Free Sample Essays > World History
War Measures Act
international relations. With the advent of the industrialization of countries which were previously agricultural, Great Britain began to meet competition on the world economic market. (12.) A wave of protectionism arose in which Great Britain was not allowed to participate in free trade with most other European Countries. This had the effect of stimulating interest in Great Britain’s Commonwealth as regions which could supply raw materials for domestic industries. (13.) Thus, at the start of the war, Great Britain, and subsequently Canada, were forced to draw upon their collective resources to fund the war effort. The exigencies under which the War Measures Act was written could therefore be viewed as a response to the international climate which Canada, as part of the British Commonwealth, were faced with.
The Powers of the Governor in Council- which are the substance of the act, could be interpreted as an exertion of control over the Canadian domestic realm. Censorship and control of communications, as well as the measures of deportation, were a response to the increased modes of communication made possible by advances in technology. Similarly, the control of points of entry and transport of persons and things were measures to ensure Great Britain’s control over its dominion. The political leaders of Canada at this time, both French (led by Henri Bourassa) and English (led by Wilfred Laurier) were in support of this. Henri Bourassa ‘initially supported Canadian participation, seeing the survival of France and Britain as vital to Canada.’ (14.) English Canadians were naturally in support of Great Britain, and again, they were bound to Britain by virtue of their political ties.
ENDNOTES
1.) Alvin Finckle and Margaret Conrad, ‘History of the Canadian Peoples’, Vol. II., 2nd. Ed.
Addison-Wesley Longman, Toronto, 1997. Pg. 226.
2.) War Measures Act. Section 2.
3.) War Measures Act. Section 2.
4.) http://canadaonline.about.com/library/glossary/bldef_govincouncil.htm
5.) War Measures Act. Section 3, subsection 1.
6.) War Measures Act. Section 3, subsection 2.
7.) War Measures Act. Section 4.
8.) War Measures Act. Section 6, subsection 3.
9.) War Measures Act. Section 6, subsections 3,4,5.
10.) War Measures Act. Section 6, subsection 4.
11.) War Measures Act. Section 7.
12.) Felix Gilbert with David Clay Large, ‘The End of the European Era, 1890 to the Present’,
4th ed. W.W. Norton and Company, New York. 1991. Pg. 13.
13.) Felix Gilbert with David Clay Large, ‘The End of the European Era, 1890 to the Present’,
4th ed. W.W. Norton and Company, New York. 1991. Pg. 13.
14.) Alvin Finckle and Margaret Conrad, ‘History of the Canadian Peoples’, Vol. II., 2nd. Ed.
Addison-Wesley Longman, Toronto, 1997. Pg. 226.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alvin Finckle and Margaret Conrad, ‘History of the [next page]