Bennett appointed himself as both
finance minister and
external Affairs minister after his victory, forming a government in the
17th Canadian Parliament. 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. Partisan differences began to sharpen on the question of government intervention in the economy, since lower levels of government were largely in Liberal hands, and protest movements were beginning to send their own parties into the political mainstream, notably the
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and
William Aberhart's
Social Credit Party in
Alberta. On July 21, when the conference opened, Bennett gave his opening speech that suggested that Britain might have free entry into Canada for any products that would "not injuriously affect Canadian enterprise." The conference did not result in an imperial preference free trade agreement but did result in
bilateral treaties. The bilateral treaty between Canada and Britain saw Canadian wheat, apples, and other natural products get British preferences while the British got Canadian preferences for certain metal products and textiles not made in Canada; Canada benefited from the treaty more than Britain and in a few years, Canadian exports to Britain were up 60 percent while British exports to Canada were up 5 percent. came from a 1932 speech he gave in Toronto that ironically, if unintentionally, alluded to
Jack London's socialist
novel: What do they offer you in exchange for the present order? Socialism, Communism, dictatorship. They are sowing the seeds of unrest everywhere. Right in this city such propaganda is being carried on and in the little out of the way places as well. And we know that throughout Canada this propaganda is being put forward by organizations from foreign lands that seek to destroy our institutions. And we ask that every man and woman put the iron heel of ruthlessness against a thing of that kind. Reacting to fears of communist subversion, Bennett invoked the controversial
Section 98 of the
Criminal Code. Enacted in the aftermath of the
Winnipeg general strike, Section 98 dispensed with the
presumption of innocence in outlawing potential threats to the state: specifically, anyone belonging to an organization that officially advocated the violent overthrow of the government. Even if the accused had never committed an act of violence or personally supported such an action, they could be incarcerated merely for attending meetings of such an organization, publicly speaking in its defence, or distributing its literature. Despite the broad power authorized under section 98, it targeted specifically the
Communist Party of Canada. Eight of the top party leaders, including
Tim Buck, were arrested on 11 August 1931 and convicted under section 98.
Labour policy and relief camps By 1933, unemployment was at 27 percent and over 1.5 million Canadians were dependent on direct relief. In 1934, Bennett's government passed the
Public Works Construction Act. This launched a federal building program worth $40 million and aimed at generating employment opportunities. In 1935, another public works bill was passed; the bill provided another $18 million for construction projects. Having survived Section 98, and benefiting from the public sympathy wrought by persecution, Communist Party members set out to organize workers in the relief camps set up by the
Unemployment and Farm Relief Act. Camp workers laboured on a variety of infrastructure projects, including municipal airports, roads, and park facilities, along with a number of other make-work schemes. Conditions in the camps were poor, not only because of the low pay, but also the lack of recreational facilities, isolation from family and friends, poor quality food, and the use of
military discipline. Communists thus had ample grounds on which to organize camp workers, although the workers were there of their own volition. The
Relief Camp Workers' Union was formed and affiliated with the
Workers' Unity League, the trade union umbrella of the Communist Party. Camp workers in BC struck on 4 April 1935, and, after two months of protesting in Vancouver, began the
On-to-Ottawa Trek to bring their grievances to Bennett's doorstep. The prime minister and his minister of justice,
Hugh Guthrie, treated the trek as an attempted insurrection and ordered it to be stopped. The
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) read the
Riot Act to a crowd of 3,000 strikers and their supporters in
Regina on 1 July 1935, resulting in two deaths and dozens of injured. The act required
Western Canadian farmers to sell all wheat and barley produced for human consumption to the Wheat Board.
Other initiatives In 1932, Bennett's government launched the
Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) that regulated radio broadcasting to promote more Canadian content; the commission also established a publicly-owned national radio network that told Canadian stories to Canadians. In 1936, it became the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). One year later, he had changed his tune. Following the lead of
President Roosevelt's
New Deal in the United States, Bennett, under the advice of
William Duncan Herridge, who was Canada's
Envoy to the United States, the government eventually began to follow the Americans' lead. In a series of live radio speeches to the nation in January 1935, Bennett introduced a Canadian version of the "New Deal", involving 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 program, and grants to farmers were all included in the plan. In one of his addresses to the nation, Bennett said: Some of the measures were alleged to have encroached on provincial jurisdictions laid out in section 92 of the
British North America Act, 1867. The courts, including the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, agreed and eventually struck down virtually all of Bennett's reforms.
Internal divisions and defeat ", drawn by a horse because of lack of money to pay for gas Bennett's conversion from small government to big government was seen as too little too late, and he faced criticism that his reforms either went too far, or did not go far enough, including from his minister of trade and commerce,
H. H. Stevens, who bolted the government to form the
Reconstruction Party of Canada. To make matters worse, Bennett suffered a heart attack in March 1935. a
reciprocal trade agreement with the United States, and the repeal of Section 98. Ultimately, Canada pulled out of the depression as a result of government-funded jobs associated with the preparation for and onset of the
Second World War. ==Retirement, House of Lords, and death (1935–1947)==