Conscription In Canada Essay

For a long period of time there has been antagonistic vibes between the French and English Canadians. Over the disagreements on countless issues in Canada, the relationship between French and English has deteriorated. Conflict between the French and the English, the society and political aspects caused pressure which risked separation.

The Canadian government used propaganda devices to attract enlistments to fight for Britain in WWI. During the 20th century, the relationship between the French and English got worse because French-Canadians felt they are being treated as second-class citizens. Due to lack of enlistments, Sir Robert Borden announced the conscription act, which made every man between 20 and 45 participate in the war. English-Canadians

happily joined the war and believed that Quebec weren’t doing their share. If French-Canadians enlisted willingly this crisis could have been avoided with no choice Borden decided to have conscription. Conscription crisis tore apart political gatherings and it separated French Canadians from English Canadians for eternity. The conscription crisis showed how English and French Canadians had different opinions over a political view. The conscription crisis in WWI was one of the major parts that made French-Canadians feel they should separate.

After WWI, there was a great impact on the French and English relationship.

This was because many French-Canadians denied conscription in Canada. During the Second World War, the relationship was deteriorated by the same issue, conscription. Prime Minister Mackenzie King joined the WWII in 1939 and promising no conscription however, this promise came back to haunt him. As Poland fell, the Germans began to take control over the war, leaving King no choice but to go ahead with conscription. In 1942, King announced a plebiscite whether or not to allow him to go back on his promise or announce conscription. The results were in and 80% English-Canadians voted for conscription and 70 French-Canadians voted against it. King believed that he will introduce conscription when it’s necessary in Canada, however, it’s not conscription because they were doing it for their country. Conscription was started once again and French-Canadian’s behavior remained the same as in WWI. The impact of French and English relations went down hill again as it did in WWI. Many French-Canadians rioted against it, but French-Canadians were ignored and many felt like they weren’t part of the country and wished to separate from other provinces in

Canada.

During the Post-War Era, relations with the French and the English started to improve a little due to the Bi & Bi commission.

But after the Post-War Era, Canada experienced its worst crisis since the Second World War when a group in Quebec called the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) started to show up in the news. The Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) was created in 1963. The FLQ’s goal was to separate Quebec from Canada by killing innocent individuals. On October 5, 1970, two men imitating as delivery men kidnapped James Richard Cross from his house. The kidnappers announce on a radio station to kill Cross in two days unless the government releases 23 political prisoners that were being held due to terrorism. The government refused to accept the demands of the kidnappers. As a result of rejecting the proposal, Labour Minister Pieree Laporte got kidnapped. Many were surprised the abduction of Laporte, due to the kidnapping the government started to take it the FQL seriously. On October 15, about three thousand people came to the Paul Sauvé Arena to support for the FLQ's idea to separate. This crisis woke up numerous Canadians that Quebec is trying very hard to gain autonomy from Canada. The October Crisis resulted in many French-Canadians believing that separating from the English-Canadians would solve their problems. Due to the FLQ’s idea of separatism, the relations between the French and the English got even worse and made French-Canadians think that they really

should separate.
Parti Québécois was elected in 1976 and through the time they have gotten closer to their goal, autonomy. The first act Parti Québécois took was the Bill 101.The Bill 101 led many English-speaking businesses to leave Quebec and set up their head office somewhere else. Many English-speaking Quebeckers left Quebec due to many unfair rules and a few English-speaking Quebeckers formed a group called the Alliance Quebec and the group tried to challenge government law of Quebec. Many English-speaking civilians were living in Quebec, but almost all of them left Quebec, which made the relations even more complicated. The Bill 101 gave Quebec more independence and risked separation from Canada.

In 1980, Parti Québécois announced the first referendum, which took place in Quebec. The reason for a referendum was if Quebec should pursue a sovereignty association with Canada or not. In 1979, the Quebec government proposed a constitutional plan, which was called, A New Deal. The referendum vote took place in 1980, and the results said that 60 percent say no and 40 percent said yes. The Parti Québécois was one of the main reasons that influenced separation to the Quebeckers. The result explained what Quebec thinks of negotiating sovereignty association with Canada. More than half of Quebec believes that they should separate from Canada and cut all ties as well. The first referendum was a failure since Quebec doesn’t want to make a formal association.

Through the 20th century, the relations between the French and the English in Canada had a negative effect on Canadian history. French and English always had distinctive political perspectives and diverse methods for considerations. French-English relations were already suffering and continued to do so after World War I. The conscription during WWI and WW2, FLQ, Parti Québécois, and Bill 101 impacted the relations and manipulated the minds of French-Canadians which risked separation.