Chapter 2

A Review
Contents
1) Power
a) Canada’s Autonomy
b) Tension Between Quebec and Canada →
Conscription Crisis
2) Territory
a) New areas of colonization
b) Natural Resources
3) Economy
a) Boom and Bust → The Great Depression
4) Society
a) Immigration
b) Women and Society (Suffrage and the World
Wars)
 Timeline
Second Phase of
Industrialization The Great Depression
WWI (1914-1918) (1929-1939)
Powered by HYDRO Canada “dragged” to war Stock Market Crash 1929
New Industries War Measures Act High Unemployment
Increased Women to factories Government Intervenes to try
mechanization First Conscription Crisis and fix the problems
Resource extraction Canada’s contribution → Given more Direct Relief
autonomy after war Public Works
(1896-1929) Union Nationale elected in QC
Back to the Farms!

1896 1945

The Boer War (1899-1902) The “Roaring Twenties” Autonomy for

1920-1929 WWII (1939-1945)
Canada
British War in South Africa Canada decides to enter war
Mass Culture
“Imperialists vs Nationalists” Economic Prosperity After WWI Canada War production pulls Canada
Volunteers only Leisure begins to assert its out of Great Depression
Feminism “Flappers” autonomy War Measures Act
Second Conscription Crisis

1919: Paris Peace

1919: League of
Nations
1931: Statute of
Westminster
Power
Canada’s Autonomy
Until 1931, Canada sought to assert its
autonomy from the British Empire.

Canada’s contribution during WWI did a

lot to prove to the mother country that it
was capable of controlling its own affairs.
 Canada’s road
to Autonomy
Canada’s very active role over the course of the
First World War enabled it to demand, during and
after the war, greater autonomy from the United
Kingdom.

In 1931, the Statute of Westminster granted

Canada ALMOST complete autonomy.
The Conscription Crisis
Mounting numbers of CASUALTIES in both WWI and
WWII forced the Canadian Federal government to impose
conscription.

In both instances, French Canadians were EXTREMELY

OPPOSED as they did not wish to put their lives on the line
for what they considered to be “British Wars”
Federal-Provincial Tensions
During both WWI and WWII, the Federal Government imposed the
War Measures Act. This granted the Federal Government additional
power over provinces to guide economic and immigration policies.
Pushing Back
After several decades in power (from 1897 to
1936), the Liberal Party of Québec was
defeated by a party that advocated a traditional
and conservative way of life and provincial
autonomy: the Union nationale, led by
Maurice Duplessis.

Duplessis sought to affirm the unique

character of French Canadian identity within
Canada.
Aboriginal
Assimilation

The federal government

created the Indian residential
school system in Canada
with the goal of assimilation
Indigenous people.
Territory
No! Come Back!
To counter emigration to the United States and the impact of the
Great Depression, the Québec government revived colonization
programs to settle the regions.
 Business Boomin’

The wealth of natural resources and strong hydroelectric potential in the territory formed
the basis for Québec’s industrial growth.

The exploitation of natural resources contributed to the development of certain regions

Economy
The Roaring
Twenties
The Roaring Twenties were marked
by significant economic growth.
A Crashing Halt
A stock market crash occurred in October 1929. In
particular, it plunged Western economies, including
Canada’s, into an economic depression, called the Great
Depression.

During the Great Depression, the unemployment rate

climbed, prompting governments to implement
measures to revive the economy.
 Government Intervention
In an attempt to pull Canada out of the Depression, the Federal Government began to
intervene in the economy to a degree never seen in the history of the country.
 Did it work? Not Really!
Despite the government’s best efforts, Canada was only really pulled out of the
Depression by WWII.

Why War? Canada’s Economic Contribution

● The urgent demand for war In both WWI and WWII, far removed from the
materials created thousands of battlefield itself, Canada supplied its allies with
jobs for Canadians, thus breaking a variety of war materials
the “Cycle of Disaster”
● While one would be hard-pressed to (Food, Ammunition, Weapons, Vehicles, etc.)
argue that WWII was a positive
development, war is AMAZING for
economies
Society
Immigration
Canada welcomed hundreds of
thousands of immigrants. They
contributed to giving the country a more
multi ethnic character.

A xenophobic movement emerged in

response. During the two world wars,
immigration to Canada plummeted,
particularly as a result of more severe
immigration policies
Workers Rights
In the first decades of the 20th
century, the transformations brought
about by industrialization resulted
in many social inequalities.

The union movement continued its

struggle to defend workers’ interests.

Unions demanded that governments

legislate more often in favour of
workers. Governments gradually
adopted laws to regulate work.
Role of the Church
The Catholic Church in Québec
possessed great moral and cultural
influence over French Canadian
society.
The Catholic Church had a huge amount of influence
over French Canadian society throughout the course of
the early 20th century

This influence was both MORAL and CULTURAL

Influential How?
The Catholic Church possessed a great deal of
influence on Quebec society both because of
their position as a moral authority, but also
because of all of the institutions they
controlled

● Continued control of charities, hospitals

and schools
● Intervened in government when their
power/message threatened
● Rising number of priests and religious
communities
○ 1901: 8612 → 1931: 25332
 The rise of secular and foreign unions is
“Social Doctrine” perceived as a threat to the Catholic
Church to their own influence

The more people listen to unions →

The less they will listen to the Church!
“If you can’t beat them, join them” - A New Plan
Understanding that the church needs to adapt and meet the
needs of the new industrial man (and woman)
The École Sociale Populaire
1912: Trained activists to work in the many
associations affiliated with the Catholic
Church

Example: Catholic Association of of Canadian

Youth +Young Catholic Workers
The Creation of In keeping with its new social doctrine, the
Catholic Church collaborated with

Catholic Unions laypersons to found CATHOLIC unions.

Mostly created after 1918. By 1921, there

were enough of these smaller unions to
form the Confederation des travailleurs
Catholiques du Canada (CTCC)

English→ (Canadian Catholic

Confederation of Labour)
Feminism
At the beginning of the 20th The main feminist
century, the feminist demands were:
movement gradually
became more organized in ● Greater access to
order to raise awareness education, particularly
among women and advanced studies and
encourage them to demand university
their legal and political ● The right to run for
rights. elected office
● The right to vote
● Better employment
opportunities and
● Higher wages
● Gender equality
Women in the World Wars
During the two World Wars, many women
worked in factories in order to meet labour
demands.

By way of working in these factories, women

proved to others that they were more than
capable of handling work they were deemed
“unfit” for.

When this illusion was shattered, they were

emboldened to pursue their rights more
aggressively!
 Women won the right to Why 1940?
Women’s vote:

Suffrage The power of the Catholic

Church in Quebec, and
their strong beliefs in
Federally: 1918
social conservatism
meant that suffrage for
women in Quebec was
In Quebec: 1940 decades behind the rest of
the country.