1896-1914 research project @researchproject-rs-blog - Tumblr Blog

Workers Rights

Workers didn’t have a lot of rights in the Laurier era. Most of the Canadian industry was controlled by few corporations which were often family owned, such as imperial oil, and Dunsmuir coal. These types of companies were filled with greed and didn’t care for the people that worked for them, only the work the people did for them. Unskilled workers were simply disregarded and easily replaced.

#workers rights #1900s #canada

The Vancouver Island Strike, B.C. Miners’ Liberation League From The Vancouver Island Strike by J. Kavanagh, 1914 - issued in cause of the 1910-1913 strike held by coal miners.

#strike #coal

Working-class history is the story of the changing conditions and actions of all working people. Most adult Canadians today earn their living in the form of wages and salaries and thus share the conditions of dependent employment associated with the definition of "working class.

Workers Unions

Workers unions are when the workers deal with keeping their work environment up to a certain standard for the workers. Unions were just starting out in Canada during the Laurier era. The early unions who stood up for their worker rights and creating new ones faced struggle. Companies sometimes hired their own private police to stop strikes and protests put on by their workers.

#unions #worker unions

Settling in the Prairies

Most people settled to the prairies with nothing. They were given their 160 acres of free land and then went to work on other farms, or in the lumber of mining camps to make enough money to buy the basic farming equipment such as a plow, a wagon, a horse, and a milk cow. During this period they lived in tents, at least until they could build a soddie. Once they had enough money to import building materials, they’d build a permanent structure. Struggles for the prairie settlers included long, cold winters, a boring diet, mosquitoes, drought and hail.

#prairie life

A soddie was a house made of slabs of sod from the prairie ground where there were tough grass roots to hold it together. The slabs would be placed on top of one and other, doors and windows were covered with sacks, and the roof was thatched.

#soddie #hut

The Continuous Passage Act

A law passed in 1908 that stated immigrants were granted entry into Canada, only if they had arrived by a single direct route.

This law was passed to stop people from Asia and India from immigrating to Canada, because none of the steamship companies would offer such a route.

#law #canada

Komagata Maru

In 1914, Gurdit Singh, a Sikh business man chartered a steamer ship to transport 354 Sikh immigrants from Hong Kong to Vancouver, on a direct route.

#komagata #maru #gurdit

Gurdit Singh - Chartered the Komagata Maru

They waited aboard the ship at a port in Vancouver for two months while Canadian government officials decided their fate. If it wasn’t for the Canadian Sikh population giving them food and water, they probably would have starved to death.

The steamer was turned away and sent back, and when they returned to India, being gunned down and killed by the British who were waiting in Calcutta for their return.

Residential Schools for the First Nation

Residential schools were unlike the schools we have today, or even like the schools they had for white children in the early 20th century. They were created to house first nation children and teach them the catholic religion and manners while all together getting rid of their aboriginal culture. The children were starved for the day if they failed a test, were disobedient, or rude or disorderly conduct. If they spoke their native language they would be starved, beaten or considered disobedient and were punished accordingly. They were set on a very strict schedule, which consisted of very little school work. It was mostly them being taught how to work and belong as a white Canadian/European.

#residential schools #first nation

St. Michael's residential school

This caused havoc in the first nation communities. Even after the children had gone through school, the white people still wouldn’t accept them, and they were un-educated in their own culture, and in some cases there was a language barrier between the child and the family. Some families never got to see their children again, as many simply disappeared and were never heard from again. Many of the people who graduated from these schools turned to drugs and alcohol since no one was accepting of them, and some were even forced to live on the streets, as they had nowhere to call home.

This act by our government was crude and is not a proud historical period for our country, but is something the first nations and us will not forget, as it ruined many lives, families, and could have potentially destroyed an entire culture as well.

Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper apologizes for residential schools

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1896-1914 research project