Canadian Issues During World War I

Another French-English Controversy

The Changing Role of Women

The Conscription Crisis

• Most of the early volunteers to join into the war effort were English-speaking

• In the first two years, 350,000 Canadians enlisted, but many people still opposed the war

- among these were many French Canadians, farmers, pacifists and certain religious groups

Decreasing Number of Volunteers

• By 1916 the number of volunteers was decreasing as casualties were mounting overseas

• Prime Minister Robert Borden seen the need to conscript soldiers

• CONSCRIPTION: forcing men to enroll in the armed forces

MILITARY SERVICE ACT

• Conscripted (drafted) single men between the ages of 20 and 35

• Many farmers and labourers opposed and even threatened to strike in protest

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The Quebec Issue

• Conscription was most strongly opposed in Quebec

• Henri Bourassa (publisher of Montreal’s Le Devoir) led the campaign against it

• As always, he was concerned with the strengthening of Canadian nationality rather than getting caught up with Britain’s affairs

Gaining Support for Conscription

• Borden’s Conservative government invited many Liberals to join him in a Union (or Coalition) government to win support for conscription.

• Laurier (leader of the Liberals) opposed, but many other Liberals joined

• The Union Government won the election in 1917 with the majority of votes from English-speaking Canada (particularly Ontario)

The Results of Conscription

• 120,000 men were conscripted

• 47,000 went overseas

• The war ended before many of them actually faced combat

• Increased the bitter tensions between French and English speaking Canada

WOMEN AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Women Working Overseas

• Thousands of women served overseas as nurses, ambulance drivers, workers in clubs and canteens and personnel on bases

Changing Roles at Home• Women filled the void left by

the men who went to serve overseas

• Tens of Thousands of women worked in factories and on farms

• Labour unions even fought against this in fear that they would take jobs away from men after the war

• They were usually paid less than half the rate that men were paid

Volunteering

• Women were the majority of workers in volunteering roles

• Various groups and patriotic leagues collected money, knitted socks and mittens, packaged parcels and visited grieving families

Heads of the Household• For the first time, many

women became the heads of their households

• Aside from working and volunteering, they also had the responsibilities of maintaining the house and family

• For many, this became a permanent role when their husbands did not return from the war.

Influence of War on the Suffrage Movement

• SUFFRAGE: the right to vote in a political election and hold office

• The movement to give women the right to vote had been going on before the outbreak of the war

• Women working alongside each other in factories and on farms had a chance to share their views more regularly

• The hard work and efficiency of women in non-traditional role strengthened the realization that they were equal to men and deserved the same rights

• During the war, as an effort to win votes and with much of the voting population overseas, Robert Borden gave more women the right to vote in election

• In 1917 Borden gave voting privileges to mothers, sisters and daughters of soldiers

• Borden also promised that if elected he would extend the right to vote to all women over 21

• By 1918 all women over 21 could vote (Natives and Asian men nor women, however still could not)

• Although expected to return to their “traditional” jobs after the war, many women began to seek careers in non-traditional professions and took on a more active role in social activism (working conditions, improved housing and equal rights)

Nellie McClung