed desirable countries

10.  I think a peasant in a sheep-skin coat, born on the soil, whose forefathers have been farmers for ten generations, with a stout wife and a half-dozen children, is good quality. • Sifton on acceptable immigrants

11. He flooded the west with pamphlets, posters, and advertising. • He promised free land in the “Last, Best West” and promoted the idea that Canada was the land of opportunity. • Thousands came over - • These people were escaping from overcrowded cities, expensive farmland or a lack of land, crooked landlords, and poverty…

13. “Restrictive, Exclusive, and Selective” (1910) • Not everyone was pleased with the open door policy— English Canadians only wanted immigrants from Britain • The French worried about their status. They feared that the demands of other minority groups might drown out their demands for cultural equality. • Frank Oliver became Minister of the Interior in 1905. • In 1910, he changed the Immigration Act to slow down the migration of non-English speaking immigrants.

14. Oliver supported immigration of those who came from the following regions in this exact order of preference: • Nearby Canadian provinces • Britain • The United States • Northwestern Europe

15. Rating the Immigrants • Most Wanted EnglishFrench White Americans • Acceptable Belgians Dutch Swiss Finns Russians Germans Austro-Hungarians Ukrainians Poles • Need Not Apply Italians Greeks Syrians Jews Blacks Asians

16. “Settling the West is not merely a question of filling that country with people who will produce wheat and buy manufactured goods, but also of building up of a Canadian nationality so that our children may form one of the great civilized nations of the world. The wrong immigration could deteriorate rather than elevate the conditions of our people."

17. Although there are only 23,000 Chinese people in Canada in 1900 - arrivals from Asian countries are resented by the white majority. • By 1903, the Chinese head tax was increased to $500 per person to eliminate Chinese immigration. • This fee was roughly equivalent to two years worth of wages for a Chinese labourer living in Canada at the time.

18. “For my part, I have little hope of any good coming to this country for Asian immigration of any kind.” • Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, 1903 • “I think it is very injurious to the country to have any class of people in the community who will not assimilate, who have no aspirations, who are not fit to live in social and political relations with our people. I have no doubt that it will continue to be detrimental to our future to have Chinese here.” • Rev. E.S. Rowe, Methodist minister

19. View NFB Film:In the Shadow of Gold Mountain • http://www.nfb.ca/film/in_the_shadow_of_gold_mountain/ • 43 mins.

20. 2006 – PM Stephen Harper offers apology for Chinese head tax

21. Today….. • "For over six decades, these malicious measures, aimed solely at the Chinese, were implemented with deliberation by the Canadian state," said the Prime Minister.  "This was a grave injustice, and one we are morally obligated to acknowledge."The Prime Minister stated that the Government of Canada will make symbolic ex-gratia payments to those who were required to pay the Head Tax and to the spouses of Head Tax payers who have since passed away. It will also establish a fund for community projects aimed at acknowledging the impact of restrictions.

22. Changes in Quebec • The economy here grew in much the same way as Ontario, but many felt that industrialization threatened the nature of F-C society • Traditional rural (agricultural) French culture was slipping away • Many moved to larger cities. • They feared loss of culture and language • Quebeckers felt trapped between a fight to save their culture and adopting English ways to get ahead in the business world.

23. Henri Bourassa was their unofficial leader. • Bourassa led the fight for the rights of the French Canadian minority and became more influential in Quebec as French Canadians looked for leaders who would fight to protect their distinctive culture. • He was the founding editor of Le Devoirand warned his fellow French Canadians to avoid British imperial matters

24. Working Conditions in the 1900s • Factories replaced cottage industries • Most factory jobs involved hard labour, long hours, low pay… • To save $ companies hired women and children • Lighting and ventilation in factories were poor, work areas were dirty, machinery was dangerous.

25. There was no job security & unemployment was common. • This allowed employers to pay lower wages and threaten workers if they didn’t work hard. • Employers worked hard to stop any attempts at creating labour unions. • Job instability was complicated by the huge flow of immigrants. Many were desperate for work.

26. The sickness and even more, death, of the main wage earner in a family meant disaster. In 1902, a carpenter in the building trades could earn 11$/week while a labourer in the same trade would earn only 8$ or 9$/week. An estimated budget for food, fuel, light and shelter for a family of five amounted to 9.83$/week in 1902. With wages like these it was very unlikely that even a skilled worker could save enough to get through any period of prolonged illness or unemployment.” Linda Kealey, “Poverty and the working class of Toronto 1880-1914” Canada’s Visual History Series, vol. #3. 1978

27. In 1908 Marie Blanchet was 17 years old and had been working in a cotton mill for three years. She left school at the age of 11 to help her mother with the house work and the young children. When she was 14 her family got her a job at the mill so that she could supplement the family income. Up at 5am, Marie had breakfast and then walks fo 15 minutes to the mill where her day starts at 6:15. If she is even one minute late, she will lose one half hour’s pay. At noon, after working for 6 hours she is given a half hour for lunch. After lunch she continues until 5:30. She spends almost 11 hours a day at the machines a total of 60 hours a week. Home at 6:30, she has supper and then helps her mother with various chores before bed.

28. The Rise of Reform Movements • Living and working conditions continued to worsen for the industrial poor • Laurier’s laissez-faire government did little to remedy worker exploitation, poverty, crime and disease...therefore a number of reform movements arose…  • The Social Gospel: these reformers wanted to improve peoples’ quality of life – many were motivated by religion (they were like missionaries)

29. groups included the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), • the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), • and the Salvation Army.

30. Women were often leaders in these movements. • They pressed for better wages and safety standards in the workplace, and for the prohibition of child labour, prostitution and alcohol. • They demanded changes in education and health care.

31. Cities1900’s • Cities growing - factories - jobs • Divide between the rich and poor grew - factory owners got rich- lived in big houses - Factory workers were poorly paid – lived in slums

32. URBAN REFORM • major Canadian cities like Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, and Calgary experienced explosive growth • little thought was given to proper housing, schools, parks, water supply and sanitation systems  this led to unsanitary conditions. • No public health programs were in place and child mortality rates skyrocketed.

33. In 1911, J.S. Woodsworth, a social worker from Winnipeg published “My Neighbour” in which he made an emotional appeal to Canadians to take action to help the urban poor. • JJ Kelso was a police reporter for the Toronto World who was worried about street children. • He set up the Childrens’ Aid Society shelter in Toronto in 1892 (would care for homeless children until they could be adopted into stable families)

34. EDUCATIONAL REFORMS • By 1905 most provinces had legislation for free schooling and compulsory attendance for ages 7-12 • A Nova Scotia minister, Alfred Fitzpatrick, saw the need to educate workers in the labour camps far from the cities. • In 1899 he began Frontier College - Teachers were hired to go out to railway and lumber camps to work alongside the men by day and helped them with basic literacy skills by night.

35. COMMUNITIES • Local communities were very important as people often stayed close to home. • Life and activities revolved around such things as: the town band, local baseball or hockey teams and the Church. • People provided their own entertainment including sing-alongs, dancing, listening to bands, and family gatherings. • Nights out would include watching local plays or concerts in the church halls. • Families grew their own food – there were no supermarkets

36. ~ The End~