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Indian Act
A Canadian act of Parliament for registered "Indians." It enforced the reserve system along with "bands." Indians had to get permission to leave reserves, like a passport for going to another country. -
Telephone
Telephone was important in Canada because it made it so you could communicate quickly with someone on the other side of the country. Because Canada was so large, this made it important to make Canadians feel connected. The first telephone was invented in 1876, but it's popularity and commonness started in the 1920's. -
Residential Schools
Residential Schools were government sponsored schools made to "kill the Indian in the child." The schools were used to remove Native traditions and forced children into Christian/Catholic religions. -
Spanish Flu
The Spanish Flu was a virus also called "Influenza." It infected 500 million people around the world. It was so infectious it even spread to the Arctic regions and far away Pacific Islands. The virus infects the lungs and breathing organs, meaning it was deadly, but it also spread when someone coughed, sneezed or talked. -
Bloody Saturday
Bloody Saturday is the peak of the Winnipeg General Strike. It involved thousands of workers demanding better conditions after the first world war. Two men were killed and twenty-seven others injured when strikers fought mounted police officers on the 21st of June, 1919. -
Radio
Radio was becoming more and more popular after the First World War. Radio was very important because it allowed for such a large country like Canada to be connected. News and events could quickly be shared on a local, national and international level. Radio also served as entertainment in houses, especially when Hockey was first announced through radio broadcast. -
Insulin
Insulin was used to treat Diabetes for the first time in 1921. Fredrick Banting was the first to take an extract from the pancreas organ and use it to treat diabetes. -
Chinese Immigration Act
The Chinese Immigration Act discriminated against Chinese people. Although other countries had rules on immigration, China was singled out because of race. Only Merchants, students, diplomats and Canadian-born Chinese were allowed. -
Stock Market Crash
The first day of crashes was Black Thursday. Stock fell 11%. To combat this, stock investors bought shares and it went up. This raise continued until Black Monday, when the stock fell again, and then on Black Tuesday the stock market crashed. The result was billions of dollars lost for investors and it started the Great Depression. It would continue until the start of World War Two, where the demand for war supplies created jobs and money to bring it back. -
Child Labor
Children were previously seen as workers, either for parents or to help support the family. It wasn't until 1929 when children under 14 were banned from working in mines and factories. In 1930 the International Labor Organization discussed/banned child labor. -
Crop Failure
Crops failed when a drought hit in the 1930's. Dry, hot air killed all the crops and made for no rain, meaning no crop growth. Dust storms started by 1931 in the Prairies due to dry soil and strong winds. Houses eventually were covered in dust, and farmers lost their entire lives. By 1939 recovery started to take place. -
Rise of Fascism
In Canada, multiple Fascist parties began to form as Hitler came to power in the 1930's. All-White and religious visions were the start of racist dictator leaders, often influenced by Germany and the Nazi Party. Anti-Jewish beliefs were very common at the time, which also made support for the Nazi and other far-right groups. -
On-To-Ottawa
The On-To-Ottawa march was caused by lack of jobs during the great depression. The government sent jobless/homeless men off to the countryside for "work opportunities." The men were paid poorly, and realistically they were there to prevent them from sparking a communist revolution. By 1935 the men had started striking and was affiliated with the international Communist movement. Strikes started in Vancouver, and by way of hitchhiking, train and walking, the men headed for the capital. -
Regina Riot
The Regina Riot was the end of the On to Ottawa trek. RCMP Mounties and police officers were ordered to stop the trek in Regina. The police moved to arrest the leaders, but the raid quickly became a riot between the two parties. Eventually two died, there was hundred injured, and thousands of dollars worth of property damaged, but the police ended the trek. -
St. Louis
Jewish refugees seeking safety from Germany are denied access to Canada. The ship had been taking refugees running from Hitlers discriminatory laws. Unfortunately, 254 of 937 passengers would later die in the Holocaust after returning to Europe.
