The document discusses the economic conditions in Canada during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Mass unemployment led to widespread poverty and hardship as many lost their jobs and social supports were inadequate. Conflicting views emerged between governments that emphasized personal responsibility and citizens struggling without access to relief. Desperate young unemployed men organized protest movements to demand government action to address the crisis.

1. The
On-to-Ottawa
Trek
Domestic Conflict in Canada
1935
Monday, May 25, 2009 1

2. Economic Background
• problems with the economy developed shortly
before the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and got
quickly worse in the early 1930s, creating an
economic crisis that would last 10 years - it
was called the Great Depression
Monday, May 25, 2009 2

3. Economic Background
• the Great Depression brought mass
unemployment to cities and towns in Canada
• people lost jobs whether they worked in
natural resources (e.g. pulp & paper, mining,
farming), transportation (e.g. railways),
or manufacturing (e.g. factories)... hardest hit
was construction
• retailing and other services were less affected
Monday, May 25, 2009 3

4. Economic Background
• no province had unemployment insurance
• some Canadians could get help when they lost
their jobs, by going to municipal
governments (town and city level) for relief
relief: social assistance - in the
1930s, it was also called “going on the
pogey,” “going on the dole,” or
simply welfare
Monday, May 25, 2009 4

5. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:*
Monday, May 25, 2009 5
*Amounts provided in colour were located through Statistics Canada, and are approximations and averages based on information
provided for three major cities: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto. For more specific data, please see Statistics Canada online.

6. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:*
Building Trade Avg $ @ 44 hours Annual Equals,
Workers Pd/Hour per week Income today:
Bricklayers & Masons 0.90 $39.60 $2,059.20 $26,888.55
Carpenters, Sheet-
Metal Workers, 0.70 $30.80 $1,601.60 $20,913.31
Stone Cutters
Electrical Workers,
0.80 $35.20 $1,830.40 $23,900.93
Plasterers, Plumbers
Painters 0.60 $26.40 $1,372.80 $17,925.70
General Labourers 0.45 $19.80 $1,029.60 $13,444.27
Monday, May 25, 2009 5
*Amounts provided in colour were located through Statistics Canada, and are approximations and averages based on information
provided for three major cities: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto. For more specific data, please see Statistics Canada online.

7. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Monday, May 25, 2009 6

8. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Metal Trade Avg $ @ 44 hours Annual Equals,
Workers Pd/Hour per week Income today:
Blacksmiths,
0.70 $30.80 $1,601.60 $20,913.31
Boilermakers
Machinists,
0.60 $26.40 $1,372.80 $17,925.70
Moulders
Monday, May 25, 2009 6

9. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Monday, May 25, 2009 7

10. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Avg $ @ 46 hours Annual Equals,
Printing Trades Pd/Hour per week Income today:
Compositors, Machine &
Hand (arranging type for 0.87 $40.00 $2,080.00 $27,160.15
printing) - News
Compositors, Machine &
Hand (see above) - Job; 0.76 $35.00 $1,820.00 $23,765.13
Pressmen, News
Pressmen, Job 0.65 $30.00 $1,560.00 $20,370.11
Bookbinders 0.70 $32.00 $1,664.00 $21,728.12
Bindery Girls 0.24 $11.00 $572.00 $7,469.04
Monday, May 25, 2009 7

11. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Monday, May 25, 2009 8

12. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Electric Railways Avg $ @ 44 hours Annual Equals,
(e.g. trolleys) Pd/Hour per week Income today:
Conductors &
0.56 $24.64 $1,281.28 $16,730.65
Motormen
Linemen,
0.60 $26.40 $1,372.40 $17,920.48
Electricians
Shop and Barn 0.50 $22.00 $1,144.00 $14,938.08
Trackmen and
0.40 $17.60 $915.20 $11,950.47
Labourers
Monday, May 25, 2009 8

13. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Monday, May 25, 2009 9

14. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Unskilled Factory Avg $ @ 44 hours Annual Equals,
Labour Pd/Hour per week Income today:
Factory Workers, in
0.35 $15.40 $800.80 $10,456.66
general
Monday, May 25, 2009 9

15. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Amount per Equals,
If you needed to pay for... family
Total $
today:
Beef, sirloin steak 1 lb 0.29 $3.79
Beef, chuck roast 1 lb 0.16 $2.09
Pork, fresh, roast 1 lb 0.22 $2.87
Port, salt mess 1 lb 0.23 $3.00
Bacon, breakfast 1 lb 0.30 $3.92
Eggs, fresh 1 dozen 0.34 $4.44
Milk 1 qt 0.27 $3.53
Monday, May 25, 2009 10

16. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Amount per Equals,
If you needed to pay for... family
Total $
today:
Butter, dairy 1 lb 0.27 $3.53
Cheese 1 lb 0.25 $3.26
Bread, plain white 1 lb 0.06 $0.78
Flour 1 lb 0.03 $0.39
Rolled oats 1 lb 0.05 $0.65
Rice 1 lb 0.09 $1.18
Green Beans 1 lb 0.06 $0.78
Monday, May 25, 2009 11

17. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Amount per Equals,
If you needed to pay for... family
Total $
today:
Dried Apples 1 lb 0.18 $2.35
Sugar 1 lb 0.06 $0.78
Tea, black 1 lb 0.55 $7.18
Coffee 1 lb 0.49 $6.40
Potatoes 1 pkg 0.17 $2.22
Vinegar 1 pt 0.08 $1.04
All foods, weekly budget* 8.49 $110.86
Monday, May 25, 2009 12
*for more complete list of shopping items, see Statistics Canada online.

18. Snapshot of life in
Canada in the 1930s:
Amount per Equals,
If you needed to pay for... family
Total $
today:
Laundry starch 1 lb 0.12 $1.57
Coal, anthracite (hard) 1 ton 16.06 $209.71
Coal, bituminous (soft) 1 ton 9.84 $128.49
Hardwood 1 cord* 11.70 $152.78
Softwood 1 cord 0.30 $3.92
Coal Oil 1 gallon 0.29 $3.79
Rent 1 month 18.66 $243.66
Monday, May 25, 2009 13
*128 cubic feet, or 3.62 cubic metres

19. Results of Losing your
Job in the 1930s...
Monday, May 25, 2009 14

20. Results of Losing your
Job in the 1930s...
• furniture and cars bought on credit (paid for
monthly) likely repossessed by the retailer
• move to cheaper place to live (voluntarily or
evicted)
• reduce grocery list to bare necessities to save money
• no new clothes, shoes, or hygiene items
• hungry children, elders
Monday, May 25, 2009 14

21. family being evicted
Monday, May 25, 2009 15

22. “Workers
Organize to
Protect
Your Home”
Jobless and Employed
start trying to fight the
economic crisis...scaring
the government
Monday, May 25, 2009 16

23. Common Perspectives on
Working, in the 1930s:
Monday, May 25, 2009 17

24. Common Perspectives on
Working, in the 1930s:
• people needed to be responsible for themselves and
their families - accepting charity was shameful
• traditionally, the government was not supposed to
take care of people
• men were the breadwinners and expected to have
jobs
Monday, May 25, 2009 17

25. Conflicting Points of View:
Monday, May 25, 2009 18

26. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
jobless young men were because their families’ relief would
loitering in cities, sleeping on be reduced when they turned 16,
park benches, gathering in young men chose to leave home
‘hobo jungles’ next to railway
tracks - so many together, unable to find jobs, they were
forced to beg & go to charity soup
‘idling’, was a recipe for trouble
kitchens for food; had to sleep
and a threat to public order wherever they could, even outdoors
- building shacks out of leftover
relief rates were deliberately lumber and corrugated metal,
lower than the wages for the using blankets for tents, they
worst-paid forms of work, to created tent cities or ‘hobo jungles’
discourage people from asking near towns, usually close to railway
for welfare tracks
Monday, May 25, 2009 18

27. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
jobless young men were because their families’ relief would
loitering in cities, sleeping on be reduced when they turned 16,
park benches, gathering in young men chose to leave home
‘hobo jungles’ next to railway
tracks - so many together, unable to find jobs, they were
forced to beg & go to charity soup
‘idling’, was a recipe for trouble
kitchens for food; had to sleep
and a threat to public order wherever they could, even outdoors
- building shacks out of leftover
relief rates were deliberately lumber and corrugated metal,
lower than the wages for the using blankets for tents, they
worst-paid forms of work, to created tent cities or ‘hobo jungles’
discourage people from asking near towns, usually close to railway
for welfare tracks
Monday, May 25, 2009 18

28. Jobless Men camping in a
Hobo Jungle
Monday, May 25, 2009 19

29. Unemployed, riding the rods
east to look for work...
Monday, May 25, 2009 20

30. Unemployed
men in
Ontario
Monday, May 25, 2009 21

31. Conflicting Points of View:
Monday, May 25, 2009 22

32. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• tended to hang out at parks
and public libraries, though
• when jobs became available,
many working-class (blue-
married men were given the
collar) men were illiterate, so
work first because of their
reading was not an escape for
status as breadwinners
them
• it was assumed that single men,
• were often embarrassed and
over 16, would not burden
humiliated to apply for relief,
their parents by staying home
especially when the answer was
‘no’
Monday, May 25, 2009 22

33. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• tended to hang out at parks
and public libraries, though
• when jobs became available,
many working-class (blue-
married men were given the
collar) men were illiterate, so
work first because of their
reading was not an escape for
status as breadwinners
them
• it was assumed that single men,
• were often embarrassed and
over 16, would not burden
humiliated to apply for relief,
their parents by staying home
especially when the answer was
‘no’
Monday, May 25, 2009 22

34. Conflicting Points of View:
Monday, May 25, 2009 23

35. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• many cities started ‘work for • young single men without jobs
wages’ programs to provide did not qualify for many of the
their unemployed residents with ‘work for wages’ programs,
small jobs around the city - the
because they were not
money for the programs came
‘breadwinners’ in charge of
from municipal, provincial, and
families
federal sources, but they were
managed by city staff
• by 1932, even private and
religious charities, like churches
• by 1932, as the economic crisis
got worse, the work projects and the YMCA, couldn’t cope
were dropped in exchange for with the numbers of young
cash relief payments or men needing assistance to
vouchers survive
Monday, May 25, 2009 23

36. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• many cities started ‘work for • young single men without jobs
wages’ programs to provide did not qualify for many of the
their unemployed residents with ‘work for wages’ programs,
small jobs around the city - the
because they were not
money for the programs came
‘breadwinners’ in charge of
from municipal, provincial, and
families
federal sources, but they were
managed by city staff
• by 1932, even private and
religious charities, like churches
• by 1932, as the economic crisis
got worse, the work projects and the YMCA, couldn’t cope
were dropped in exchange for with the numbers of young
cash relief payments or men needing assistance to
vouchers survive
Monday, May 25, 2009 23

37. Searching for Solutions...
Monday, May 25, 2009 24

38. Searching for Solutions...
Government
Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, Major-General McNaughton,
• was appalled by the thought of young men with no prospects for
their futures, poor nourishment, suffering from listlessness (e.g.
depressed)
• suggested the Prime Minister, R.B. Bennett, that the jobless young
men (unmarried, homeless) should be sent to rural relief camps:
Monday, May 25, 2009 24

39. The Relief Camp
Concept
Monday, May 25, 2009 25

40. The Relief Camp
Concept
the men sent to the camps wouldn’t be allowed to vote, so they
wouldn’t support Communist parties seen as threats
entering the camps would be voluntary, but men who refused
to go would be arrested
isolating the jobless, single young men, and dividing the
groups which were forming, would prevent a Communist
revolution
doing work for the government would build up their morale
Monday, May 25, 2009 25

41. Relief Camp Workers
Monday, May 25, 2009 26

42. Conflicting Points of View:
Monday, May 25, 2009 27
-37 in Ontario alone, e.g. near Huntsville, in Dane near Kirkland Lake, and in Kapuskasing

43. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• 1932, set up relief camps for • wanted to work and would take
unemployed men anything they could get rather
operated by the Department of than go on relief
Defence
• did not want to be isolated on
located in remote areas, like remote work camps
interior of BC, northern Ontario,
northern Quebec (to decrease • were frustrated that the
possibilities of worker revolution) government could not provide
them with meaningful work
work included clearing bush,
building roads, planting trees,
erecting public buildings, • disliked the camps - felt their
improving highways, airfields time was being wasted
Monday, May 25, 2009 27
-37 in Ontario alone, e.g. near Huntsville, in Dane near Kirkland Lake, and in Kapuskasing

44. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• 1932, set up relief camps for • wanted to work and would take
unemployed men anything they could get rather
operated by the Department of than go on relief
Defence
• did not want to be isolated on
located in remote areas, like remote work camps
interior of BC, northern Ontario,
northern Quebec (to decrease • were frustrated that the
possibilities of worker revolution) government could not provide
them with meaningful work
work included clearing bush,
building roads, planting trees,
erecting public buildings, • disliked the camps - felt their
improving highways, airfields time was being wasted
Monday, May 25, 2009 27
-37 in Ontario alone, e.g. near Huntsville, in Dane near Kirkland Lake, and in Kapuskasing

45. Monday, May 25, 2009 28

46. Relief Camp Barracks
Monday, May 25, 2009 29

47. Pick & Shovel Work in a
Relief CAmp
Monday, May 25, 2009 30

48. Conflicting Points of View:
Monday, May 25, 2009 31

49. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• camp conditions were for • called the camps ‘The Royal
subsistence living, to encourage Twenty Centers’ because they were
men to find work on their own only give 20 cents a day, and they
were controlled by the military;
men received room, board, also called them ‘slave camps’
medical care, an allowance of
• bunked in tar-paper shacks, were
$0.20 / day to buy tobacco or given army-surplus clothing, fed
other small luxuries army-surplus food
camp budget for medical • worked 6 1/2 days a week, 10
assistance was $0.03 per day hours a day
budget for food was $0.26 / • often men sent north from Toronto
day per man couldn’t take the rigours of winter
Monday, May 25, 2009 31

50. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• camp conditions were for • called the camps ‘The Royal
subsistence living, to encourage Twenty Centers’ because they were
men to find work on their own only give 20 cents a day, and they
were controlled by the military;
men received room, board, also called them ‘slave camps’
medical care, an allowance of
• bunked in tar-paper shacks, were
$0.20 / day to buy tobacco or given army-surplus clothing, fed
other small luxuries army-surplus food
camp budget for medical • worked 6 1/2 days a week, 10
assistance was $0.03 per day hours a day
budget for food was $0.26 / • often men sent north from Toronto
day per man couldn’t take the rigours of winter
Monday, May 25, 2009 31

51. Relief Camp Allowance
Monday, May 25, 2009 32

52. Roadwork by Relief Camp
Workers (more pick & shovel)
Monday, May 25, 2009 33

53. Conflicting Points of View:
Monday, May 25, 2009 34

54. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• workers also planted gardens, • men had to make their own
which helped with their diet and amusements, and depended on
the cost of camp operations charities for books and
magazines
• generally men stayed in the
camps for just over 3 months: • some men drifted from camp to
camp looking for a change in
men were discharged if they scenery, which was hard on the
found jobs long-term residents
men could also be discharged • men did not have a chance to
if they were found to be save any money, because they
medically unfit weren’t actually paid
Monday, May 25, 2009 34

55. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• workers also planted gardens, • men had to make their own
which helped with their diet and amusements, and depended on
the cost of camp operations charities for books and
magazines
• generally men stayed in the
camps for just over 3 months: • some men drifted from camp to
camp looking for a change in
men were discharged if they scenery, which was hard on the
found jobs long-term residents
men could also be discharged • men did not have a chance to
if they were found to be save any money, because they
medically unfit weren’t actually paid
Monday, May 25, 2009 34

56. Response of the
Camp Inmates:
Monday, May 25, 2009 35

57. Response of the
Camp Inmates:
• became increasingly militant - the isolation and dehumanizing
conditions created an ideal situation for organizing
workers were desperate, and had the time & contacts to
figure out how to take action
Relief Camp Workers’ Union formed
men shared literature on Communist theories of
Marx, Lenin, Stalin
men started planning and preparing to strike for
‘work with wages’
Monday, May 25, 2009 35

58. Protest in Victoria
Monday, May 25, 2009 36

59. Conflicting Points of View:
Monday, May 25, 2009 37

60. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• by 1934, the RCWU
• the RCWU was banned in the
camps by the Department of had grown into a
National Defence strong, disciplined,
any man found carrying a democratic
union card or union literature
was immediately fired &
organization
blacklisted
• kept watch for police
many men with connections to
the RCWU were arrested
spies who infiltrated
their ranks
Monday, May 25, 2009 37

61. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• by 1934, the RCWU
• the RCWU was banned in the
camps by the Department of had grown into a
National Defence strong, disciplined,
any man found carrying a democratic
union card or union literature
was immediately fired &
organization
blacklisted
• kept watch for police
many men with connections to
the RCWU were arrested
spies who infiltrated
their ranks
Monday, May 25, 2009 37

62. Members of the RCWU walk in
Kamloops, B.C.
Monday, May 25, 2009 38

63. April, 1935
Monday, May 25, 2009 39

64. April, 1935
1500 members of the RCWU went on strike in B.C.,
leaving their camps & gathering in Vancouver to demand
1. Wages, of $0.40 an hour
2. 7 hours of work / day
3. 5 day work week
4. Better food - fresh meat, new potatoes, &
one package of tobacco every three days
5. Social insurance programs such as compensation for
sickness and disability
6. Better unemployment insurance for the jobless
7. An end to military control of the camps
8. Compensation for injuries on the job
9. The right to vote in provincial and federal elections
Monday, May 25, 2009 39

65. Relief Camp Workers Union
Meeting
Monday, May 25, 2009 40

66. Conflicting Points of View:
Monday, May 25, 2009 41

67. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• held controlled and
disciplined
• ignored the protests, the
demonstrations &
fundraising picnic, the
protests; support from
tag days in Vancouver
other citizens totaled
$5,000
Monday, May 25, 2009 41

68. Conflicting Points of View:
Government citizen
• held controlled and
disciplined
• ignored the protests, the
demonstrations &
fundraising picnic, the
protests; support from
tag days in Vancouver
other citizens totaled
$5,000
Monday, May 25, 2009 41

69. Monday, May 25, 2009 42

70. Monday, May 25, 2009 42

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72. Monday, May 25, 2009 42

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74. Monday, May 25, 2009 42

75. Monday, May 25, 2009 42

76. Monday, May 25, 2009 42

77. Monday, May 25, 2009 42

78. Monday, May 25, 2009 42

79. What happened next...
Monday, May 25, 2009 43
-the leaders of the strike pinned the mayor and government officials in city hall, refusing to let them out - they said they were prepared to wait as long as he was prepared
to go hungry (reminding him that they could outlast him as they’d been hungry a lot more often than he’d been)

80. What happened next...
the strikers decided to go directly to Ottawa with
their demands - 1600 men left, riding CPR boxcars
for transportation
Monday, May 25, 2009 43
-the leaders of the strike pinned the mayor and government officials in city hall, refusing to let them out - they said they were prepared to wait as long as he was prepared
to go hungry (reminding him that they could outlast him as they’d been hungry a lot more often than he’d been)

81. What happened next...
the strikers decided to go directly to Ottawa with
their demands - 1600 men left, riding CPR boxcars
for transportation
were fed by supporters along the way: women’s
groups, service clubs, labour councils, churches,
unions, caring citizens
Monday, May 25, 2009 43
-the leaders of the strike pinned the mayor and government officials in city hall, refusing to let them out - they said they were prepared to wait as long as he was prepared
to go hungry (reminding him that they could outlast him as they’d been hungry a lot more often than he’d been)

82. What happened next...
the strikers decided to go directly to Ottawa with
their demands - 1600 men left, riding CPR boxcars
for transportation
were fed by supporters along the way: women’s
groups, service clubs, labour councils, churches,
unions, caring citizens
in Calgary, they demanded & received 3
days of relief assistance from the city, and
were joined by hundreds of Alberta men
Monday, May 25, 2009 43
-the leaders of the strike pinned the mayor and government officials in city hall, refusing to let them out - they said they were prepared to wait as long as he was prepared
to go hungry (reminding him that they could outlast him as they’d been hungry a lot more often than he’d been)

83. Monday, May 25, 2009 44

84. Monday, May 25, 2009 44

85. Monday, May 25, 2009 44

86. Monday, May 25, 2009 44

87. Monday, May 25, 2009 44

88. Monday, May 25, 2009 44

89. What happened next...
Monday, May 25, 2009 45
-railways were ordered to treat the strikers as trespassers
-RCMP was directed to bolster troops in Regina to disperse the trekkers

90. What happened next...
number of men was up to 2,000 by the time they
reached Regina, Saskatchewan in mid-June
in Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, and Toronto, thousands
more were waiting to join the On-To-Ottawa Trek
Prime Minister Bennett ordered the RCMP to
stop the strike
the railways were forbidden to take the men
any further
RCMP were ordered to prepare to use
revolvers, gas grenades, spare batons, and
handcuffs
Monday, May 25, 2009 45
-railways were ordered to treat the strikers as trespassers
-RCMP was directed to bolster troops in Regina to disperse the trekkers

91. The Delegation to
Ottawa
Monday, May 25, 2009 46
-the strikers noticed an RCMP officer hidden behind a curtain in the room, suggesting the PM feared trouble

92. The Delegation to
Ottawa
• PM Bennett agreed to meet with 8
representatives of the striking relief camp
workers in Ottawa
➡the meeting lasted over an hour, and the
strikers were not offered seats
➡Bennett constantly interrupted as the
leader, ‘Slim’ Evans, presented their
demands
Monday, May 25, 2009 46
-the strikers noticed an RCMP officer hidden behind a curtain in the room, suggesting the PM feared trouble

93. Bennett’s Response to
the Strikers’ Demands
Monday, May 25, 2009 47

94. Bennett’s Response to
the Strikers’ Demands
• accused them of trying to create a revolution, to destroy
law and order
• said there had been absolute contentment and happiness
in the camps until the RCWU had formed
• refused to recognize camp committees elected by the
inmates to take up grievances with the authorities
• accused them of not trying to get work
• called the head of the delegation, ‘Slim’ Evans, a thief -
Evans then called him a liar, which made it to headlines
Monday, May 25, 2009 47

95. Monday, May 25, 2009 48

96. Monday, May 25, 2009 48

97. What happened next...
Monday, May 25, 2009 49

98. What happened next...
• Bennett was determined to arrest the leaders, who
had gone back to disband the protest
• the RCMP were given orders to carry out a
raid on a meeting of strikers
Monday, May 25, 2009 49

99. The Regina Riot
- July 1, 1935
Monday, May 25, 2009 50

100. The Regina Riot
- July 1, 1935
• several hundred strikers were meeting in Regina’s
Market Square to discuss strategy, when they were
interrupted:
backs of vans opened & Mounties armed with
baseball bats got out
strikers erected barricades & threw stones
Mounties retaliated with .38 revolvers
Monday, May 25, 2009 50

101. Monday, May 25, 2009 51

102. Monday, May 25, 2009 51

103. Monday, May 25, 2009 51

104. Monday, May 25, 2009 51

105. The Aftermath
Monday, May 25, 2009 52

106. The Aftermath
• 1 police detective died
• 40 protestors & 5 citizens were wounded
• 130 men arrested
• property wrecked; sidewalks covered in broken
glass
• men who were not jailed drifted to other towns &
cities, or back to the work camps
Monday, May 25, 2009 52

107. The End...
Monday, May 25, 2009 53
-170,248 men had stayed in the camps between 1932 and 1936

108. The End...
• 1936 - industry began to recover
• work camp allowances were changed to $15 /
month wages ($0.50 / day), giving the workers
more dignity
• Bennett’s Conservative government lost the next
election; the Liberals promised to close the camps,
which they did by the end of the year
• work still could not be found for jobless men
• seeds were sown for effective unemployment
insurance programs
Monday, May 25, 2009 53
-170,248 men had stayed in the camps between 1932 and 1936

109. ...was also the
Beginning.
Monday, May 25, 2009 54
On to Ottawa Historical Society, Vancouver BC, www.ontoottawa.ca, 11/02/02

110. ...was also the
Beginning.
• many Trekkers, as they came to be known,
continued to work for helping labourers
• joined other protest movements soon after
• volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War
• joined politics to fight for union rights,
unemployment insurance, social welfare, and
medicare...until called to fight in WWII
Monday, May 25, 2009 54
On to Ottawa Historical Society, Vancouver BC, www.ontoottawa.ca, 11/02/02