Negative Effects Of Conscription On Canadian Society

Firstly, the Conscription Crisis of 1942 provoked conflict between the French and English Canadians, but also changed Canadian identity positively during the 1940s. Ever since World War ll began and Canada joined the war the French Canadians highly opposed to the idea of conscription; “[...]English-Canadians, who were mostly in favour of conscription, and French-Canadians, who were strongly opposed.” To begin with, the prime minister of Canada at the time, Mackenzie King had acknowledged the great disagreement the French Canadians had against conscription and made a promise to the nation: “King’s government [...] had promised the nation, and particularly Quebec, that it would not send any conscripts to serve overseas.” The last thing that King wanted to do was to impose conscription especially when Quebec strongly believed in anti-conscription: “The Quebec ministers kept a strong vigil over King's anti-conscription predisposition, reminding him of the terrible divisiveness of the World War 1

Conscription proved itself on angering many French Canadians. The October Crisis showed how French Canadians can fight back against Canada. The 1992 and 1995 Referendums demonstrated the actions that the French can take if they are ignored. Becoming aware of Canada’s actions can prevent straining French-English relations to the point where it cannot be

The Military Services Act had more cons than pros as it destroyed the relationship of the English Canadians and the French Canadians, it limited the freedom of the males by forcing them to attend war and fight, and also caused a dangerous and damaging riot in Quebec. By the spring of 1918, the government had amended the Military Services Act so that there were no exemptions. This left many English Canadians opposed. The war ended within a few months but the issue left Canadians divided and distrustful of their government. Then in 1920 Borden retired and conservatives were shut out of Quebec for the next fifty years. The conscription crisis stuck

In 1957, John Diefenbaker took the spot of the Official Opposition leader against the Liberal party who at the time was lead by St. Laurent. Diefenbaker did not support the new budget which was presented. This forced Parliament to dissolve in April of that year and have an election on June 10th. St. Laurent was extremely confident about winning the election as the Liberals had been in power since 1948. St. Laurent’s confidence was such that he did not even bother to make any recommendations to the Governor General to fill the 16 vacancies in the Senate before dissolving the government. During the election campaign Diefenbaker was portrayed to the country as a people’s person, who was honest with small town values. He was popular in the Prairie Provinces as he connected with the people. He had grown up in Saskatchewan and understood the culture of the prairies. Three months before the election took place a census of how Canadians would vote was conducted. It showed that 46.8% of Canadians planned to vote for the Liberal party and only 38% for the Conservatives. In the next three months this would change considerably because of a

* Selective Service Act-forced draft boards to induct them for combatant or noncombatant duty depending on the nature of their objections

During both the 1970 and 1973 elections, the caucus won under 10 seats out of a possible 110 – even though they had roughly 30 per cent of the popular vote** (FOOTNOTE Canadian encyclopedia). Despite their initial failure though, the PQ emerged victorious in the 1976 election, defeating the liberal opposition while taking 41 percent of the popular vote and 71 seats. This victory was attributed largely to an electoral strategy in which the party promised to hold a plebiscite on Quebec independence during its first year in office – a promise it would keep, though not within the originally proposed timeline. This surprising win by the PQ is considered on of the most important elections in Quebec’s history, rivalled only by the aforementioned 1960 vote that brought Jean Lesage and his Liberals into prominence. The repercussions of this famous election were seen not only in the province of Quebec, but also throughout the rest of

Once the Military Service Act was put in place, the problems began that made the Conscription Crisis of 1917 so significant. Almost immediately Quebec anti-conscription riots broke out all over Montreal. The province of Quebec was totally opposing the fact of serving in World War One. The fact that forcing young men to fight and die was thought to be an outrage in Quebec. Never minding the fact that the Canadian Corps was nearly in Complete English. During the riots nearly forty percent of the Québécois conscripted men did not report for their duty in the war. The views French-Canadian's between the majorities of the English Canadian's were basically utterly opposed to each other causing the relations between the two the lowest ever within Canadian history. In both the elections of 1917 and 1921 seventy percent of the Quebec Population voted liberal for the loss of trust from the conservatives due to this event. "The 1917 Election was the most bitter in Canadian history, viciously fought on both sides"- said

situations. In this essay, I am to vindicate my thoughts utilizing historical evidence, such as

For starters, King destroyed the national unity, which had only been recently recuperated after the division between the French and English Canadians during World War 1 as a result of the first conscription. Primitively, King’s plan was not to force conscription, as his campaign slogan was “Conscription if necessary but not necessarily,” as well as he also ruled out overseas conscription entirely in 1939 as a promise to the citizens of Canada. King was aware of the strong/negative francophone feelings towards conscription and knew much of his support in the election as a result of his repeated pledges about conscription came from the French- Canadians. War broke out in 1939, shortly after his election, and only a year later he adopted the National

the enemy force, Many people disagreed with the idea and it took a toll on the party in power of canada. The reasoning for the controversial topic was because word of how the gruesome trench warfare had spread throughout communities of the country and Canada had one of its “lowest volunteer rates to the armed forces ever” says the Canadian War Museum Canada had put Security over Freedoms and it was done because if not the place we call home could be much different then it is now. During the 1940’s Canada had implemented the “War Measures Act” this act permitted japanese canadians to have to live in

This event began when Prime Minister Borden passed the Military Service Act, an act that introduced conscription. English Canadians supported this act and conscription, and believed that Canada should always be loyal to Britain. French Canadians, on the other hand, hated this act and opposed conscription, and saw no need for Canada to get involved in the world war (Martinello,“Conscription Crisis of 1917”). This event is one of the most important events in French Canadian and English Canadian relations, because it initiates the beginning of a troublesome rivalry. From this point on, there are going to be huge amounts of issues due to this topic, which will not get solved until many years after World War II. As well, this troublesome rivalry will result in major fighting between French and English Canadians, and which will almost lead to the separation of Québec. This conscription crisis was also a momentous debate that echoed public divisions on not just war, but also on language education, agriculture, religion, and the political rights of women and immigrants (Behiels, “Francophone-Anglophone Relations”). The conscription crisis really showed the federal government, as well as the rest of Canada, that there truly is a division between the two major groups of people living in this

During the war, there was discrimination towards many groups such as the African Canadians, the First Nations, the Chinese Canadians, and German Canadians. Many were not allowed to join the Canadian forces unless they fit certain criteria or when the army was in dire need of men. Another event that pulled people apart was the mistrust of German, Austrian, and Hungarian Canadians as they thought that they were spies or that they would threaten their war efforts. Violence and prejudice was thrown upon them and harm was done to a large population of Canada. Conscription also created a rift between the francophones, who did not feel the need to serve Britain, the Mother country of others, and the anglophones who were for it. However, during the

However, the war did end, and recruitment numbers fell, this was because they learnt of the horrors of war. This then lead most men to not signing up. The government then introduced conscription

During the twentieth century, Canada as a nation witnessed and endured several historical events that have had a deep and profound influence on Canadian politics. The most influential and constant force in twentieth century Canadian politics has been the increasing power and command of Quebec nationalism and the influence it has had on Canadian politics today. Quebec nationalism has shaped the structure and dynamics of Canadian federalism from a centralized to a decentralized form of federal government (Beland and Lecours 2010, 423). The decentralization of several sectors within the Canadian government has been a direct effect of Quebec nationalism. Decentralization has led to more autonomy among the provincial governments, especially in

Throughout human history, war has permeated the lives of billions of people. From early conflicts such as conquests to control vast swaths of land by Alexander the Great and Cyrus the Great to modern, global wars such as the World Wars, the concept of war has been at the forefront of humanity’s mind for centuries. However, in recent years, opposition to war and lack of participation in the military has become a common theme in many countries, including the United States. To help alleviate the troubles caused by lack of participation, the United States instituted a law allowing for the conscription of its citizens. Conscription, which can also be referred to as a draft, is defined as the compulsory drafting of citizens into military service (What). The Draft has been utilized throughout US History in a couple of prominent wars; however, opposition has manifested against the Vietnam War and the draft, rightfully stemming from ethical opposition to the war and hatred for what the war and the draft stood for.