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Canada 1945-1954. POST-WAR PERIOD. ½ million veterans came home large increase in marriages/weddings The Baby Boom followed inflation low purchasing power high financial incentives from government. ECONOMIC BOOM. jobs plentiful 1947 Leduc oil well blow – “black gold”
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POST-WAR PERIOD • ½ million veterans came home • large increase in marriages/weddings • The Baby Boom followed • inflation low • purchasing power high • financial incentives from government
ECONOMIC BOOM • jobs plentiful • 1947 Leduc oil well blow – “black gold” • http://archives.cbc.ca/lifestyle/travel/clips/17015/ • gold in north – riches for Inuit (“Eskimos”) • uranium mined in: Elliot Lake, Ontario; Uranium City, Saskatchewan • 20% of all Uranium mined in the world is mined in Canada • Kitimat, B.C. – hydro-electric power & aluminum smelting
New Brunswick – forestry – export newsprint • Prairies – wheat • birth rate soared (Baby Boom), ½ million immigrants • population: 12 million in 1945 14 million in 1951 • new subdivisions built on farmland, planners invented suburbs, built shopping malls & new schools • Canadians cashed in their Victory Bonds & went on buying spree • life in suburbs depended on the automobile
car ownership doubled in 7 years after the war • tourism increased • groundbreaking scientific & technological developments took place: factory automation, jet airplanes, snowmobiles • better machinery increasing productivity, more money, shorter work week, annual vacations • Canada had 2nd highest standard of living in the world
POLITICS • in 1945, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Liberal PM re-elected • 1945 Igor Gouzenko spy scandal revealed existence of Soviet spy ring in Canada • stockpiling of nuclear weapons began • Canada located geographically between United States & Soviet Union so Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line (string of radar stations) established in Canadian Arctic
Louis St. Laurent replaced Mackenzie King after his retirement • 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) created, with help of St. Laurent, to help protect the West from the Soviet Union & communism • Cold War began, but soon boiled over into “hot war” when communist North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950, with help of Soviet Union & China • Canadian soldiers sent to Korea to help stop the spread of communism
St. Laurent set up social security for all Canadians: 1st old age pension plan • 1949 Newfoundland & Labrador joined Canada as 10th province, led by Joey Smallwood (after 2 referendums) • Union Nationale government in Quebec came to power under Maurice Duplessis • Duplessis encouraged investment by American, British & English Canadian investors English became dominant language of big business • grip of Roman Catholic church in Quebec loosened
IMPORTANT EVENTS & CULTURE • 1950 Red River flood in Winnipeg • http://www.manitobaphotos.com/1950.htm • early 1950s television came slowly to Canada – all TV was live • 1951 visit of Princess Elizabeth & Prince Phillip • 1953 Coronation of Queen • 1954 – Hurricane Hazel hit Toronto & Ontario
Hurricane Hazel hit Toronto & Ontario • 300 million:number of tons of water that fell during the storm155:Hazel's maximum speed (mph) in the Caribbean81:Number of people in Ontario who lost their lives from the flooding4,000:Number of families left homeless in Southern Ontario from the flood (1,868 in Toronto)32: Houses on Raymore Drive that were washed away by floods 4:Magnitude of Hazel at the maximum rating prior to landfall on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane scale
1954 Miracle Mile: Roger Bannister • http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/athletics/clips/7607/ • Massey Commission investigates state of the arts in Canada: concern over American influence/dominance in Canadian culture • high rate of church attendance: all business closed on Sunday, alcohol not widely available, women not allowed in bars unless accompanied by men, 2-piece swimsuits frowned upon
school was strict, students in single file, stood by desk when speaking, exams & all subjects compulsory, capital punishment • 16 year-old Marilyn Bell swam across Lake Ontario in 21 hours • http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/swimming/clips/4245/ • “Land of Promise” era