Responses to Conscription
Name:
Group
French
Canadians
Farmers,
Pacifists,
Union
leaders
Women
English
Canadians
In general, did members
of this group support or
What reasons might they have given to
justify their decision to be for or against
oppose Conscription?
Conscription?
The Conscrintion Crisis 1917
French Canadians
You are a French Canadian. Your family immigrated from France 100 years ago. You
have never lived in France. Your loyalty lies with Canada, not with France.
You are a French Canadian. Your daughter can no longer get an education in French past
grade 4. Why would you want to fight for a country that does not respect your language?
You are a French Canadian. Your brother was killed at the Somme. Now, you are
responsible for taking care of his widow and 3 children. If you get conscripted, who will
take care of them?
You are a French Canadian. Your best friend, who is also a French Canadian like you,
enlisted in the Army last year. In his letters he wrote that at the training camp, officers
spoke only English even though they knew that the men they were training spoke French.
You are a French Canadian. Canada will not gain anything from this war. We have spent
too much money and lost too many men already.
Women
You are a Canadian woman. You want a say in what happens in the country. You have
been working in a munitions factory for 2 years and you are just as qualified to vote.
You are a Canadian woman. Your husband is fighting on the western front. You want
him to come home safely.
You are a Canadian woman. You lost your son at the battle of the Somme. He was only
21. You do not want any other woman to go through the pain that you experienced with
the death of your son. You do not want to send any more of our boys overseas.
Enough Blood has been shed by this war. No one knew that the war would last this long
and it has cost Canada far too much.
You are a Canadian woman. If your sons and husbands are not listening to you when you
tell them to enlist, then hopefully they will listen to the law and do their patriotic duty.
English Canadians
You are an English Canadian. Your 19 year old son is fighting in the war. You want him
to come home safely.
You are an English Canadian. Your son died at Ypres. If there had been more troops, he
misht still be alive.
You are an English Canadian. You feel a duty to Britain as your parents immigrated from
England just 25 years ago and it is their homeland. As a former British Colony we must
help Britain.
You are an English Canadian. You do not want those Germans to gain any more ground.
The allies have to win this war and if that means sending more troops, then that is what
we have to do!
You are an English Canadian. The French Canadians from Quebec have contributed very
little so far to the war effort and their boys are not signing up to defend our country! If
you have to have conscription in order for the French to do their part then so be it!
You are an English Canadian. You have a large business that does a lot of trading with
Britain. If Britain loses the war, Canada will suffer and lose foreign trade. It is our duty
to protect the interests of Canada by helping Britain win the war.
You are an English Canadian. Canada has been fighting in this war for over 2 years! We
cannot just stop in the middle of the war!
You are an English Canadian. Canada has shown to the allies that we are a strong and
dependable country. If we see the war through to its end we will be able to feel pride in
our accomplishments.
Farmers, Pacifists, Union leaders
You are a farmer. You run a farm with your father and it is your duty to provide the
troops overseas with food. If you go to war, who will provide food for the soldiers?
You are an English Canadian. Canada is a democratic country, you cannot force people to
fight in a democratic country!
You are a farmer. You own a farm and need your sons to help you run it as you are not
young as you once were. You cannot afford to have your sons go overseas.
as
You immigrated to canada in order to avoid this kind of dictatorship.
You are an English Canadian. Prime Minister Border promised that he would not pass a
law forcing men to enlist, and now he is breaking that promise. How can you trust a
govemment that does not keep its word?
You are an English Canadian. You do not believe in war. You are a Pacifist and you
would never harm another individual.
You are an English Canadian. You live in Canada and not Britain or France. Your family
and city are not being threatened. Why should you go and get butchered like all the
others for some King on the other side of the ocean?