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Roaring Twenties Essay

Jasmine Fok
The changes and events in Canada during the Roaring Twenties show that
the country was in a state of major disputes, discrimination and violence. The
Roaring Twenties was a time of events, whether they were good or bad, they were
necessary for Canada to move forward. We see this when parties and movements
started to show up in Canada. We also see Canadas discrimination towards ethnic
groups and political ideas which had impacted the lives of those discriminated.
Lastly, the Roaring Twenties saw mass violence in Canada. These times, while not
optimistic were a sign that Canada was changing for the good in the future.
Canada was distrustful of their government and felt that they failed to
address their issues. They felt the need to create movements or parties to fix these
issues. For example, the progressive party formed because they felt that the
Liberals did not fight hard enough for the goals both parties shared. The Labour
Movement was also created because they wanted the government to help workers
gain more power and receive more reasonable wages. Another movement called the
Maritime Rights Movement was caused by the issue of energy reliance shifting from
coal to hydroelectricity, coal being the Maritimes base of their economy. The
government would have to find a way to address the issue that would help the
economy of the Maritimes while keeping the provinces that were profiting from
hydroelectricity from becoming upset. There were also other parties and
movements created such as the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO), United Farmers in
Alberta (UFA), the League of Indians, etc. This showed that Canada had many issues
that left many people unsatisfied, wanting to take action during these less than
optimistic times.

During the Roaring Twenties, Canada greatly discriminated against multiple


groups, in most cases violating their basic human rights. The government tried to
eliminate Aboriginal culture through assimilation. We also see their violation of
human rights as they were not allowed to vote, practice their culture, and were
forced to send their children to residential schools. Perhaps the worst violation
during the 1920s was the Eugenics Movement. The movement targeted certain
groups of people such as the disabled, Aboriginals, single mothers, etc. taking away
their ability to reproduce. The horrors of the movement are still present; an example
was in 1996 where the Alberta court gave $750 000 to a woman who was wrongfully
sterilized1. There is a lot more discrimination and violation of human rights such as
the head tax on Chinese immigration, ban on Chinese immigration overall,
revocation of citizenship based on ideals and much more. Canada was going
through a bad time where it shut its doors to those with different ideals or ethnic
origins.
There were also major events of violence throughout Canada during the
1920s. A major event in Canada during that time was the Winnipeg General Strike.
According to CBC, two strikers were killed, thirty-four others were wounded, and
the police made 94 arrests,2 .This strike was caused by angry workers of poor
working conditions and poor wages. Another violent event was between labour
workers and BESCO, known as the General Strike of 1925. The miners were
confronted by police at the lake who fired at them. The mob managed to surround
the police and beat them mercilessly. One man broke his back, another was shot in
the arm, and one was shot in the back 3. We can see from these events that these
were rather violent times during the 1920s.

From the events we can see that the Roaring Twenties was not a great time
to live through. People faced violence, discrimination and felt the need to take
matters into their own hands to solve the problems the government couldnt.
However, these tragic events at the time would lead to a brighter future. The parties
and movements signalled that change needed to happen, which it eventually
achieved. The violence faced in the strikes helped inspire others to create change
and the discrimination led to basic human rights in the future. If these events did
not occur, Canada would still be in a terrible state of human rights violation,
violence and terrible labour issues.

Works Cited
1. "Eugenics." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Accessed July 1, 2015.
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/eugenics/.
2. "The Winnipeg General Strike." CBCnews. Accessed July 1, 2015.
http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP12CH3PA2LE.html.
3. "Men in the Mines." Nova Scotia Archives. Accessed July 1, 2015.
http://novascotia.ca/archives/virtual/meninmines/davis.asp.

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