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Responding to the Depression

Explore how Prime Ministers King & Bennett dealt with the Depression in Canada, the impact on citizens, the emergence of work camps, the On-to-Ottawa Trek, and Vancouver protests. Compare Bennett's response to Roosevelt's New Deal philosophy.

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Responding to the Depression

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  1. Responding to the Depression Pages 81 - 86

  2. Responding to the Depression • Prime Minister King was totally unprepared to meet the challenges and thought that the problems were temporary – like most world leaders • King told people that it was the municipalities and provinces who should help the poor • Conservative Premiers criticized P.M. King (King was Liberal Party) • PM King said that he wouldn’t contribute a “five cent piece” to any province with a Tory government

  3. The impulse remark, “five cents piece” and • Kings failure to understand that unemployment was a major issue, • This costhim the election in 1930 to Conservative Richard Bedford Bennett

  4. Bennett’s Response • PM Bennett did not fully agree with government relief, but he promised to give the provinces $20 million for work creation programs. • Bennett also proposed to raise tariffs by 50% to protect Canadian industry

  5. The 50 % raise in tariffs did more harm than good in the long run because countries now put up their own trade barriers against Canada • Bennett become a target for the peoples’ anger.

  6. Depression Humour • People’s frustration with Bennett’s lack of understanding the ‘ordinary’ people, and what they were going through as the depression deepens . They were in the need of some “Depression Humour” • The “Bennett buggy” – a car pulled by a horse, since there was no money to buy gas

  7. "a Bennett barnyard" - an abandonedfarm • "a Bennett blanket" - a newspaper • "a Bennett coffee" – boiled wheat, barley • "Eggs Benedict" - boiled chestnuts • “Bennett burgs” – Hobo jungles

  8. Bennett Blanket Bennett Barnyard Hobos Bennett Coffee Eggs Bennett

  9. What do you do with these men? • With the growing number of homeless men drifting across the country frightened many middle-class Canadians • PM Bennett also feared these men would come under the influence of the Communist Party • 1931, the Communist Party was banned, and several of their leaders were arrested.

  10. Twenty Cents a Day • Work camps were createdfor the unemployed single men • Locateddeep in the woods in isolation. • Men worked on building roads, clearing land, digging drainage ditches– anything to keep them busy • They were paid twenty cents a day and given room and board. • The food was terrible and bunks were often bug infested. • Over 170,000 men spent time in the camps. • Camps were established by the federal government between 1932-1936.

  11. On-to-Ottawa Trek • 1935 - over a thousand men left camps in the interior of BCto protest camp conditions. • Met in Vancouver decided to take their complaints to Ottawa • Crowded into freight cars, or on top of them, picking up supporters as they moved through the prairies. • In Regina the trekkers were stopped by the RCMP and detained in a stadium, and the leaders were allowed to continue to Ottawa.

  12. Rioters at Regina

  13. The union leaders had high hopes, but the position Bennett had was made clear. • He believed the leaders to be radicals and troublemakers. • The RCMP was ordered to clear the trekkers from the stadium, but the trekkers resisted (fighting with the RCMP and local cops for two hours). • 1 man was killed and many were injured. • 130 men were arrested.

  14. Trouble in Vancouver • The federal government closed relief camps in 1937 and the provincial government reduced relief payments. • People protested the lack of gov’tsupport by conducting sit-ins at various buildings until the government would respond. • April 1937 - 1600 protestors occupied the Vancouver Art Gallery, post office, and the Georgia Hotel. • At the post office the men refused to leave until they were evicted with the use of tear gas. • Resulted in battles between police and the protesters, causing damage to storefronts in the area.

  15. President Roosevelt’s New Deal for America • PM Bennett modeled his plans after those of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) who promised a “New Deal” to Americans to restore confidence and get America working again US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

  16. Roosevelt’s Philosophy • Get people helpwith the Social Security Act – old age pension 65+,unemployment insurance, and financial assistance for mothers and children • Get people workingthrough “deficit” spending – using government spending, even in excess of revenue to pump up the economy

  17. Bennett’s New Deal • Promised • Progressive income tax – rich pay more • Minimum wage • Better working conditions • Unemployment insurance • Better Old Age Pensions • Aid for farmers • Sounds good but - Too Little too late

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