At the beginning of WW1, Canada had many people willing to volunteer to go to the war, as they were being promised to return by Christmas, but as the war continued on and on it became much harder to get men to enlist. In 1917 after returning from the Western Front, Prime Minister Bordon believed that Canada needed more troops. Because he wasn't getting as many volunteers as he wanted, he decided they needed a new way to get soldiers.
Bordon proposed conscription for all men between the ages of 18 and 45. Conscription is mandatory military service, meaning you were forced to enlist if you weren't going to volunteer yourself.
At the time, the majority of all volunteering soldiers were English-speaking Canadians, so when conscription was declared, French Canada saw this as racism. French Canada saw this war as a British war, and believed that conscription was declared because they didn't have as many volunteers as English Canada.
There was a vote to see if conscription should be allowed, but Bordon changed the rules to insure he would win. This caused lots of problems, Canada was now at its most divided.
This meant that mean between 18 and 45 were forced to leave their homes, friends and families and jobs, or they would be punished or arrested.
Men having to leave their families had a huge effect on women, because at the time a large amount of women were working for the war. This meant their kids would be left at home alone for a lot of the time, or in some cases baby sat by friends or family if they were willing.
There's then also the case where if a woman didn't have a job anymore, which meant they had little or no income to support themselves.
Overall I think conscription had its ups and downs, but had a large affect on the people who knew or were related to the soldiers.
Bordon proposed conscription for all men between the ages of 18 and 45. Conscription is mandatory military service, meaning you were forced to enlist if you weren't going to volunteer yourself.
At the time, the majority of all volunteering soldiers were English-speaking Canadians, so when conscription was declared, French Canada saw this as racism. French Canada saw this war as a British war, and believed that conscription was declared because they didn't have as many volunteers as English Canada.
There was a vote to see if conscription should be allowed, but Bordon changed the rules to insure he would win. This caused lots of problems, Canada was now at its most divided.
This meant that mean between 18 and 45 were forced to leave their homes, friends and families and jobs, or they would be punished or arrested.
Men having to leave their families had a huge effect on women, because at the time a large amount of women were working for the war. This meant their kids would be left at home alone for a lot of the time, or in some cases baby sat by friends or family if they were willing.
There's then also the case where if a woman didn't have a job anymore, which meant they had little or no income to support themselves.
Overall I think conscription had its ups and downs, but had a large affect on the people who knew or were related to the soldiers.