on to ottawa trek
The strikers on their way to Ottawa on trains
Introduction
In the severe economic depression of 1929-1939, Canadian labour engaged in many fierce battles. On of the highlights was the general strike of young unemployed sungle men in work camps, in the province of British Columbia, on Canada's west coast in April, 1935 where they laboured six and a half days a week for the paltry wage of 20 cents a day. The strikers abandoned the camps and cpngregated on the city of vancouver. After two months of valiant but unsuccessful strugle for union wages, they decided to take theri case dierect to Ottawa, the nation's capital, three thousand miled to the east. Their journey was enshrinded in history as the On To Ottawa Trek.
The Trek
They left Vancouver on June 3, 1935. "Riding the Rod" (on and in railway frieght cars) across mountains and prairie, they reached Regina, still only half way to Ottawa. Here they were stopped by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on orders from Ottawa and a month later the strike was brutally smashed on July 1 in a police-inspired riot and its leaders arrested.
Their strike and trip captured the hearts and minds of canadians. Whils the strike was suppressed, it wasn't lost. In the federal election a few months later, the hated Conservative government of Prime Minister R.B. "Iron Heel" Bennett went down to resounding defeat. The new Liberal government felt compelled to abolish the camps.
In the severe economic depression of 1929-1939, Canadian labour engaged in many fierce battles. On of the highlights was the general strike of young unemployed sungle men in work camps, in the province of British Columbia, on Canada's west coast in April, 1935 where they laboured six and a half days a week for the paltry wage of 20 cents a day. The strikers abandoned the camps and cpngregated on the city of vancouver. After two months of valiant but unsuccessful strugle for union wages, they decided to take theri case dierect to Ottawa, the nation's capital, three thousand miled to the east. Their journey was enshrinded in history as the On To Ottawa Trek.
The Trek
They left Vancouver on June 3, 1935. "Riding the Rod" (on and in railway frieght cars) across mountains and prairie, they reached Regina, still only half way to Ottawa. Here they were stopped by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on orders from Ottawa and a month later the strike was brutally smashed on July 1 in a police-inspired riot and its leaders arrested.
Their strike and trip captured the hearts and minds of canadians. Whils the strike was suppressed, it wasn't lost. In the federal election a few months later, the hated Conservative government of Prime Minister R.B. "Iron Heel" Bennett went down to resounding defeat. The new Liberal government felt compelled to abolish the camps.