The_Canadian_Depression

The Great Depression in the 1920's and 30's were some of the hardest times in history for many people in Canada. The stock market crashed, demand for goods dropped and exports plummeted. It was a time of the most desperate poverty Canada had ever known. In this dire state, families begged for some kind of relief but it would not come. In regards to providing this relief and dealing with the Depression, the Canadian Government was not successful because they supported a "laissez-faire" system of government, their vouchers did not provide people with what they needed, and they placed high tarrifs on foreign goods. However, they did create relief work camps, they bailed the provinces out with relief money, and the Dole somewhat helped those who received it. During this time of horrible economic hardship, the Canadian Government failed to lift the country out of its depression because it supported a "laissez-faire" system of government, its vouchers did not provide people with what they needed, and it placed high tarrifs on foreign goods. Firstly, the Government at that time supported "laissez-faire" which caused many problems when the depression first became evident. In a lassez-faire system of government there is little to no interference in the economy by the government. This resulted in the government sitting back and relying on the people to fix the economic slump that the country was in. But when the poeple could not relieve this slump, things just got worse and worse. Secondly, the government attempted to help people who had lost their jobs by giving them vouchers for food and other necessities. However, these vouchers were hardly enough for people to survive and they were rationed sparingly. Also, people felt that it was very humiliating to live off of these vouchers when there were those living the high life. Overall, the vouchers were a failed attempt to help poeple survive if they had no job. Finally, in an attempt to increase Canadian bussines, the government placed high tarrifs on foreign, imported goods. This resulted in rising prices on foreign goods which, in turn, resulted in Canadian bussines' to rise their prices to just below those of the foreign goods. Because of these high prices, people could not afford many products and sales fell for most companies. In regards to dealing with the depression, the Canadian government was overall not successful. Even though the Government did not deal with the depression in the right way, they did do some things that proved to be somewhat successful. They created relief camps for the unemployed, they bailed the provinces out with relief money, and they created a welfare system that helped those who recieved it. First, during the fall in the economy, many people became unemployed and could not find work anywhere. The gevernment created relief camps in order to get these people off the streets and provide them with a very low wage. These camps worked on projects which were in most cases, useless, but they did help people who were unemployed. Next, the government gave the provinces $20 million to try and bring the economy out of debt. This money was meant for work creation programs and to help the unemployed. Because of these new jobs the unemployment rate dropped and people were given some of the assistance they needed. Finally, the government also created a welfare system known as the "Dole" to give people a little bit of money in order to survive. Without the Dole, many people would have died of starvation. Even though it was very humiliating to get relief from the government, it still helped many people who would have surely died. These things the Canadian government did were somewhat successful in dealing with the depression. During the Great Depression, the Canadian Government did some things that proved to be somewhat successful. They created relief camps, provided $20 million to bail out the provinces, and helped people through a system of welfare. Overall, however, they were largely unsuccessful because they supported a "laissez-faire" system of government, their vouchers did not provide people with what they needed, and they placed high tarrifs on foreign goods. The government did not step up in Canada's time of need and failed to alleviate the country from its economic depression.