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On-to-Ottawa Trek Facts & Worksheets

The year 1935 saw the rise of a social movement known as the On-to-Ottawa Trek in which a number of workers protested the unjust and poor conditions in federal relief camps established in remote areas throughout Western Canada.

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The year 1935 saw the rise of a social movement known as the On-to-Ottawa Trek in which a number of workers protested the unjust and poor conditions in federal relief camps established in remote areas throughout Western Canada. These camp workers were only paid twenty cents per day, which eventually led to a national labour demonstration in April of that year. After two months of protesting in Vancouver, the strikers decided to head east to Ottawa to take their demands directly to the federal government.

See the fact file below for more information on the On-to-Ottawa Trek or alternatively, you can download our 22-page On-to-Ottawa Trek worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

LEADING TO OTTAWA

  • In the 1930s, the Great Depression widely affected the economy of Canada, which resulted in the unemployment of more than one-third of the labour force and a sense of public despair.
  • In 1932, an estimated 1.8 million Canadians were left on welfare. The lack of unemployment insurance made the situation worse. Employers continued to cut wages and increase work hours without any benefits.
  • Moreover, one in nine citizens was dependent on relief that the federal government provided at the time. However, the relief was not free.
  • The RB Bennett Government directed the Department of National Defence to set up work camps in isolated areas across Western Canada in which single unemployed men were hired to build roads and similar public works for only twenty cents a day.
  • Four years later, approximately 100,000 young Canadians worked and lived in the relief camps, which were managed by the military forces. In addition to the low wages, the workers did not receive proper food or accommodation.
  • The poor working conditions in the relief camps eventually led to social unrest. Following this, communist agitators organised the men into the Relief Camp Workers Union (RCWU).
  • The camp strikers demanded fair wages, a five-day working week, unemployment insurance, the inclusion of camp workers in the Workers’ Compensation Act, the abolishment of Section 98 of the Criminal Code of Canada, suffrage, and the removal of the camps’ authority from the army.

THE STRIKE

  • On April 4, 1935, an estimated 1,600 camp inmates went on strike and travelled to Vancouver, British Columbia. They organised large demonstrations, parades, and protests with their slogan “Work and Wages”.
  • The gathering in Vancouver lasted for two months through the assistance of labour unions in the city and sympathisers who provided the protesters with food and money.
  • This local strike swiftly escalated into a national labour demonstration. Following the rejection of the strikers’ call for federal help, they took their grievances to the capital of the country. They were supported by the public.
  • On June 2, 1935, about a thousand unemployed men left Vancouver and boarded CPR freight trains heading east, which would become known as the On-to-Ottawa Trek.
  • Arthur “Slim” Evans, a veteran trade union leader, labour activist, former Wobbly, and Communist, led the protesters.
  • The Trek passed through the cities and towns of Kamloops, Revelstoke, Golden, Calgary, Medicine Hat, Swift Current, and Moose Jaw. An advance party, which included Regina’s Matt Shaw, scavenged food for the group of unemployed men. The Trekkers spent nights in parks or in baseball fields.
  • On June 14, 1935, Prime Minister RB Bennett instructed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to prevent the 2,000 Trekkers from entering Ottawa, fearing that they might ignite a revolution.

REGINA RIOT

  • Within two weeks, the Trekkers reached Regina, the capital of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. They took shelter in barns and show houses at the Regina Exhibition Grounds, with meal tickets for nearby lunch counters and cafes. Regina residents also donated food for the strikers.
  • Consequently, federal cabinet ministers Robert Manion and Robert Weir invited an eight-member delegation from the RCWU, including Slim Evans and Doc Savage, to travel to Ottawa and raise their concerns to Prime Minister Bennett himself.
  • The meeting invitation, however, came with a condition. The rest of the strikers had to remain in Regina, where the RCMP forces were already established.
  • The meeting, which took place on June 22, 1935, only ended in a yelling match after the Tory prime minister accused Evans of extortion and the rest of the group of being radicals. Evans called Bennett a liar.
  • On July 1, 1935 (Dominion Day), when the strikers and Regina residents organised a large meeting in the downtown area, the RCMP violently attacked them and arrested the Trek leaders, thus resulting in a riot.
  • Hundreds of local residents and strikers were injured, including the death of a Trekker named Nick Shaack. About 120 protesters were arrested. The police, on the other hand, insisted that they had 39 injuries, including the death of an officer, but denied that they killed any of the strikers, and altered hospital records to hide the protesters’ real cause of death.

END OF THE TREK

  • The Trek was eventually halted, but the protesters sustained their unity and were able to return to their homes via railway passenger cars.
  • In the fall of that year, the Bennett government was overwhelmingly defeated after the general elections. The relief camps were abolished later on.
  • The federal government also began to create an unemployment insurance system and provided social assistance to single unemployed citizens.
  • Former Trek leaders became involved in a number of post-Depression labour unions, including Doc Savage in the Canadian Seamen’s Union, Harry Linsley in the Packinghouse Workers, and Bob Jackson and George Edwards in the Woodworkers.
  • Even though the Trekkers were not able to reach Ottawa, the national demonstration brought significant changes to Canada and helped shape the labour movement in the country. In the following years, the federal government could no longer disregard the exponential rise of unemployment.

On-to-Ottawa Trek Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the On-to-Ottawa Trek across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use On-to-Ottawa Trek worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the rise of a social movement known as the On-to-Ottawa Trek in which a number of workers protested the unjust and poor conditions in federal relief camps established in remote areas throughout Western Canada. These camp workers were only paid twenty cents per day, which eventually led to a national labour demonstration in April of that year. After two months of protesting in Vancouver, the strikers decided to head east to Ottawa to take their demands directly to the federal government.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • On-to-Ottawa Trek Facts
  • Locating Ottawa
  • Find the Words
  • Fill in the Blanks
  • Regina Riot
  • Notable People
  • Quote Analysis
  • Primary Source Analysis
  • On-to-Ottawa Trek Impact
  • Significance of the Strike
  • In a Nutshell

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Link will appear as On-to-Ottawa Trek Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, June 10, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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