1. The Great
Depression Causes
of and Effects on
Canadians

2. Video Clip
• As you watch the clip, write down what your
impressions are from it, and any feelings that
you may have.
• What do you think the clip is trying to convey
• What do you see as some causes of the
Great Depression

3. Lead up to Depression
• Canada and the US were facing an issue of overproduction because of the ability to mass produce.
• When factories had to cut down on the number of
products it forced owners to lay off workers.
• The more people that were laid off the fewer the
number of people could buy the products the
factories made and so the cycle continued.
(remember the business cycle?)

4. Canada and the Depression
• The depression in Canada was made worse
because of the problems American
investment had created.
– Canada depended on American investment which
suddenly halted when the stock market crashed
on Black Tuesday October 29, 1929.

5. Black Tuesday

6. Desperate Years
• As people lost jobs, they lost homes and were
evicted
• Loss of jobs also meant the loss of respect
• Thousands existed on “pogey”
– Pogey: Government relief payments given to
those who had no alternative source of income
• People waited publicly in line for hours, facing humiliation
• Declare financial failure
• Prove that they were evicted and owned nothing of value

7. Desperate Times Call for Desperate
Measures
• Private charities helped those who were desperate,
– Provided clothing and meals
– Soup kitchen
Montreal Soup Kitchen, 1931

8. The Dust Bowl
• Collapse of the wheat market
• Prairies were hit by a drought from 1928 that lasted
almost eight years
• Palliser’s Triangle – semi arid area in S. Alberta and
Saskatchewan worst hit
• Plague of grasshoppers, stalled trains, buses, clogged
car radiators
• 1935: Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration Act
– helped farmers build irrigation systems and
reservoirs

9. The Women and Minorities
• Women had few jobs, other than domestic work
• Aboriginal families on relief got $5/month they were
expected to hunt and/or fish to make up the
difference.
• Immigrants were viewed with hostility when they
competed for scarce jobs
– Jews were targeted, suffered from anti-Semitism

10. Responding to Depression
• Mackenzie King believed that it was municipal
and provincial responsibility to provide
financial help
• King lost election in 1930 replaced by R.B
Bennett (Conservatives) who also thought the
depression was not the responsibility of the
government.

11. Bennett’s Response
• Pledged to “use tariffs to blast a way” into the
world markets and out of Depression
• Raised tariffs by 50% to protect Canadian
industries
– Caused trade barriers against Canada

12. Provincial Issues
• Many provincial governments went bankrupt
during the depression and needed help being able
to run their day to day affairs.
• Provincial parties were being quickly booted from
office for also failing to stop the depression.
• Provinces were told by the federal government
that they were responsible for finding work and
dealing with unemployment.
• The provinces did not, however, have the
necessary tools to handle this duty.

13. Provincial Solutions
• Provincial leaders attempted to put
down strikes.
• In Quebec, Maurice Duplessis, brought
the Union Nationale party to power in
1936. In an example of worsening French
and English relations: Duplessis blamed
Quebec’s social and economic problems
on the English minority in Quebec.

14. Provincial Solutions (cont.)
• Duff Pattullo, elected Premier in BC in 1933,
shortened the work day, increased the minimum
wage, and increased work relief payments by 20
percent.
– “A Little New Deal”
• The federal government challenged Pattullo on
this issue.
• Mayors and the Premier in BC were resented less
than Bennett, but were still blamed for being
ineffective in the fight to slow the depression.
• The reactions of the provincial governments
varied depending on which province you were in

15. Increased Regional Tension
• King created Rowell-Sirois Commission to examine
federal-provincial relations
– Recommended that federal government grant
equalization payments
• Wealthier provinces were angered, may thought it
would be loss of provincial power
• However, the economy had already made a turn
around

16. It wasn’t all bad…
• Entertainment: movies, magazines, romance
• Canadians audiences preferred US shows, federal
government created a public radio service which
became the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(CBC)
• Grey Owl; conservationist
– Devoted latter part of his life to the preservation
of northern Canadian forests and disappearing
beaver

17. Grey Owl – The Conservationist