1929: William Lyon Mackenzie King is PM

• Felt the crash was a normal part of the business cycle

• Believed the government should not intervene in the economy

• Calls an election in 1930

Leader of the Conservatives: R.B. Bennett

• Campaigns across Canada promising to take action

• Bennett promises jobs for everyone willing to work, and high tariffs to protect Canadian industry

"I propose that any government of which I am the head will at the first session of parliament initiate whatever action is necessary to that end, or perish in the

attempt."

– R.B. Bennett, June 9, 1930.

The Five Cent Piece Speech

• King, in response to provincial governments’ requests for relief funding, said he would not give any Tory governments “a five-cent piece”

Bennett and the Conservatives win a majority in the 1930 election

Bennett’s Policies

• Also reluctant to interfere with the economy, but does keep his promises

• Relief Acts set aside millions of $ for emergency relief and, in 1932, create the relief camp system

• Raises tariffs on imported goods

But Bennett’s policies are not effective...

• Unemployment peaks by 1933

• Bennett begins to gradually increase government intervention in the economy:

• 1934 – created Bank of Canada to regulate monetary policy• 1935 – established Canadian Wheat Board to regulate

wheat prices• 1935 – introduced unemployment benefits

“Bennett Buggies”

Bennett’s 1935 “New Deal”

– Abandons his former policies– New social programs – unemployment insurance,

minimum wage, regulation of working conditions, health and accident insurance, old age pension, agricultural support programs

– Goes against his former support of unregulated capitalism – critics said he was making a “deathbed conversion” to win the election

Letters to Bennett

• Read the handout with letters addressed to Bennett, and answer questions 1-7 with an elbow partner.

Class Debate • 2 Sides

• For Bennett Vs. Against

• In your groups support your argument for either being for or against Prime Minister Bennett using Spotlight textbook or any resources learned in class etc.

• Write down on large piece of paper.

Relief Camps

• As provinces and municipalities were overwhelmed with the need for relief, the federal government stepped in and created relief camps for unemployed single males – the transients who had been riding the rods!

On-to-Ottawa Trek

• The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a long journey where thousands of unemployed men protested the dismal conditions in federal relief camps scattered in remote areas across Western Canada.

• The men lived and worked in these camps at a rate of twenty cents per day before walking out on strike in April 1935.

Regina Riot

• The Regina Riot was the culmination of months of protests as thousands of unemployed men moved across the country in what became known at the "On To Ottawa Trek.”

• The men wanted to coerce the federal government into finding them jobs.

Debate Question:

Did Prime Minister Bennett succeed in helping struggling Canadians during the Great Depression?