The Roaring
Twenties
1921 Election

MacKenzie King – leader
of Liberal party
Believed in the middle path

Arthur Meighen – leader
of the Conservatives
Mackenzie King
Believed in principles over
compromise; didn’t care if
he offended anyone

Liberals elected 117 seats;
Conservatives 55 seats;
Progressives 64 seats
Meighen
Economic Boom

Canada’s economy was struggling
as it entered the 1920’s, but soon
began to rise
During the 1920’s the US started
investing in Canada’s economy.
Ex. US Companies set up ‘branch plants’
such as auto plants, which operated
here but were controlled by
American business men (so that they
didn’t have to pay tariffs to ship cars
to Canada)


US enriched Canada’s economy by
extracting or harvesting raw materials
(primary resources)

Materials were transported to US for
processing and manufacturing
(secondary resources)
Economic Boom (cont.)
 With
the increase
in employment and
economic
prosperity few
Canadians
questioned the
long term effects of
American
involvement.
PM King & US President Roosevelt
Bootlegging Across the Border



The Women’s Christian
Temperance Union (WCTU)
pushed prohibition into legislation
in Canada and the US.
 Prohibition: the sale,
manufacture, and
transportation (bootlegging)
of alcohol was illegal.
Eventually, after plebiscites (votes
on a public issue) Canada
adopted liquor outlets that the
government controlled. By1921,
many provinces had regulations
instead of banning product
The US, however, enforced it until
1933. Canadians sold illegal
alcohol over the border for about
10 years. This was known as “Rumrunning”.
Poster
supporting
prohibition
The Twenties’ Woman




Chicago
1926
After the tumult of World
War I, a "new breed" of
young women came
about:
Short skirts, bobbed their
hair
Disliked “acceptable
behavior”
women were becoming
more independent and
achieving greater
freedoms (the right to
vote, greater
employment)
The “Flapper”




a "new breed" of
young woman came
about: the Flapper.
A Flapper was an
emancipated young
woman who
embraced the new
fashions and urban
attitudes.
Short skirts, bobbed
their hair
Disliked “acceptable
behavior”
New Roles for Women
Early 20th Century teachers

The fast-changing world of the 1920s
produced new roles for women. Many
women entered the workplace as nurses,
teachers, librarians, & secretaries. However,
women earned less than men and were kept
out of many traditional male jobs (e.g.,
management) and faced discrimination.



Agnes Macphail began her career as a country
schoolteacher. Interested in agricultural problems, she
became a member and active spokesperson for the
United Farmers of Ontario.
1921 - was the first woman to be elected to the Canadian
House of Commons, and one of the first two women
elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
1929 - she became the first Canadian woman to be sent
as a delegate to the League of Nations in Geneva, where
she was an active member of the World Disarmament
Committee.
The Persons Case
The Persons Case 1929
 Emily
Murphy appointed as
magistrate in Alberta
 This was challenged on the basis
that only “persons” could hold office
under the BNA Act – women were
not “persons” under the law
 “Famous Five” fought to have PM
Mackenzie King appoint a female
senator
The Persons Case 1929
 1928
– Supreme Court of Canada ruled
that women were not “persons”
 “Famous Five” appealed to the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council (Britain)
 October 18, 1929 – JCPC declares
support for the women:
The exclusion of women from all public
offices is a relic of days more barbaric than
ours... To those who ask why the word
[“person”] should include females the
obvious answer is why should it not? (p.60)
Growth of Regionalism





Regionalism: concern of
various different regions of
the country with their own
local problems
Maritimes population is a
small region, therefore they
had fewer seats in
parliament
Oil replaced coal, yet
Maritimes had coal as their
focus industry –> so,
economy slows down
They want the federal gov’t
to help
Maritimes Rights Movement
formed
Regionalism (cont.)
There were also regional challenges from Prairies
and Ontario
Farmers angered by National Policy because of
tariffs/duties placed on foreign goods imported
into Canada(this policy benefits manufacturers,
not farmers)
Foreign goods become too expensive for
Canadians, so they have to domestic goods. As
a result, farmers can’t get cheap machinery from
America.
They protest: Farmers wanted free trade, abolish
tariffs and allow them to buy cheap machinery
from U.S.
They also wanted more representation at the
federal level, and were displeased at the lack of
control over their own products
1919 federal Thomas Crerar created the
Progessive Party
Wanted a new National Party based on free
trade and ownership of railways
Thomas Crerar