Crushing battles during World War One left the Allies of Great Britain with large numbers of casualties on their hands. The numbers of available fresh Canadian soldiers plummeted since recruitment dropped off significantly. More soldiers were needed to join the fight and the only way to get them was through conscription, the compulsory registration for military service.
British PM Requested Reinforcements
Twenty thousand Canadians were casualties in the spring of 1917, leaving Canada’s forces drastically undermanned. While attending the Imperial War Conference in London, England in April 1917, Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden toured the war theatre, visiting with the Canadian Expeditionary Force troops, inspecting the artillery and watching training in progress. At the meetings, England’s Prime Minister requested reinforcements from Canada. Borden viewed the request as an opportunity to prove Canada was more than a colony of Britain, that it was an equal, according to “The Conscription Crisis of 1917 on Historica.
Returning to Canada, Borden set the wheels in motion for conscription, announcing his plans to Parliament on May 18th. Borden offered a coalition agreement with Wilfred Laurier, then leader of the Opposition, but after discussions with his Liberal party, Laurier turned down the offer. On August 29, 1917, the Military Service Act was passed into law, to fill the need for 100,000 more soldiers to boost the half-million Canadians already serving voluntarily. The new law stirred up strong and hostile divisions, causing a national crisis.
Conscription Caused National Rift
While English-speaking Canadians generally supported the British in the war, the French-Canadians felt little attachment. Rather, the French-Canadians resented the “treatment of French-speaking minorities in Ontario and Manitoba,” and that “no separate French-Canadian divisions existed in the military, and French-Canadian officers were not promoted to senior positions,” noted the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum in “Military History: First World War: Homefront 1917.” Guarantees for schools in the French language were also overturned. French-Canadians composed only 5 percent of the Canadian forces, whereas the balance was English, causing the English to think that the French were not doing their duty.
Under Borden’s Military Service Act, all men between ages 20 and 45 were to register for military duty, with some exceptions permitted, such as farmers in western Canada. In Quebec, men married and began families at a young age, and so many young fathers were forced into service, said Collections Canada in “Conscription Facts.”
Four Killed in Riot
Emotions were raw. Protests and riots broke out in Quebec against conscription. Malicious assertions were shouted, of disloyalty, bloodlust, cowardice and imperialism. On May 24, 1917, an anti-conscription parade was held in Montreal’s Victoria Square. Another at Quebec City turned into violent protests requiring the Canadian Army’s presence. Gunshots were fired into the crowd. Four people were killed.
By January 1918, the military was ready to call the new registrants into service. After the Germans initiated several successful, large-scale attacks against the Allied forces in the month before, Prime Minister Borden cancelled all exemptions in April of that year. There were 401,882 men newly available, said the Canadian Encyclopedia, and of those, 124,588 were inducted. Only about 48,000 were sent overseas, noted the War Museum of Canada, the rest were stationed in Canada. Conscription was viewed as a failure.
New Voters, New Political Parties
In the election held in December 1917, Prime Minister Robert Borden and his Unionist party won another term, holding office until 1920. Under Borden’s direction, the Wartime Elections Act gave wives, mothers and sisters of soldiers the right to vote. On May 24, 1918 all Canadian women received the Federal vote. The country remained at odds over conscription, causing the development of new political parties at the Federal and Provincial levels.
Conscription was hesitantly imposed again in 1944 by Prime Minister Mackenzie King during the Second World War.
Susanna McLeod - Intriguing Canadians, the art of cartoonists, and fascinating moments in Canada's history have kept Susanna McLeod writing for 16 years.
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