By

1916, Canada had a booming economy and was supplying the Allied forces with munitions, wheat, airplane parts, and submarines By 1916 there were labour shortages and virtually no unemployment

 Because

the war dragged on for years and the type of weaponry was advanced and mass producible, the Canadian govt needed money to sustain their war effort

 They

did this through 3 measures:

1. Victory Bonds bought by Canadians who

essentially gave the govt money to be paid back with interest after the war 2. Taxes introduced the personal income tax (at 3%!) and a profit tax (4%) on businesses 3. Later in the war, Canada was one of the many Allies who borrowed funds from the USA

 The

war cost so much that at the end of it, Canada was spending more paying off their war debt and soldier pensions than their entire budget had been in the pre-war era.
The income tax was here to stay

Very shortly after war was declared, Prime Minister Borden introduced the War Measures Act
Designed to give the federal government more control over

the countrys affairs Gave the government the power to intervene in transportation, manufacturing, agriculture and trade as it deemed necessary Also gave the federal government more power over the citizens of the country including the right to censor mail and suspended the right of habeas corpus - this went especially badly for German and AH Canadians, 8579 of whom were detained in internment camps through the war

 Why

did Borden implement the War Measures Act? Why might some Canadians have opposed the Act?

 Halifax

was a key harbour for the British Empire during WWI because most of Canadas goods and supplies left through this harbour. In 1917, a French munitions ship collided with another ship and exploded leveling part of the city and killing approx. 2000 people.

 During

the war food and fuel became scarce and prices soared because so much was being exported to Europe Honour rationing was introduced people limited themselves to 1.5 lbs of butter and 2 lbs of sugar/ month Mandatory waste reduction was introduced

 It

wasnt just the men who went overseas

Hundreds of women volunteered in the war as

nurses and ambulance drivers, others volunteered in organizations like the Red Cross
However,

the most substantive change for women was on the Home Front

 So

many men were away and the demand on Canadas industry had increased so much that women were hired for all kinds of work including traditionally male jobs like factory work (including munitions), farming, and fishing.
Previously, they had worked primarily in the food and

Employers

assumed that the women would fill the jobs while the men were away and would then return home when the men got back.
Canadas war economy would have collapsed without

clothing industries and as domestic servants.

this influx of employees.

 The

contribution women were making led them to organize as suffragettes (women trying to get the right to vote)
This process had early success in Manitoba

where women were granted the right to vote in provincial elections in 1915

 The

federal government gave women the right to vote bit by bit

1917 Wartime Election Act gave nurses with the

armed forces and the wives, sisters and mothers of soldiers a vote in the election A bit of a cynical move on Bordens part
Borden

pledged to extend the vote to all women if reelected in 1917, kept his word and all women over 21 were given the right to vote in federal elections

 Canadian women got Australia, 1902 France, 1944 USA, 1920 UK, 1918 Sweden, 1921 New Zealand, 1893 Netherlands, 1919 Finland, 1906 Switzerland, 1971

the vote in 1917