What we can learn from 1935′s On-to-Ottawa Trek, a convoy of the disillusioned
Bill Waiser is distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan and the author of many books, includingStrikers from unemployment relief camps travel to Eastern Canada during 'March on Ottawa' in Kamloops, B.C., in June, 1935.Earlier this year, a trucker convoy descended on Canada’s capital to complain about federal policies and what it saw as government inaction. But going to Ottawa to protest was a Canadian tradition long before that.
So in April of 1935, hundreds of disgruntled men walked out of the camps in British Columbia and descended on Vancouver in a bold attempt to reverse what had felt like dead-end lives and to secure meaningful employment, in a direct challenge to Bennett’s handling of the Great Depression. Hundreds of dissatisfied, disillusioned men walked out of Department of National Defence unemployment relief camps throughout British Columbia as the Great Depression wore away at the country in April, 1935.At prearranged stops, the men dismounted from the freight cars in unison, formed themselves into divisions and marched smartly, four abreast and singing. They also held “tag days,” in which they’d stand on street corners with tin cans and solicit donations while explaining their mission.
On June 12, 1935, the day the trek entered Saskatchewan, the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways complained that the men were trespassing on their trains and asked for federal help. In response to their plea, Ottawa instructed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to stop the unlawful movement at Regina.
For the next two weeks, the mounted police and the trekkers played a tense game of brinkmanship in Regina, each daring the other to make the first move. Negotiations between the trek leadership and Bennett government foundered because of the prime minister’s refusal to even recognize the legitimacy of the protest. By the end of the month, however, the men grudgingly conceded that there was no way out of Regina and that it would be foolhardy to engage the Mounties.
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