The Dirty 30

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The Dirty 30s

• The 1920's were a time of optimism and prosperity
• All that would soon end ...

2
Black Tuesday

• During the 1920's, many people played the stock
  market
• By 1929, stocks began losing their value
• On October 24, 1929, thousands of stocks that
  were bought on margin were dumped on to the stock
  market
• Investors panicked, and within days, these stocks
  were worthless ...

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• On Tuesday October 29, 1929, the stock market
  crashed everyone had dumped their stocks
• At first, no one realized how serious this
  problem would be even PM Mackenzie King thought
  that the economy would naturally correct itself

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Economic Cycle

• Prosperity
• -Money -Employment
• -Expansion of business and manufacturing
• -Technology and new products
• Recovery Recession
• -Jobs increase -Money to
  spend -Cutbacks in production -Job
  loss
• -Production increased and business
  expands -Wage cuts and layoffs
• Depression
• -Low demand for goods and services -
  High unemployment
• -Factories shut down and businesses close

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Causes of the Great Depression

• LONG TERM CAUSES
• Canada's resource based economy (minerals, fish,
  wheat, lumber)
• Canada's economy vulnerable to global shifts in
  the economy
• Dependence on Exports
• Decreased global demand
• Surpluses, low sales
• High tariffs

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• Over-production in the 1920's
• Falling demand
• Low prices
• Falling wages
• Deflation
• Credit purchasing
• Banks call in loans
• People lose assets ... bankruptcy

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• Regionalism
• Western Provinces hard hit
• Maritimes never recovered in 1920's
• Unemployment
• Contributes to the downward spiral

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SHORT TERM CAUSES

• Stock market crash
• Buying on margin, stock prices plunging
• Investors couldn't repay brokers and dumped
  stocks on market
• No one was buying!
• Stock market crash on Tues. Oct. 29 all stocks
  are worthless

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• Drought and Dustbowl
• Surplus of wheat in late 1920's, but low demand
• Drought on and off for 10 years through the late
  20's and early 30's
• Dustbowl top layer of soil dries up
• Grasshoppers
• Huge infestations damaged crops

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Government Reactions

• PM Mackenzie King thought that the Crash would
  only be temporary he did not want to raise taxes
  or borrow money to help the poor
• R.B. Bennett, leader of the opposition
  (Conservatives) wanted higher tariffs to protect
  Canadian goods from unfair competition from other
  countries

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Alternative Solutions

• New political parties were forming in the 1930's
  as a response

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Communist Party of Canada

• Smallest and most radical
• They believed that the capitalist system was to
  blame
• They wanted to eliminate private ownership of
  business and property to help eliminate poverty

15
CCF

• Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
• Their platform was called the Regina Manifesto
• This party wanted a policy of democratic
  socialism where an elected government would own
  businesses to make sure that prices were fair and
  profits were returned to the people

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Social Credit Party

• Lead by William Aberhart
• Wanted to jump-start the economy by putting
  people back to work and by printing more money
• Social Credit party governed Alberta from
  1935-1971

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Union Nationale

• Unemployment was high in Quebec and
  many businesses were run by English
  Canadians
• Maurice Duplessis forms this party
• Promised to bring in higher minimum wage,
  workers' compensation, create a provincial
  government-owned hydro-electricity system like in
  Ontario
• Duplessis did not keep his promises and allowed
  the Roman Catholic Church to continue to control
  social services government action was taken
  against unions and their leaders

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Bad Times and a Bleak Future

• Prairie farmers suffered more than any other
  group of Canadians during this time
• Many were already suffering a drought since the
  late 1920's
• Many fell behind on mortgage payments and some
  were forced to leave their homes to find new ones
  elsewhere in Canada
• The dole relief payments, or welfare

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• Safety Net
• Social policies to assist people in difficult
  times
• Helps provide insurance to make sure we have a
  basic standard of living
• Healthcare, education, unemployment, social
  assistance, shelter

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On to Ottawa Trek

• Unemployed men were sent to relief camps in
  British Columbia
• In Vancouver, strikers commandeered freight
  trains and headed to Ottawa to take their message
  to PM Bennett
• This was feared to be a communist revolution
• Bennett ordered the strikers to be stopped in
  Regina where the strike leaders had organized a
  peaceful demonstration
• A riot broke out when RCMP tried to forcefully
  break it up

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• Riding the rails ...