HIST-1400-A01 – Nov.

8, 2023
MacKenzie King (1935-1948)
 Rowell-Sirois Commission
o Federal government had unlimited taxing authority, while the provinces had
fewer sources of revenue, undermining their responsibilities for their social
programs
o Premier John Bracken of Manitoba was a moderate, attending commission
meetings in Winnipeg, creating a detailed study of the problems around the
province, recommending:
 Responsibility for employment insurance should be a federal
responsibility instead of provincial, as unemployment is a national
concern, coming to fruition in 1940
 This was one of the few times all the provinces and federal
governments agreed on an issue and solution
 Equalization payments are distributed between the provinces by the
federal government
 Manitoba is a “have-not province” as it does not collect enough
revenue to sustain its own spending, whereas Alberta is “have
province”
 The federal government collects taxes nationwide and refunds to
the poorer provinces, having higher tax rates in richer provinces
o Manitoba has $2.5 billion in equalization payments
annually
 Not implemented until post-WW2, and having pushback by some
provinces for “paying too much”

World War 2 (1939-1945)

 The Second World War was a more transformative period than the First World War for
Canada
o Canada’s Foreign and Defense Policies was based upon Isolationism, where the
government attempted to not involve itself in international conflicts and affairs
between 1919-1939
 The phrase post-WW1 for Canada was “Never Again”, after the
tremendous losses
 Canada’s “Fireproof Box” where distance and oceans separated North
America from the world, minus the United States
 By 1939, the Americans and Canadians would be allied instead of
at odds, eventually post-war alliances
  Conscription was still a sore spot for Canadians, and the leaders did not
want another crisis over the situation, especially with a threat of seceding
Québec
 Canada’s membership in the League of Nations, Article X of the League
covenant required that if one country attacks another, the others must
aid the victim of the aggressor
 Canada did not wish to get involved and disagreed with Article X,
making many speeches saying it would not abide by it
 They also greatly reduced its own armed forces post-WW1 and
military spending, where troop training was lacking and obsolete
equipment
 1937: $20 million to $37 million annually by King
 Entering WW2 underprepared and ruined by initial skirmishes
o Events of WW2
 1931: Japan invaded mainland China, the League condemned it but did
not invoke Article X and economic sanctions, Canada unwilling to support
sanction or aid the Chinese
 1935: Mussolini attacked Ethiopia as a means of Roman restoration, the
League still did not invoke Article X or oil embargoes on Italy, Canada
refused
 1933: Hitler’s Germany would pull out of the League
 1938: Hitler noted that the League’s inaction did not halt the other crises,
allowing him to threaten and invade his neighbors of Sudetenland and
Austria
 1939: Hitler threatened an invasion of Poland, where Britain and France
argued on how to handle him, warning him that it would declarations of
war, in September they would be declared
o Canada’s entry into the war and initial commitments (1939-1940)
 Canada’s autonomy granted by the Statute of Westminster, King called a
meeting in the House on Sept. 10, 1939, all MPs in favor of aiding Britain
 1938: King realized isolationism was not going to work and began
rearmament efforts, with an understanding of most Canadians wished to
aid Britain’s struggle
 Canada’s commitment was towards limited liability, where King promised
no conscription and only volunteer forces
 The War Measures Act was passed again, granting unlimited federal
authority and suspending peacetime liberties
 Any support for fascists and Nazis were arrested and placed into
internment camps, alongside some communist leaders as the
Soviets and Nazis made a non-aggression pact and wished to
remain neutral
  Canadian communists would be released after the Soviet invasion
by the Nazis, who wished to save Russia
 Canadian First Division, 30,000 volunteers, were sent to Britain by
December 1939, furthering their training but largely inactive due to the
aerial superiority war between Germany and Britain
 Britain is in a major famine crisis as German U-boats attack Atlantic food
vessels
 Canada increased grain exports, aiding Canadian farmers and
economy
 Large-scale war manufacturing and production for military equipment
and armaments, such as Spitfire and Hurricane aeroplanes
 People were hoping for a lesser bloodbath due to the aerial war
focus in the initial years
 Loans to Britain by Canada, where later Canada eventually forgave Britain
for billions
 The establishment of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, where
130,000 pilots, crew, and engineers across the British Empire were trained
 Canada built multiple airfields to accommodate the trainees
 One of the most important contributions by Canada, where air
forces would play a key role in the war effort (i.e., Battle of Britain)

July 1940 to war’s end 1945, Canada and total war

 By the German invasion of Poland and dividing it between themselves and the Soviets,
most of the war until Spring 1940 was quiet except on the Atlantic Ocean
o Spring 1940: German invasions across Scandinavia and Belgium and France,
flanking maneuvers by Blitzkrieg
o Hitler was an imminent danger to Britain and world by decimating and
controlling Europe, with his alliance with fascist Italy and imperial Japan in the
Axis
 Japanese expansionism and control across the Pacific were also a major
issue
o Canada’s commitment to total war was due to Britain’s danger, using the War
Measures Act to intervene further into society, passing the National Mobilization
Act
 The Canadian Bureau of Public Information
o By WW2, war was not won just on the battlefield but also public opinion, which
meant the government needed to keep morale up and launch propaganda efforts
to convince them that the war was a total effort requirement
o Use every available means possible to convince the public that Germany was at
fault and view them terribly, and support Canadian efforts
  Radio, posters, and broadcasts would be utilized greatly
 Soap operas viewed Germans as cold-hearted killers and rapists, which
would be later confirmed by their administration actions
 1942: Many Canadians became tired of the messages, switching to more
positive messages (“This war is an opportunity to build a better world”),
promoting liberty and aiding those in need
 Economic mobilization of various committees and boards
o C.D. Howe was granted authority to mobilize the economy for wartime, spending
billions for war equipment as “Million Dollar Howe”, becoming the best
organized economy in war
 Unlike Germany, Canada had organized women for manufacturing jobs
 26 Crown corporations were created, run by the federal government
regardless of socialist ties, for specific tasks and goods (i.e., Atomic Energy
Corporation of Canada)
o Rationing was pushed again, as well as gathering raw materials to manufacture
and ship across the ocean, alongside the sale of bonds
 Military contributions
o Canada necessitated quick mobilization at the start, quickly constructing a navy
and protecting Atlantic supply convoys
 Crucial to the Battle of the Atlantic, although the U-boats sank more ships
than manufactured by the Allies