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Spanish flu
More information: Spanish Flu
As soldiers returned home from the war, the country was struck with a terrible epidemic ---"Spanish flu". Soldiers carried the virus with them from the overseas. The epidemic revaged countries around the world. To stop the spread of rhe flu, schools, theatres, and churches closed their doors. Some communities tried to set up a total quarantine, allowing no one to travel in or out. -
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from 1920s to 1930s
The two decades after World War One were called "the roaring twenties" and "the dirty thirties". This two decades were years of turmoil in Canada. -
Prohibition in Canada
More information: Prohibition in CanadaWomen's groups had campaigned for a ban on liquor for a long time. During the war , their campaign gained momentum, It was pointed out that grain should be used to feed soldiers and civilians, not to make alcohol. Also, the production of liquor did northing to the war effort. During the war, every provincial government except Quebec banned the sale of liquor. In 1918, the federal government introduced Prohibition, banning the production, import and transportation of liquor across the country. -
The Winnipeg General Strick
More information: 1919 Winnipeg general strike
The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most influential strikes in Canadian history, and became the platform for the future labour reforms. On 1 May, the Building and Metal Trades Councils in Winnipeg voted to go on strick. They were asking for three things:
1. decent wages (85 cents per hour)
2. an eight-hour day
3. the right to bargain collectively for better working conditions -
League Of Indians
More information: League of Indians of Canada (see page 9)
In the 1920s and 1930s, Aboriginal peoples began to form organizations to fight for their rights. In 1919 Frederick Loft,a Mohwk veteran from World War 1, organized the League of Indians. The league was the first attempt at a united voice for aboriginal nations. -
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The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism. The era was distinguished by several inventions and discoveries of far-reaching importance, unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and the significant changes in lifestyle. And finally, the Wall Street Crash in 1929 meant the end of this era, as the Great Depression set in, the dirty thirties started. -
Group of Seven
See the Group of Seven Gallery
The Group of Seven were a group of Canadian landscape painters in the 1920s, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Franz Johnston, Authur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley. The group of Seven was strongly influenced by European Impressionism of the late nineteenth century in the Montmartre district of Paris. -
Discovery of Insulin
More information: Discovery of InsulinBefore the discovery of insulin, diabetes was a feared disease that most certainly led to death. In October 1920 in Toronto, Dr. Frederick Banting, had an idea. Early in 1921, Banting took his idea to Professor John Macleod at the University of Toronto. Banting and Best began their experiments by removing the pancreas from a dog in 1921.In January 1922 in Toronto, a 14-year-old boy was chosen as the first person with diabetes to receive insulin. The test was a success and insulin was discovered. -
Royal Canadian Air Force
Canadian pilots who returned from WW1 were anxious to continue flying. So, in 1924, the Royal Canadian Air Force was created. The government believed military planes could be justified only if they were used for peaceful purposes as well. Early RCAF pilots therefore also conducted surveys, patrolled for forest fires, watched for smugling along Canada's coasts, and checked on fishing boats. -
Person’s Case
More information: Persons CasePersons Case was a fight between "Famous Five" and the government on whether the word "persons" should be referred to women or not. In 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that women were not "persons", the "Famous Five" were discouraged but not defeated, they decided to appeal their case to the Privy Council in Britain, after 3 months, "Famous Five" finally won and "persons" referred to men and women both. -
Black Tuesday
More information: Black Tuesday
"Black Tuesday"---the day the stock market crashed in October 1929 was one of the most dramatic events signalling the Depression. In the 1920s, many people played the stock market. People dreamed of getting rich overnight. Many people who invested in the stock market lost everything in the crash. -
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The Dirty Thirties
When the stock market crashed in 1929, the economy went into a downspin. Businesses went bankrupt. Workers were laid off and roamed the country looking for work. The West was hit with devastating drought and plagues of grasshoppers. The Dirty Thirties were a decade of hardship for most Canadians. -
Five-cents speech
In 1930, Mackenzie King insisted that social welfare (which included providing relief) was the responsibility of the provinces. King also declared that he would not give a "five-cent piece" to any province that did not have a Liberal government. This speech was one of the reasons why Liberals lost the elections and Conservatives too over. And Prime Minister Richard Bedford Bennett replaced Mackenzie King soon after. -
Statute of Westminster
More information: Statute of Westminster
The Statute oh Westminster is an act of the parliament of the United Kingdom which established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire and the United Kingdom, with a few residual exceptions, notably India. The Statute is of historical importance because it marked the effective lefislative independence of these countries, either immediately or upon ratificaiton. -
Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission
More information: CRBC
The CRBC was established in 1932 by the government of R.B.Bennett based on the recommendations of the 1929 Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting and as a result of the lobbying efforts of the Canadian Radio League. The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. -
Bennett's "New Deal"
New Deal was the radical reforms Bennett introduced in 1935 to pacify the angry Canadians. He wanted to establish unemployment and social insurance, set minimum wages, limit the hours of work, guarantee the fair treatment of employees, and control prices so that businesses could not make unfair profits. But most people felt that Bennett had left his reforms too late to do any good. So, in the election of 1935, King and the Liberals swept back to power in a landslide victory. -
On-to-Ottawa Trek
More information: On-to-Ottawa Trek
The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a 1935 social movement of unemployed men protesting the dismal conditions in federal relief camps scattered in remote areas across Western Canada because of the great depression. After two-month protest in Vancouver and BC, the strikers decided to go east to bring their complaint to the Federal government, this movement was called "On-to-Ottawa Trek". -
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
More information: CBC
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation came from the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission which was created in 1933. It was a powerful force in establishing a sense of national unity across Canada.
