CH1201

Ontario & Westerner farmers were unhappy with the policies of the Liberal Conservative, & Union during WW1

High tariffs forced farmers to pay more for farmer machinery &

other essential manufactured goods

To protect their interests, farmers developed a number of provincial political parties that called for lower tariffs & freight rates

Throughout the 1920s, the United Farmers formed government in Ontario, Alberta, & Manitoba

At the federal level, the United Farm groups in Ontario & on the Prairies formed a new political party known as the Progressive Party

The Progressive Party received support from discontented farmers & labour groups

The Progressives could have become the official opposition but they refused so that their members would be free to speak independently to the electors

The minority liberals had to keep the support of the Progressives so it adopted “progressive” measures such as old-age pensions & tariff reductions on farm machinery.

Federal Election Results, 1921

Liberals 117

Progressives 64

Conservatives 50

Others 4

While women could vote provincially & federally in the early 1920s, very few were elected to office

For 14 yrs, Agnes Mcphail was the only female MP

There were still many political barriers for women during the 1920s:

Many people thought that women should not have political

equality

Women could also not legally hold non-elected political office

(judges, senators)

One of the most famous cases in Canadian legal history – the “Persons” Case – was brought together by 5 Alberta women

Led by Emily Murphy & Nellie McClung, they asked the Supreme Court of Canada to declare that women were persons under the meaning of the British North America Act and therefore eligible to be appointed to the Senate.

Unfortunately, the judges did not believe that women were persons under the Act.

Refusing to abandon their case, the “Alberta Five” appealed to the British Privy Council, then Canada's highest court of appeal.

In October 1929, the Privy Council declared that women are indeed persons & therefore eligible for appointment to the Senate

In 1931, Cairine Wilson was appointed as Canada’s first “female person” senator.

In 1922, a British diplomatic crisis in Turkey clearly showed that Canada was not a British puppet

Britain feared that Turkey would occupy the port of Chanak, which would give Turkey control over the Dardanelles, a waterway connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas

Due to colonial / empire obligations, Britain was willing to go to war over this issue

Britain cabled Ottawa looking for Canadian support in this crisis

It was expected that Canada would come to the aid of the Empire (as in the Boer War & WW1)

Instead, Prime Minister King declared that only Canada’s Parliament could decide whether to help

In the end the crisis had died down, but Canada had shown that it would make its own decisions regarding military support for Britain

Halibut Treaty (1923)

The Canadian Fisheries Minister signed a treaty with the U.S governing fishing rights.

This was the first time a Canadian, not a British official signed an international agreement.

This was a 1926 constitutional crisis between our Liberal PM William Lyon Mackenzie King & the Governor-General Byng (remember Vimy Ridge)

In the 1925 federal election, the Liberals won 101 seats, with the Progressive Party of Canada holding 24 and the Conservative Party at 116.

Despite winning more seats than the Conservatives, King refused to step down. (Liberals had the support of the Progressives to form a majority)

At the end of the year a political scandal the Progressives removed their support for Liberals & King went to the Governor General Byng to request an election

The Governor General refuse and King resigned

The Conservatives were asked to form a government which lasted for 3 days. (They lost the confidence of the House & the Gov Gen was forced to dissolve parliament & a new election was called)

In the 1926 election campaign, King accused Byng, the Queen's representative, of interfering in Canadian politics

King argued that he, the elected Prime Minister of Canada, had been overruled by the representative of the Crown in refusing his initial election request.

Britain was interfering in the affairs of a sovereign country.

This crisis helped clarify the role of the Governor General and Governor General Julian Byng was the last British Governor General.

It also decreased the amount of British interfering Canada's government, and Canada were able to establish Canadian ambassadors to Britain, U.S.,and France.

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/politics/federal-politics/scandals-boondoggles-and-white-elephants/the-king-byng-affair.html

http://stau.ycdsb.ca/Teachers/ciorio/Webpages/KingByngPodcast/Podcast/Podcast.html

Passed in 1931, it gave the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire complete control of their laws(Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, South Africa and Newfoundland.

The British government could no longer - · directly make law for the Dominions · dictate the foreign and military policy for the Dominions

Canada had secured her independence as a nation on all front but one – Canada could NOT alter or change its constitution without British approval.