The Great Depression devastated many economies. But one country arguably suffered more than any other: Canada.
By the time its economy reached bottom in 1932, Canada had suffered a staggering decline of 34.8 per cent in per capita gross domestic product. No other developed nation was as hard-hit.
Canada was, and still is, a country dependent on trade. In the 1920s, commodities — such as wheat — and lumber products, including newsprint, were particularly important. In 1930, U.S. president Herbert Hoover signed into law the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which raised duties on many imports to historically high levels. This led to retaliatory tariffs and a drastic reduction of trade around the world.
It was particularly harmful to Canada, America’s largest trading partner, where export prices …show more content…
Private citizens in wealthier provinces recognized the plight of Saskatchewan and sent hundreds of carloads of fruit, vegetables and clothing westward. Bennett made a habit of sending money from his personal fortune to those who wrote to him pleading for help.
The government did construct relief camps for unemployed men, providing some low-wage work and alleviating the threat of large numbers of jobless in the cities. The state also used force to suppress social discontent, most famously in 1935, when the unemployed organized an “On-to-Ottawa Trek” from the west. The movement got as far as Regina when it was met by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local officers. The resulting clash left one police officer dead; a trekker died of wounds soon thereafter. The movement soon fizzled out.
In general, Canadians handled the Great Depression with a minimum of drama. Life was tough in a cold country, and people were accustomed to dealing with adversity. The economy picked up as the Second World War set in, and the phlegmatic nature of Canadians played no small part in the
By the time its economy reached bottom in 1932, Canada had suffered a staggering decline of 34.8 per cent in per capita gross domestic product. No other developed nation was as hard-hit.
Canada was, and still is, a country dependent on trade. In the 1920s, commodities — such as wheat — and lumber products, including newsprint, were particularly important. In 1930, U.S. president Herbert Hoover signed into law the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which raised duties on many imports to historically high levels. This led to retaliatory tariffs and a drastic reduction of trade around the world.
It was particularly harmful to Canada, America’s largest trading partner, where export prices …show more content…
Private citizens in wealthier provinces recognized the plight of Saskatchewan and sent hundreds of carloads of fruit, vegetables and clothing westward. Bennett made a habit of sending money from his personal fortune to those who wrote to him pleading for help.
The government did construct relief camps for unemployed men, providing some low-wage work and alleviating the threat of large numbers of jobless in the cities. The state also used force to suppress social discontent, most famously in 1935, when the unemployed organized an “On-to-Ottawa Trek” from the west. The movement got as far as Regina when it was met by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local officers. The resulting clash left one police officer dead; a trekker died of wounds soon thereafter. The movement soon fizzled out.
In general, Canadians handled the Great Depression with a minimum of drama. Life was tough in a cold country, and people were accustomed to dealing with adversity. The economy picked up as the Second World War set in, and the phlegmatic nature of Canadians played no small part in the