The Great Depression
On October 24, 1929, the collapse of the United States stock market was the catalyst for the beginning of The Great Depression. Bank failures, a steady decline in prices for most consumer goods, massive wage cuts, and unemployment were all symptoms of the stock crash that plagued America and would eventually affect Canada. The stock market crash was not the cause of the Depression but it triggered a series of events. The 1920's had been one of Canada's most prosperous decades, factories were booming and farmers were receiving high prices for their wheat. The Great Depression, also known as the "dirty thirties" fell upon Canadians without remorse. Mass unemployment left Canadians struggling to survive in a world without unemployment insurance, health care, and very little social assistance. Between 1929 and 1933 the Gross National Expenditure declined by 42% and by the latter year 30% of the labour force was unemployed and 1 in 5 Canadians became dependant upon government relief for survival. (Struthers) Though both eastern and western provinces were suffering equally, the inability to communicate effectively over long distances to each other only served to further exacerbate growing tensions between the East and the West. T
he western provinces suffered the most at first creating a resentment and bitterness towards the eastern provinces. These perceptions that the eastern provinces were unaffected by the depression would quickly become unfounded. Workers were forced to accept large decreases in pay and often the working conditions were not fit for habitation. The eastern and western provinces both suffered but their hardships prevented them from seeing the hardships of their provincial neighbours, creating tensions that would have a lasting impact on their relationship with each other. "Farmers in these areas are already in desperate circumstances. ... Only half of them have seeded and a considerable portion of that seed has blown out. The soil has drifted completely over fences and to a depth of two feet on one road." (Horn p96) The garment factories in Toronto, Ontario provide a perfect example of how the industrial market was able to in some ways provide a shield for Eastern Canada during the depression. Unemployment was a national problem that had had reached unprecedented heights and still the federal government refused to provide work for the unemployed claiming that it was primarily a local and provincial responsibility. In the beginning of the Depression relief was sent from the eastern provinces in the form of food and other various donations but as time progressed the eastern provinces started to falter in the grip of the Depression. The lack of media technology in the thirties prevented the Western provinces from maintaining close contact with the Eastern provinces. The television had not been invented yet and the majority of stories reported in the newspaper were of local interest. As a result, the West had concept of the events occurring in the East. Because it to
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Approximate Word count = 1202
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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