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Period: to
History
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Prohibition
Prohibition banned the production, import and transportation of liquor across Canada. This ban caused citizens to purchase "bootleg booze", or illegal liquor. Private clubs, nicknamed "speakeasies" began popping up. Inside these clubs were readily available alcohol. As prohibtion took affect, the crime rate dropped, and cheques taken home instead of to the tavern. The government realized that they were losing millions of dollars by missing liquor sales, which resulted in ending it in 1920. -
Spanish Influenza
When the soldiers came home, they had carried a virus overseas. This virus, "Spanish Influenza" destroyed countries all around the room. 50 000 Canadians died, which was 10 000 people fewer than the number of war casualties. In 1919, a Federal Department of Health was created to look after national concerns. -
League of Indians
Frederick Loft, Aboriginal war veteran, created a League of Indians. Canadian government wanted to enfranchise the Aboriginal veterans , wanting the veterans to give up status so that they would have the right to vote. They believed that giving up status meant giving up their identities. Loft believed that the Aboriginals should be able to vote. When the 6 Nations tried to become an independent nation, the Canadian government temporarily stopped any political movements by Aboriginal nations. -
Winnipeg General Strike
Building and Metal Trades Councils voted to go on strike.
They had 3 requests:
1. decent wages ($0.85/hour)
2. an eight hour work day
3. the right to bargain collectively.
Trying to stop the strike, Ottawa sent in troops and machine guns to Winnipeg. The strike lasted for 37 days, ending on June 21, 1919, know as Bloody Saturday. It ended with one dead and 30 injured.
Quickly it turned into a general strike, under the direction of the Central Strike Committee. -
Insulin
1 000 000+ people had diabetes in Canada in 1921, with no available treatment. 1000's died because of this. In summer of 1921, Frederick Banting and Charles Best isolated insulin with the help of J.B. Collip. They then began to test it on humans. Late 1922, it was available to be used as treatment. 1923, Banting and J.R.R. MacLeod received the Nobel Prize. Banting and ManLeod shared their rewards with Best and Collip, believing that they did not receive enough credit. -
PM Mackenzie King
Prime Minister from 1921-1926 and then again from 1935-1948. Introduced unemployment insurance in 1940 and then family allowance in 1944. Lead the nation through WWII, getting help through his strong friendship with British PM Winston Churchill and US President Theodore Roosevelt. King ensured that Canada's interests were srerved before Britain's during the war, as his most important goal was national unity. Retired in 1948, died in 1950. -
Royal Canadian Air Force
In 1923, the RCAF was formed to fight for Canada in the skies. In WWII, the RCAF greatly assisted Britain in the fight to protect the Allies from the Nazi bombers. -
Foster Hewitt & Hockey Night in Canada
Hewitt called his first hockey game in 1923. He was the first person to call a hockey game's play-by-play on the radio. For the first game, Hewitt sat in a glass booth at rink level. He described the game over a telephone that was connected to the radio station. In 1931, he broadcasted the first "Hockey Night in Canada", in which he broadcasted from high in Maple Leaf Gardens. He coined the phrase "He shoots! He scores!", and for nearly 30 years Foster Hewitt was the voice of Canadian Hockey. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
This banned all Chinese immigrants except students, merchants, and diplomats from entering the country. From 1923-1947, when the Act was withdrawn, only 8 Chinese people entered Canada. To this day, the Chinese still call July 1, 1923 "Humiliation Day". -
Person's Case
After several prominent womens groups asked the PM to appoint a women to the Senate. In 1927, Emily Murphy, Nellie McLung, Louis McKinney, Henrietta Edwards and Irene Parlby, forming the "Famous Five". They kept asking whether "person's" included women and by 1928, the Supreme Court ruled that women were not. Discouraged, they took the case to the Privy Council of England, where the declared that "person's" did include men and women. -
Black Tuesday
The day the stock market crashed, which was one of the events that clearly began the Depression. Many people who had purchased stocks lost everything in the crash. -
PM R.B. Bennett
He was Canada's PM throughout the Depression years. He claimed that he would find work for "all who are willing to work or perish in the attempt". He also promised $20 million in emergency funds for relief payments. But when he came into power, his policies did little to ease the economic crisis. Many relief camps were set up, but few worked. In 1935, thousands boarded a train bound for Ottawa to protest. -
Statute of Westminster
The Statute made it so that Canada was now completely self-governing, with Britain no longer able to make laws for Canada.
Only in 2 areas, did Canada not gain independence. There was still al higher court than the Supreme Court of Canada (the Judicial Council of the Privy Council in Britain) and as the provincial and the federal governments could not agree on a method for amending the British North America Act, that decision making power still stood with Britain. -
On to Ottawa Trek
Fed up with life in B.C., 1000's of men boarded freight trains to Ottawa. As they moved east, they were joined by othere men. These men wanted clear economic reforms (i.e. minimum wage, social/ unemployment insurance). The men got to Regina, where they were stopped by the Mounted Police. The complaints made by the trekkers went unnoticed in the government. -
CBC- Canadian Broadcasting Company
In 1939, the CBC covered the royal tour of Canada by George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, which was the first tour of Canada made by a reigning monarch of England. This visit was played by radio in even the most remote areas in Canada.
