Canadian federal election, 1934 (user search)

Sorry for the delay folks... (also, I made a write up earlier but lost it, so I apologize for taking a lot of text from Wikipedia this time, since the Tories led during the depression in real life as well)

The 1929 election saw the Liberals defeated for the first time in 2 decades, as the Hugh Guthrie-led Conservatives won a landslide majority. They would win 186 seats, to the Liberals 9. The Progressive caucus (Liberal-Progressive-United Farmer) won 31 seats while the Farmer-Labour coalition won 15 seats. The leaderless Progressives opted not to form the official opposition, allowing J.S. Woodsworth to claim the title as official opposition leader.

The seat results of the election showed the following breakdown by province:

AB: Progs 11, Cons 3, FL 2
BC: Cons 12, FL 1, Other 1
MB: Progs 9, FL 5, Cons 3
NB: Cons 11
NS: Cons 14
ON: Cons 75, Progs 4, FL 2, Libs 1
PEI: Cons 4
QC: Cons 56, Libs 8, Other 1
SK: Cons 7, Progs 7, FL 6, Other 1

Not too long after the election, the stock market crash happened in the US, causing the great depression. The great depression particularly hurt Canada, and unemployment skyrocketed. The Tories were unable to successfully combat the depression:

(taken from Wikipedia)

"(Guthrie) tried to combat the depression by increasing trade within the British Empire and imposing tariffs for imports from outside the Empire, promising that his measures would blast Canadian exports into world markets. His success was limited however, and his own wealth (often openly displayed) and impersonal style alienated many struggling Canadians.
When his Imperial Preference policy failed to generate the desired result, (Guthrie)'s government had no real contingency plan. The party's pro-business and pro-banking inclinations provided little relief to the millions of increasingly desperate and agitated unemployed. Despite the economic crisis, Laissez-faire persisted as the guiding economic principle of Conservative Party ideology. Government relief to the unemployed was considered a disincentive to individual initiative, and was therefore only granted in the most minimal amounts and attached to work programs. An additional concern of the federal government was that large numbers of disaffected unemployed men concentrating in urban centres created a volatile situation. As an "alternative to bloodshed on the streets," the stop-gap solution for unemployment chosen by the (Guthrie) government was to establish military-run and -styled relief camps in remote areas throughout the country, where single unemployed men toiled for twenty cents a day. Any relief beyond this was left to provincial and municipal governments, many of which were either insolvent or on the brink of bankruptcy, and which railed against the inaction of other levels of government. "

Outside of the depression, the Guthrie government made it illegal to carry a concealed weapon without authorization. Also, (from Wikipedia, again) "[They were also] responsible for the persecution of the Communist Party of Canada, and the arrest and incarceration of Communists, including leader Tim Buck, for sedition. In 1933,Tim Buck was shot at by soldiers in an apparent assassination attempt while he was in his cell during a prison riot. Guthrie was forced to admit that the attack was deliberate, but claimed the intent was only to frighten him; however, the public outcry at this incident lead to Buck being released."

Here is a run down of the parties running in the election:

Conservatives
The governing Tories have had the misfortune of leading the country during the Great Depression. Their attempts to help the country have not worked, and are campaigning on a whole new plan to save the economy. They are borrowing a page out of US President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal", including (from Wikipedia) "unprecedented public spending and federal intervention in the economy. Progressive income taxation, a minimum wage, a maximum number of working hours per week, unemployment insurance, health insurance, an expanded pension programme, and grants to farmers."

CCF
The socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was created in 1932 out of Woodsworth's previous Farmer-Labour coalition as well as from many members of the now collapsed Progressive caucus (many Progressives joined the other four parties as well). At the party's inaugural convention in 1933, they adopted the Regina Manifesto which stated (from Wiki) "a number of goals, including: Public ownership of key industries; Universal pensions; Universal health care; Children's allowances; Unemployment insurance; Workers compensation. Its conclusion read: "No CCF Government will rest content until it has eradicated capitalism and put into operation the full programme of socialized planning which will lead to the establishment in Canada of the Co-operative Commonwealth."" The convention unanimously chose Farmer-Labour leader JS Woodsworth as their leader, and the party is running its 1934 campaign largely on the backs of their Regina manifesto. The CCF will be running candidates in 121 of the 245 districts.

Liberals
The Liberals have been reduced to a paltry 9 seats, and the 1929 election resulted in Prime Minister Rodolphe Lemieux even losing his own seat. The loss meant Lemieux resigned as party leader, and the Liberals would then hold their very first leadership election. They selected Lemieux's Anglo lieutenant Mackenzie King despite him not holding a seat. He defeated the caucus favourite Fernand Rinfret. The Liberals under King are campaigning on "modest reforms" in order to save the economy. The Liberals are running on the slogan of "King or Chaos" They are promising a much-desired trade treaty with the U.S., reversing the disastrous trade war of 1930-31, lowering tariffs, and yielding a dramatic increase in trade. The Liberals are also promising the creation of relief programs such as implementing a"National Housing Act" and a "National Employment Commission".

Reconstruction Party
The government's handling of the depression created a great rift in the party, so much so that one cabinet minister, Henry Herbert Stevens left the party to form his own, the Reconstruction Party. The party's platform included the following (from Wikipedia):

*a pledge to youth,
*a system of public works, including the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway,
*a national housing program; and
*in order to balance the budget, a Reconstruction government would administer federal taxes "through a single set of auditors" and would invite the provinces to cooperate in the system that would divide the returns on "an equitable and agreeable basis."

The party is running candidates in a majority (172) of the ridings.

Social Credit
The Great Depression hit Western Canada particularly hard, and so there was growing disaffection in that part of the country. Many former Progressives and United Farmers created a new party backing the Social Credit monetary reform theory in 1934, just in time for the election. Basically Social Credit theory states "that all citizens have the right to the wealth they jointly produce". This idea is "especially attractive to farmers sinking under the weight of the Depression." The party is an off-shoot of the Alberta Social Credit Party, led by the fundamentalist Christian Rev. "Bible Bill" Aberhart whose movement in Alberta is picking up steam against an oppositional governing United Farmers party there. The unofficial leader of the party is John Horne Blackmore, a school principal from Lethbridge, Alberta. They are running in 46 ridings, all in Western Canada.

Leaders:

Guthrie

Woodsworth

King

Stevens

Blackmore

Poll lasts 5 days

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