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Unit 1: Forging a Canadian Identity: 1914–1945 
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Reading Strategy 
Before you start reading this section, recall what you learned in Chapter 1 about how the First World War changed the lives of Canadians. 
A Different Canada 
After the victory parades and memorial services, a different Canada emerged after the war. When the soldiers re- turned to Canada, both they and their country had forever changed. The young soldiers endured horrible mem- ories of slaughter and death. Hoping for better times, in the early years of the 1920s, they found only poverty and disappointment. 
Urbanization 
In 1921, for the first time, more of Canada's almost nine million people lived in urban areas than in rural areas. 
Figure 2.4 The Royal York Hotel became known as a city within a city. It was 28 floors of splendour, opulence, and mechanical genius. Each of the 1048 rooms had a radio and private bathroom. The switchboard was 20 metres long and required 35 telephone operators. 
Montréal remained the largest urban centre, followed by Toronto and Winni- peg. In the West, Vancouver, Victoria, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Calgary had each grown to over 25 000 people. The following factors con- tributed to this growth: 
• Fewer workers were needed on farms because of mechanized farm machinery. As a result, farm workers migrated to the cities. 
• In the cities, factories had hired more workers during the war to produce wartime industrial goods. 
• The lure of city life had drawn people from rural Canada. 
After 1924, an economic boom spurred greater industrialization. Tor- onto and Montréal grew by 33 per cent and Vancouver surpassed Winnipeg in population. People flocked to such towns as Windsor, Oshawa, and Walker- ville to work in automobile factories. Skyscrapers began to dot the skylines of major cities. The growing use of auto- mobiles promoted the growth of suburbs. 
The Royal York Hotel in Toronto symbolized the new era. When it opened in 1929, it was the tallest building in the British Commonwealth. The hotel included a 12-bed hospital, a bank, a library, 10 ornate elevators, a glass- enclosed roof garden, and a concert hall. 
The Population 
Canada was a young country. More than half the population was less than 30 years old. The average family was large. More than half of Canada's fam- ilies had three or more children; 12 per cent had more than five children. 
Politics and Regional Protest In July 1920, Arthur Meighen became prime minister following Robert Bor- den's resignation. Meighen inherited 
Chapter 2: The Boom Years 
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the reins of a country torn apart by strikes, unemployment, inflation, and regional divisions. 
Québec 
The war and the conscription crisis had left a feeling of bitterness in Québec. After the 1917 election, there were no French-Canadian Conservative MPs. Alienated from the rest of Canada, many French Canadians formed their own trade unions, farmers' parties, and co-operatives. 
Continuing economic problems drove many French Canadians to the larger cities or to the United States for work. To slow this tide, the Québec government encouraged American capitalists to invest in the province, particularly in its natural resources. Lured by economic incentives and a cheap work force, American money fuelled the growth of mining, pulp and paper, and hydroelectricity in the province. Not everyone agreed with American investment. Henri Bourassa, a Québec politician, complained that the government was selling the province's "jewels." 
Another group believed that the only way French Canadians could sur- vive as a people with their own culture was to separate from Canada. In the pages of his influential journal L'Action française, professor and priest Abbé Lionel Groulx warned that French- Canadian culture was in danger. The only way to "become masters in our own house," he said, was to take con- trol of Québec's natural resources and large industries. 
The Maritimes 
The Maritime provinces also felt alien- ated from the rest of the country. The decline in demand for fish and coal put 
added strains on the region's economy. Many large companies, such as the Bank of Nova Scotia, had already moved to Central Canada. Those that remained wanted the federal government to reverse policies that they believed hurt their chances of survival. Railway freight rates, which had doubled since the end of the war, made it too expen- sive to ship goods to Central Canada. Tariffs favoured the growth of manu- facturing companies in Central Canada. The resulting unemployment forced thousands of young people to leave the Maritimes. 
The Maritime Rights Movement tried to use regional co-operation to force the federal government to solve the area's economic problems. In par- ticular, it wanted lower tariffs, larger federal subsidies, and reduced freight rates. In 1926, Prime Minister Mackenzie King created a Royal Commission to investigate the situation-and to quiet the region. Although the Commission supported the demands of the Mari- time Rights Movement, King made only minor changes. The West now had a larger population than the Maritimes and thus more seats in Parliament. Consequently, King favoured Western grievances over Eastern concerns. 
Farmers and the West 
Before the 1917 election, Borden had promised that farmers' sons would not be conscripted, only to break that promise. Following the war, the world market for wheat collapsed and many prairie farmers were desperately short of cash. Farmers had been encouraged to mechanize during the war in order to increase production. Now they faced large debts. They claimed that high tariffs pushed up the prices of farm machinery and consumer goods at their expense. 
"[Lionel Groulx] offered ... a nationalism that combined a renewed sense of the importance of the Québec govern- 
ment, a quest for economic emancipation, 
and a firm belief that... loyalty to tradi- tion, both religious and cultural, was the key to an exciting future." 
–Pierre Trépanier, The Oxford Companion to Canadian History, 2004 
"The [Maritime Rights] Movement helped foster a regional consciousness and sense of identity. It did not secure any significantly different approach in federal government policies." 
-David Kilgour, former member of Parliament, Edmonton-Beaumont 
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Unit 1: Forging a Canadian Identity: 1914-1945 
"We as farmers are downtrodden by every other class. We have grovelled and been ground into the dirt; we are determined that this shall not be. We will organize for our protection; we will nourish ourselves and gain strength, and then we shall strike out in our might and overthrow our enemies." 
-Henry Wise Wood, leader of the United Farmers of Alberta 
Learn more about the Progressive Party 
When Borden and Meighen did not lower tariffs, many farmers gave up on the old parties. They believed that Ontario and Québec controlled politics and the economy for the majority of their populations' benefit. As a result, farmers began to organize to defend their interests. 
Farmers in almost very province established their own political parties, some with great success: 
• In 1919, the United Farmers of Ontario captured 56 seats and formed a minority government. 
• Two years later, the United Farmers of Alberta captured the provincial government. 
• In 1922, the United Farmers of Manitoba formed the government in that province. 
• Thomas Crerar, a former member of Borden's Cabinet, established the Progressive Party in 1920 to fight for farmers' rights at the federal level. Based in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and rural Ontario, it was the first significant third federal party in Canadian history. 
In the 1921 election, Mackenzie King's Liberals won almost all the seats in Québec, much of the Maritimes, and a large portion of Ontario. Two Independent Labour MPs were also elected, including J.S. Woodsworth and Abraham Heaps in Winnipeg. The Progressive Party captured 65 seats. 
In the next few years, King spent much of his energies trying to win over the Progressives, whom he considered "Liberals in a hurry." 
The Progressive Party 
With the second largest number of seats, the Progressives were entitled to form the official opposition. However, party members were divided on poli- cies and principles, so the Conservative Party formed the Opposition instead. The Progressives wanted the people to have more control over their represen- tatives and advocated policies such as recall and referendums. 
In the 1925 election, the Progressives lost almost all their Ontario seats but were moderately successful in the West. Since neither the Liberal nor the Conservative parties won a majority of the seats, the Progressive Party now held considerable power. Although Mackenzie King won fewer seats than Arthur Meighen, he convinced the Progressives to support his Liberal Party. Thus King became prime minister of Canada's first minority government. In another election the following year, most Progressive voters returned to the Liberal Party, allowing King to form a majority government. To remain in power, King courted the support of the Labour MPs by passing the Old Age Pensions Act in 1927. 
Challenge and Response 
1. What evidence is there that many regions in Canada were dissatisfied 
with the federal government? 
2. Do you think that the concepts of recall and referendum would be 
useful in Canadian politics today? Write an editorial in which you explain your views. 
 and Define: Urbanization, industrialization, Progressive Party.