2. Canada Moves
Toward Independence
• After the Chanak Crisis King continued to move Canada
toward independence.
• King announced that Canada would now sign its own
international agreements
• The first was the Halibut treaty of 1923 signed between
Canada and the United States
3. 1921-1925: Canadian Politics
1920 Dominion Elections Act allows women to run for election to parliament for
the first time
In 1921, Agnes Macphail became the first woman to be elected to the Canadian
House of Commons.
A corruption scandal discovered late in his first term damaged Prime Minister
William Lyon Mackenzie King's popularity
Early in his second term, another corruption scandal, this time in the Department
of Customs, regarding the smuggling of alcohol was revealed, which led to more
support for the Conservatives and Progressives, and the possibility that King would
be forced to resign,
King called an election in 1925, in which the Conservatives won the most seats, but
not a majority in the House of Commons.
King held onto power with the support of the Progressives, even though he had
lost the election and his own seat in the HOC.
In 1926 King advised the Governor General, Lord Byng, to dissolve Parliament and
call another election, but Byng refused, the only time in Canadian history that the
Governor General has exercised such a power.
Byng called upon the Conservative Party leader, Arthur Meighen, to form a
government. Meighen tried, but was unable to obtain a majority in the Commons.
So after the shortest term in office of any Canadian PM, Arthur Meighen called an
election in 1926.
4. Election 1925/26
In the Canadian federal election, of 1926, King appealed to the Canadian
public to support the Liberal argument that the Governor General had
interfered in politics.
The liberals and King argued that there had been a violation of the
Constitution
Although no violation of the Constitution arose, King managed to
convince the Progressives the Governor General was wrong to not
support the PM.
This disagreement and the subsequent election is known as the King/Byng
Crisis.
King and his party won the election of 1926 with a clear majority in the
House of Commons.
5. Burning Questions!
Think/ Pair/Share
• Under what circumstances, if any, do you
think the Governor General should be allowed
to step in and interfere with the policies of the
Prime Minister?
• What do you think are some of the problems
with minority governments? What are some
of the advantages? What do we have now?
Explain which is the superior form of
government in your opinion.
6.
7. Boom
The outcome of the 1926 election was due in
large part to prosperity
Workers in factories North and South of the
border were pouring out radios, refrigerators,
cars and other consumer products
Grand hotels were being built across the
country drawing American tourists
8.
9. Americanization
Prosperity came from a new
source
Canada had formerly traded
East and West with Britain and
Asia
Britain could no longer afford
to invest in Canada following
the war.
The United States had made a
lot of money from the war and
was looking to Canada as a
consumer market, and vice
versa
10. Americanization Cont’d…
Many American companies created branch plants in
Canada to avoid tariffs.
Many highways were built linking Canada to the
United States, and we began driving on the right side
of the road
Air travel, radio, and telephone links began to
network into the U.S.
Average work week was reduced from 50-60 hours
per week to 44-50 hours increasing leisure time
substantially
11. The Roaring 20’s Changing Times
More and more powers being turned over to provincial governments
Much of Canada relied on natural resources which fell under provincial
jurisdiction.
Women voters demanded pensions for widows, low income mothers, and
the disabled.
• Political advocates like James S. Woodsworth argued for a national
pension. When his government won a majority in 1926, Mackenzie King
followed up on his promise to introduce legislation that became the Old
Age Pensions Act in 1927.
• •The maximum pension was $20 per month or $240 per year.
• •It was available to British subjects aged 70 or over who had lived in
Canada for 20 years.
• •It was restricted to seniors whose income, including the pension
benefits, was less than $365 per year (this was determined by the "means
test").
• •Status Indians were excluded.
12. The Roaring 20’s
Provincially Quebec, BC, and Ontario were big
winners during the 1920’s because of a new system
to redistribute power over resources to the
Provinces
In 1929 after five years of good times, the average
household income was $1200 dollars.
Canadians read American books and watched
American movies. Canadians began to have concerns
regarding the “Americanization” of Canadian culture
Canada begins to see the emergence of service clubs
such as Kiwanis and Knights of Columbus
14. The Roaring 20’s
A nation of 10 million was buying 2 million
movie tickets a week (for mostly American
movies)
American pro baseball became the big pass
time in North America
The NHL had 6 teams, (2 Canadian)
Canadian Artwork began to be recognized and
work such as that by the Group of 7 and Emily
Carr became well known.
This was seen as a much needed Canadian
expression of Culture.
16. Roots of Depression
Canada’s prosperity in the 1920’s had two great flaws:
Most Canadians could not afford the mass goods being
produced
Canada was a resource export economy, dependent on the
export of things like grain and newsprint.
This meant that we were heavily dependent on the health of
the world economy.
17. Signs of Sickness
The wheat market had been dominated by
Canada for much of the 1920’s however many
other countries were now exporting wheat on
the world market
Drought destroyed much of the 1929 crop in
Canada, and world wheat prices were falling
quickly from $2 to $1.09 per bushel
This devastated many farmers who had
counted on the price of wheat remaining at $2
18. Black Tuesday
Europe had no money to buy Canadian goods
US raised tariffs to highest ever to protect their own
goods
Canadian factories began to close
Shareholders in companies began to sell and prices
fell quickly
October 29, 1929 the US stock market crashed
19.
20. R.B. Bennett
RB Bennett was the new Conservative leader in
Canada
King was convinced that Bennett
was trying to blame the depression
on him
Most people thought the depression would be over in months.
King announced that Ottawa had financial aid for western
farmers, but not even a “five cent piece” for conservative
supporters.
21. The Business Cycle
• The business cycle is marked by three stages
• 1. The first stage is a period of prosperity where the economy
approaches full employment. This stage is often accompanied
by inflation as full employment and high income levels drive
up the price of labour and goods.
• 2. In stage two the economy slows down bringing about a
recession. Few new jobs are created and some jobs are lost, as
companies reduce their production of goods and services.
This is known as cyclical unemployment.
• 3. The final stage is a period of economic recovery where
production increases in response to increased consumer
demand. New jobs are created and the cycle starts over.
A depression occurs when the period of economic decline is
prolonged and severe. During a depression prices of goods
and services fall dramatically. This is known as deflation.
Wages also fall. Generally wages fall faster than prices
during a depression
22. Note how the unemployment always goes up
and down, with varying severity.
