Conscription Divides Canada

Original title: Description English: Anti-conscription parade at Victoria Square, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opposition to conscription in Canada was widespread (including farmers, employers, recent immigrants), but open opposition was left to French-speakers, primarily in Quebec. Français : Défilé anti-conscription au square Victoria, Montréal (Québec, Canada). Nombreux sont ceux au Canada qui s'opposent à la conscription (par exemple, des fermiers, des employeurs, des récents immigrants), mais ils laissent toute forme d'opposition ouverte aux francophones. Date 17 May 1917(1917-05-17) Source This image is available from the McCord Museum under the access number ANC-C6859 This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information. Deutsch | English | Español | Français | Македонски | Suomi | +/− This

Source: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

This excerpt from the biography of Henri BOURASSA highlights the conflict over conscription:

“[Bourassa] repudiated the Union government formed by [Prime Minister Sir Robert Laird] Borden in the fall and joined forces with [Liberal leader Sir Wilfrid] Laurier in an effort to defeat him in the election of 17 December [1917]. Together, they swept the polls in the angry province of Quebec, but they were crushed in English Canada. In the divided country, Bourassa tended to support isolation for French Canadians, but not separation from the rest of Canada.”

To find out more about why conscription created dissension, explore the biographies listed below.

BORDEN, Sir ROBERT LAIRD
BOURASSA, HENRI (baptized Joseph-Henry-Napoléon)
BUREAU, JACQUES (baptized Marie-Joseph-Jacques-Napoléon)
DEMEULE, GEORGES (baptized Joseph-Elzéar-Georges)
GOODWIN, ALBERT (Ginger)
GOUIN, Sir LOMER (baptized Joseph-Alfred-Lomer)
LAURIER, Sir WILFRID (baptized Henry-Charles-Wilfrid)
LAPOINTE, ERNEST
MEIGHEN, ARTHUR