What was bennetts new deal

It started out as a laserdisc in and the CD-ROM version has been used in schools across the country. It has been approved as a curriculum-supporting resource by provincial and territorial ministries of education. This online, public domain site is the fifth edition of the project. Home About Site Map Contact. Political Evolution in B. Prev: New Political Parties.

Bennett raised tariffs to unprecedented levels in an effort to protect Canadian markets and convinced Britain to offer Canada some preferential trading opportunities. But these efforts did not stop the economic hemorrhage. As the Depression deepened, unrest grew among the thousands of unemployed. Pictured here, an unidentified official beating back a group of people, during a Depression-era demonstration.

National Archives of Canada, C By , almost a quarter of workers were jobless. Bennett also created labour camps to provide unemployed single men with a subsistence living. Men lived in bunkhouses and were paid 20 cents a day in return for a hour week of hard labour.

The camps were very unpopular and so was Bennett. His initiatives offered Canadians no concrete ways to get back to work. The Prime Minister became the target of endless jokes. Cars which were towed by horses because there was no money for fuel were called "Bennett buggies. After four years in office and with an election looming, Bennett finally took some radical action.

He borrowed ideas from American president Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and developed a Canadian version of the plan to combat the Depression. At the start of , Canadians turned on their radios and were shocked to hear Bennett outlining a new deal for Canada. In a complete departure from his free enterprise beliefs, Bennett called for government control and regulation in Canada's social and economic arenas.

We are living in conditions that are new and strange to us. Canada on the dole is like a young and vigorous man in the poorhouse If you believe that things should be left as they are, you and I hold contrary and irreconcilable views.

I am for reform. Despite its failure, the legislation was a step on the road to medicare because it showed why the provincial and federal governments had to cooperate to deliver health care to Canadians.

Back to Exhibitions. Go to Educational Lab. Bennett Dr. Grant Fleming Dr.