During the worst economic crash in the history of the industrialized world, was the Canadian Government adequately handling the situation? Numerous factors contributed to the severity of the Great Depression in Canada, most importantly poor government policies like laying off employees making cuts to health care, etc... I believe there was both successful and unsuccessful attempts to improve our economy, let’s see which one outweighs the other.
The Prime Minister of Canada In 1929, was William Lyon Mackenzie King, who was disinclined to admit the existence of the economic crisis. King believed that Canada would not be affected by the depression and refused to dispense federal funding to the provinces that were suffering from unemployment. …show more content…
The unemployment rate was approximately 30 percent and one in five Canadians depended on government relief for survival 1. The government even laid-off a third of its civil servants and the rest had a pay decrease. At the height of the great depression, a vastly large number of men were unemployed, and the federal government feared they could threaten public order. Andrew McNaughton suggested unemployed men be sent out to remote relief camps where they wouldn’t have the right to vote or organize. The camps were voluntary, but men who resisted would be arrested for being homeless. The men in these camps were expected to do hard labour in return for room, board, medical care and 20 cents a day 2. The minimum wage was roughly $2.00, so they were only getting paid 1/10 of the average workers wage. And if that weren’t bad enough the government was taking millions out of health care, education and other important programs in order to pay for these ineffective relief …show more content…
"In the last five years great changes have taken place in the world," he told his listeners. "The old order is gone. We are living in conditions that are new and strange to us. Canada on the dole is like a young and vigorous man in the poorhouse... If you believe that things should be left as they are, you and I hold contrary and irreconcilable views. I am for reform. And in my mind, reform means government intervention. It means government control and regulation. It means the end of laissez-faire."Bennet promised a progressive taxation system, a maximum hour of work a week, a minimum wage, regulations for working conditions, unemployment insurance, health and accident insurance, a revised old-age pension and agricultural support programs 3. The New Deal seemed perfect and went mostly unopposed, but it was too late, and in the next election his party went from 134 seats to merely 39. Bennet was so tremendously unsuccessful in improving economic conditions, it made Canadians lose faith in established parties, thus creating new radical political parties. William Lyon Mackenzie King was set on winning the next election, this time actually acknowledging the
The Prime Minister of Canada In 1929, was William Lyon Mackenzie King, who was disinclined to admit the existence of the economic crisis. King believed that Canada would not be affected by the depression and refused to dispense federal funding to the provinces that were suffering from unemployment. …show more content…
The unemployment rate was approximately 30 percent and one in five Canadians depended on government relief for survival 1. The government even laid-off a third of its civil servants and the rest had a pay decrease. At the height of the great depression, a vastly large number of men were unemployed, and the federal government feared they could threaten public order. Andrew McNaughton suggested unemployed men be sent out to remote relief camps where they wouldn’t have the right to vote or organize. The camps were voluntary, but men who resisted would be arrested for being homeless. The men in these camps were expected to do hard labour in return for room, board, medical care and 20 cents a day 2. The minimum wage was roughly $2.00, so they were only getting paid 1/10 of the average workers wage. And if that weren’t bad enough the government was taking millions out of health care, education and other important programs in order to pay for these ineffective relief …show more content…
"In the last five years great changes have taken place in the world," he told his listeners. "The old order is gone. We are living in conditions that are new and strange to us. Canada on the dole is like a young and vigorous man in the poorhouse... If you believe that things should be left as they are, you and I hold contrary and irreconcilable views. I am for reform. And in my mind, reform means government intervention. It means government control and regulation. It means the end of laissez-faire."Bennet promised a progressive taxation system, a maximum hour of work a week, a minimum wage, regulations for working conditions, unemployment insurance, health and accident insurance, a revised old-age pension and agricultural support programs 3. The New Deal seemed perfect and went mostly unopposed, but it was too late, and in the next election his party went from 134 seats to merely 39. Bennet was so tremendously unsuccessful in improving economic conditions, it made Canadians lose faith in established parties, thus creating new radical political parties. William Lyon Mackenzie King was set on winning the next election, this time actually acknowledging the