Canada and the Great Depression

The 1900s was a great time for change in Canada. The two most significant events being the First World War and the Great Depression. In both events the government had to be involved. But how much government involvement does it take to keep a country in order during these times? Many still ponder this question, even a century later. Personally I believe that the government needs to do all it can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its people, especially during times of hardship. I will be talking about the Great Depression and its effects on Canada and its people in the next few paragraphs.

During World War 1 many factories and businesses were built. This gave many new opportunities. Hundred were employed, which meant hundreds were pumping money into the economy. Women were allowed to work in positions of authority, meaning they had extra money to spend and invest. Another factor that kept Canada's economy strong and booming was The International Trade. Eventually, though, many of the factories began to fail after the war. Many of them were built strictly to make supplies for the war to send off to soldiers and sell to different countries. In 1927, signs started being relevant that North America's economy was in trouble. This was when the wheat market began to crash along with many other businesses. Much more product was being produced than sold and eventually manufacturers decreased their productions leading to layoffs. This meant less income for families and less money to be put back into the economy, leading up to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The depression illustrated a major weakness in the Canadian economy. Some wealthy and middle class Canadians noticed little change in their lifestyle, while many felt it hard. It is estimated that between 1929 and 1933 Country wide spending declined by 42% and 30% of the working class was unemployed. 1 in 5 Canadians became dependent upon government relief for survival. Most people that felt the fast effects of the depression were the factory workers that lost their jobs due to the numerous lay-offs. Thousands lived off "pogey" which is a government relief payment given to those who had no other means of income. Acquiring a "pogey" was a humiliating experience seeing as one had to publicize financial failure and wait in line for hours. The depression was brought on in Canada by overproduction and international markets reducing their demand for these products. This caused many people to lose their jobs, especially on the prairies when the wheat market began to crash. Because of the depression causing food shortage many people died from diseases and malnutrition. Many people lost their houses that they had been trying to pay off for years, families were broken up when fathers and husbands had to leave to try and find jobs in other provinces, and the depression had no signs of ending.

The effects of the Great depression in Brantford, Ontario may not have been as bad as they were in the larger cities. Some say they remember few hardships while others remember food shortages and lack of money and work. The drought of the Prairie Provinces was one major factor that affected Brantford. Many of the cities industries manufactured farm equipment. Suddenly, there was no demand for these products. Many lay-offs occurred and there was only a scarce amount of workers left. All laborers were laid off with the hope that when the economy picked up they would be called back to work. But the economy didn't pick up. Some of the men left town, hoping to find work elsewhere, but many had to suffer the effects of depression. Unemployment and lack of money was the biggest weight on everyone shoulders. But greater yet was the need of putting food on the table. This became a major concern, but luckily during this era, there was a small privately owned grocery store in every neighborhood where credit was readily available. Many people bought groceries during the week and paid for them when they got paid on Friday. In 1931, Prime Minister Bennett set up a Relief Program in Canada. The payments were low and covered only two things, money for food and fuel during the winter months. Each city had its own rules for those on Relief. In Brantford, one of the requirements was that you had to be a resident and a second requirement was that you had to turn in your liquor permits to the city Relief Office, as liquor was a problem and it was the city's intention that Relief money only be spent on necessities. A third condition was that all people receiving Relief must be willing to work. Some were asked to pull weeds, cut grass, collect garbage, or shovel snow. If they refused they would receive no check. Another one of the biggest problems of the day was housing, mostly because banks in those days did not often give out mortgages. Most homes were owned by individuals who had bought them as investments. Times were even harder for those who had to make house payments. They were forced to sell their furniture, family heirlooms and anything else that they could in order to make their payments. Having used up all resources, many people still lost the homes they had made payments on for many years. No one knew how to change the situation the Depression had trapped them in. Some people were reduced to despair and saw only one way out; suicide, the rate went up. Men left their families to go look for work in other provinces, some never returned. Women were left alone to fend for their families and all together the future looked bleak.

Before the Great Depression of 1930 the North American governments believed in the policy known as laissez-faire, which meant keeping their involvement in the economy to a minimum. At first when Canadians came to the Prime minister, Mackenzie King, nothing was done. King told the people that financial help was the responsibility of the municipal and provincial government, many of which had also been bankrupted. Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression, and the government eventually stepped in. Prime minister King failed to understand how major the issue of the Canadian unemployment was; he lost the 1930 election to R.B. Bennett. Bennett attempted to help each province by giving them 20 million dollars for work-creation programs. Despite his efforts this did not help. In 1932 the federal government established unemployment relief camps they paid men 20 cents a day for construction work in the bush. The government also established the use of Protectionism; this was a system of raising tariffs to increase the price of imported goods in order to influence people to buy only nationally, hopefully strengthening the economy. The government also started the "pogey"- a form of welfare payment to relief those without an alternative income source. Despite government efforts, the people were not happy with the way they responded to the depression and many governments were voted out of the provinces.

It seemed like the Great depression would never come to an end, but then an unexpected event began to change the pattern of the last decade. This was the Second World War, the war boost the economy and lifted Canada out of the depression after one long decade. I believe that if it was not for the war Canada would probably have failed due to the depression. I don't think the government was ready to handle the depression, but I believe they should have been. The government should always be prepared and have a plan for anything that can be thrown at them. I also believe the government needs to get as involved as they possibly can and cradle the country until it is done with the hardships, even if it does mean a change in government.