On 24 November 1917, Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden visited Kitchener to generate support for his "Military Service Act" and to campaign for his Unionist Party in the upcoming federal election. Two months earlier, his government passed the "Wartime Elections Act" which, among other things, disenfranchised voters expected to be opposed to conscription. The disenfranchisement included Germans who received their citizenship after 31 March 1902. At the November event, a group of disgruntled citizens heckled Borden. The incident received national press coverage. Business leaders urged Kitchener City Council to apologize to the prime minister. The city council refused to apologize by a vote of seven to five. Newspapers in other Ontario cities – including Kingston, Guelph and Brantford – pointed to the refusal as evidence that though Kitchener had changed its name the residents remained loyal to Germany over Canada. In his memoirs Borden reflected that for the rest of Canada, "the Kitchener incident was much more effective than any speech I could have delivered." Following the refusal, the Board of Trade and the Kitchener Manufacturers' Association protested the action by organizing a factory shutdown scheduled for 3 December. On the day of the protest, city council voted to apologize to stop a prolonged shutdown.