Unemployment in Canada - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The Interwar period is being understood in the Western culture to be the period between the end of the World War I and the beginning of the World War II in Europe, specifically it was from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939. Since it was the most serious crisis in the Canada's history, thus this paper will examine the reasons which cause such horrible outcome, criticize the present situation and have a better understanding in unemployment for prevention.After the elaboration of the unemployment issue, one could say that such horrible events shouldn't happen in the future as one learns from previous evidence.During the interwar period, highest unemployment rate in Canada reached roughly around twenty-five percent. Yet, that is not suggesting one to ignore the issues but rather focus on the better understanding of the past thus encourages others to raise more possible solutions to improve our society. Perhaps the Interwar period unemployment could not be treated as current events due to the unexpected crisis; still such unexpected crisis is seldom happening. Hence, prevention and preparation of possible crisis is often necessary.During the first years of World War I unemployment was high during 1914-1915 wherein many Canadians enlisted in the army to avoid the bleak effects of families suffering through hardships of lack of employment; but, by 1916 the "booming wartime industrial and agricultural economies combined to provide Canadians with other options and employers competed with recruiting officers for Canada's available manpower.
The returning soldiers not only came back to few jobs in 1918, but, also returned to Canada with them a new disease which killed as many people as it did during the war. As Canada moved from wartime to peacetime and soldiers vying for jobs, another crisis emerged which was termed "One Big Union" that was formed in 1919. This concept was that all workers should be organized inside one large union entity.
This focus on union organization was the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 wherein striking workers, many of them returning soldiers that would find very few opportunities but yet many companies would experience surging profits from wartime contracts.
This lack of employment found in the aftermath of World War I would find many of the returning soldiers and the public in general in an imbalance of power in favour of the elite and wealthy individuals who would profit immensely from the war effort, but, would find themselves in the middle of a power struggle between truth and fiction. As society fought for their rights of fair employment standards, the period that would be considered by many as the fall of the powerful few of their day, would find the country suffering even more hardships as they entered the Great Depression.
Great Depression among North America
Perhaps the hardest hit economy in western culture was Canada's. The Canadian economy would find that they were not only the hardest hit, but, also the slowest to recover which did not occur until the beginning of the Second World War.
Unlike the United States, the boom period between 1900 and 1929 found Canada as the world's fastest growing economy with only a brief and sharp recession occurring at the end of World War I. The economy would also find an increase occurring in housing starts until May, 1929.
Through the collapse of commodity prices in the United States in October, 1929 and the massive stock crash of Black Tuesday and as both the United States and Canada share economic links through gold standards, the collapse of the United States economy affected Canada as well.
The prairie provinces were not the only affected areas of Canada, as both Ontario and Quebec would now face immense problems in the manufacturing district as massive lay-offs would occur and over production by industrial companies would collapse into bankruptcy. Although this collapse ...Download file to see next pages Read More