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Historical Context and the Origins of Relief Camps in Canada:

Initial Response to Relief

The Great Depression in Canada was a time of economic hardship spanning a decade in which many people faced food scarcity, reduction of wages or precarious work, and overall reduction to their quality of life. The Depression was a worldwide phenomenon, however, the degree to which it affected nations differed drastically. By 1933, the rapid decline in exports of wheat, manufactured goods, and raw materials had caused a near complete economic collapse across Canada.

Municipal, provincial and federal governments were at odds with how to deal with the growing numbers of unemployment and as a consequence of this, the growing hostility from the initial lack of action and guidance from the different levels of government. Relief, initially, was the responsibility of municipal governments but the increasing numbers of unemployment was already straining the small financial reserves that municipalities had. The Ontario government, for example, introduced public works in urban and isolated areas to ease unemployment but between 1929 and 1932, employment had already fallen by 32 percent and these early relief systems could no longer cope. In British Columbia, the provinces reliance on the exportation of raw material meant that they were hit particularly hard by the Depression and similarly to Ontario, unemployment had reached 30% by 1933. In the prairies, years of droughts and failed crops, in combination with declining commodity prices, caused families with long standing histories in the region to pack up and move westward in search of employment. Vancouver became a hub for transient workers and their families as, in contrast to smaller communities, they had a pre-established Relief Department. Moreover, British Columbia offered a more temperate climate compared to the rest of Canada, meaning those who were without homes were less likely to freeze overnight or during the winter months.

Relief for Married vs Single Men

Relief, before the establishment of government camps, was difficult to receive for single men. Given the time period, and the fact that the Depression predates the creation of the welfare state, accepting relief came with a certain amount of stigma. At this point in history, it was commonly believed that men “should engage in waged work and be individualistic, productive and physically strong.” In the case of single men, even during the Depression, it was believed that these men should be responsible for themselves and not burden their families by staying with them if they were not contributing a wage. In Guelph, Ontario, men with dependants were given two days work a week whereas single men with no dependants were given two days work every two weeks. As the Depression worsened, single men were given work two days work every three weeks and were often paid in cash and with relief vouchers. This cultural sentiment towards men and a favouritization of married men or men with dependants caused a mass migration of transient men looking for employment in Canada. The responsibility to then relieve tensions fell on to the federal government.

Federal Relief Camps

The government of Canada was aware of unrest due to the Depression and feared that lack of economic opportunity might turn the mostly single men to communism or communist ideas. These fears, coupled with pre-existing fears that pre-date the Depression, the federal government outlawed the Communist Party of Canada in 1931. Government officials needed a place to put these single men and give them something to do in order to curb these communist ideas and sentiments. In 1932, Major-General Andrew McNaughton, who was then the chief of General Staff of the Department of National Defence, toured the countries military districts to examine the unemployment problem. At the time of his national tour, there was estimated to be over “70,000 mostly single, young, unemployed, homeless men in Canada.”

McNaughton proposed the idea of relief camps to provide men with work to fill their days, food, clothing, medical attention, and some compensation to ease tensions. McNaughton’s relief camps were expected to provide the basic necessities for single men in return for manual labour. This idea is similar to the English Poor Laws in which the poor are helped in exchange for labour and rehabilitation. In October of 1932, the first federal relief camps were opened in Canada. In November of 1932, camps were established in eastern Canada and immediately housed over 2000 men. To cut costs, these camps were set up in or in close proximity to existing military facilities and they used the militaries personnel and administrative experience to keep the camps running effectively. Each camp worked on “projects” and in British Columbia there were 53 projects and Ontario had 37 projects. Camps tended to be in more isolated and urban areas and away from urban ‘agitators' trying to spread communist ideas. The effectiveness of the camps are still being debated by historians and other scholars, but overall, they did help ease tensions at the start of the Depression.

Origins of the Union and Union Activity in the Camps

Life in the Camps

The federal government wanted to run the camps as effectively and as cheaply as possible but were still required to provide clothing, food, medical care, and money for all men employed in the camps. Although these terms were met, the quality of the food, clothing, and housing were repeatedly called into question. The biggest point of contention was the money to which the men were promised. The men worked for twenty cents per day for each day worked but there was much debate about whether the payment was a wage or an allowance. Moreover, there were issues with money being withheld from the workers.

Grievances

Grievances about the camp system were numerous, from the poor quality food, the lack of leisure facilities (bathrooms and showers), and that the men were only paid twenty cents per day. Complaints came from both internal and external sources. Organized labour outside of the camps criticized the cheap labour as it meant organized union workers from various trades would be less likely to receive work. Internally, workers in these camps recognized that a paradox existed; they knew their work was valuable yet they were simultaneously marginalized by society because of their social and economic status. This paradox caused relief workers to organize. They believed that since their work was valuable as they were constructing roads, airways, and forestry infrastructure, that they should be paid a fair wage. Certainly conditions were a source of grievance but they were tied into the fight for more money and less military control.

The federal government tried to maintain individuality among the men as to eliminate or stop the spread of an emerging collective conscious. This did not work as relief workers organized and created the RCWU. During relief camp strikes, workers and the union pressed for forty cents per hour as well as a five day work week, working a total of seven hours per day. RCWU rhetoric painted the relief camps as ‘slave camps’ and workers were engaged in ‘slave wage labour’. These sentiments and the growing discontent consequently caused the RCWU's numbers to quickly swell. The emergence of the RCWU was cause for concern and being associated with or organizing collectively within the camps would result in expulsion from the camps. As a result, RCWU organizers worked covertly in building the union because they faced being blacklisted the camps.

Camp Strikes

The RCWU organized its first strike in December 1934. In the four years that the federal relief camps ran, there were 359 recorded strikes, riots, demonstrations, and disturbances in all projects across Canada. Since the union was established by the WUL, they used their experience in organizing the unemployed in urban centers and applied it to the camps. The WUL sent 'agitators' to the camps to help spread ideas and literature to increase the likelihood of these men joining the cause. Overall, there tended to be more strikes in British Columbia and hundreds of camp workers went to Vancouver to protest conditions in the relief camps. The strikes were short-lived and the strikers returned to the camps with just a promise of a government commission to investigate their complaints.

In Ontario and in other areas, the disturbances were not as severe as those in British Columbia because there were far fewer men in these camps and therefore, far fewer 'agitators' making their way to those camps. The RCWU managed to provide lodging and food for its members but by the end of May of 1935, their resources had begun to run dry and the demonstrations became few and far between. The RCWU was left with little resources but they did have a growing number of unhappy men. In June of 1935, the men embarked on a journey now known as the On-to-Ottawa Trek. They rode on top of freight trains headed east to present their demands for Prime Minister Bennett in Ottawa but were subsequently stopped in the city of Regina.