The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. All of the decisions made by the government were based on two things, fear of getting overthrown by communists and their own particular values. They did not make decisions based on what the people of Canada were asking for such as improved working conditions, higher pay, and an eight-hour work day.The job of the government is to make decisions on behalf of the people and their opinions, not make decisions despite the people and their opinions. The government made it very clear that they were not interested in what the strikers had to say. The Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson met with the Citizen’s Committee of One Thousand but not the strike committee after all. This was not just so the strike wouldn't be given legitimacy, this was because they did not want the strike to have a chance in being successful. They saw anyone affiliated with the strike to be an enemy standing in their way.They took the side of the business leaders and industrialists who had made great profit from the war instead of the workers who can barely pay rent and feed their families. Instead, the government was too concerned about showing that they were the ones in charge. They arrested union leaders and deported many immigrants. They changed the Criminal Code so that they would be able to arrest strike leaders much more easily. The discrimination against immigrants was severe as well. Firstly, they amended the Immigration Act so that they would be able to deport immigrant leaders. Also, the government would give jury trials to Anglo-Saxon union leaders that were unfairly arrested; however, they would not do the same for the immigrant leaders. Instead they would face deportation hearings. During World War I, immigrants were subject to harsh discrimination, and the government definitely continued that streak in the Winnipeg General Strike. Furthermore, the government claimed that they were trying to prevent a Revolution and wanted to act peacefully but they contradicted this when they had the Royal North-West Mounted Police and Halifax’s special force charge the parade of strikers with clubs and pistols in hand which was absolutely absurd. They are the ones that turned the strike violent on “Bloody Saturday” which is very hypocritical seeing as they are the ones who said they didn't want violence in the first place. Conclusively , the supposed democratic government who's job is to act on behalf of the people of Canada and fairly represent them acted solely according to their own agenda which is unwarranted.
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. They didn’t care what the people wanted they just wanted to do what they wanted to and if that meant not listening to the people then they were going to do that. Reasons as to why it was not justifiable are that the government supported the employers and CCOT and opposed the strikers, which shows that the government was not interested in reaching a settlement but overcoming the strikers. The government did this because they didn’t want the strikers to happen and be successful. The government fired police officers because they refused to sign the contract, which was preventing them from joining a union. They shouldn’t have done this because police officers should have the same rights as other workers do and they should be allowed to join a union if they wanted to. On Bloody Saturday the police charged the protestors and fired on an unarmed crowd. The police had no right to do this so in saying that it was not justifiable. The government saw anyone associated with the strike to be an enemy and would do anything to stop them from being apart of the strike. The federal government conducted many raids on a series of homes of people they thought were apart of the war or were against the government, the government was mistreating their power and attempting to limit and restrict its opponents. When people were arrested the British unions were given jury trials while the foreign born unions were deported before they even got a chance to be proven otherwise. In this case the foreign born union was discriminated against because of who they are and what they believe in. In conclusion the governments actions were not justifiable during or before the war because they were acting solely, based on their own needs and beliefs
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justifiable. The Minister of Labour Robertson and the Minister of Justice Meighen did not meet the strike committee, but did meet the committee of one thousand. The government supported the Citizens Committee of One Thousand (CCOT) and also the employers; however, they opposed the strikers. The government was not interested in coming to a settlement, though they were interested in defeating the strikers. The Federal government amended the Immigration Act, and was able to deport the foreign leaders because they were accused of insurrection. This is not right. There was no evidence that the foreign leaders were the ones encouraging revolution, but instead demanding the right to collective bargaining. The Winnipeg Mayor fired police officers because they had refused to sign a contract to prevent them from join the unions, this was a justifiable act because the police are an essential service that keep law and order; they can not be allowed to strike. The police are a service that is needed to keep us safe and if you allow them to strike then who would keep the law and order. On Bloody Saturday the police charged the protesters and they fired shots at an unarmed crowd; the police were the aggressors in this situation. The police had no right to do this as it was not their job to shoot at an unarmed crowd with no lawful reason. The Criminal Codes definition of revolution was then broadened. This was wrong because the government were attempting to make it easier to arrest the strike leaders and to defeat the strikers in general. The strikers were only trying to do what was right in their minds and it was not right to dry and defeat the strikers. The Federal government conducted a series of raids across the country on a number of different homes of the known agitators and the offices of radical organisations; the government was abusing its power and they were attempting to limit and restrict its opponents. The Royal North West Mounted Police (RNWMP) arrested union leaders but there was no evidence that the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution. The Anglo-Saxon (British) union leaders that were arrested were given jury trials, whilst the foreign born leaders were forced to have a deportation hearing before The Immigration Board of Inquiry. The foreign born leaders were discriminated upon because of their ethnic background which was unfair. The foreigners arrested during Bloody Saturday were eventually deported. After the fact, the Federal government introduced section 97 of the Criminal Code which identified an unlawful association and they used it to prosecute the members of the Communist Party, The Radicals and the Union Leaders. This was all the result of the government abusing their power to destroy their opposition. The government’s actions were not justifiable during and after the war because they were not following the laws that had been laid down in previous Acts and Codes.
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The government did not listen to what the strikers had to say such as, higher wages, and 8 hour work shifts. The government supported the employers and the CCOT and opposed the strikers; the government was not interested in reaching a settlement but defeating the strikers. Firing police officers for refusing to sign the contract to join a union was not reasonable and not fair. Just because they are police officers they should have the same rights as the other ordinary workers and should be allowed to join a union if they want to. Deporting foreign born leaders and being accused of insurrection was not justified because that is discrimination and there was no evidence that they were encouraging revolution. The foreign born leaders just wanted the right to collective bargaining. The criminal code’s definition of revolution was broadened because the government was attempting to make it easier to arrest the strike leaders to defeat the strikers. There was no real evidence that the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution for the Royal North-West Mounted Police to arrest them and it was not reasonable. On “Bloody Saturday” the North-West Mounted Police are the ones who made the parade violent by charging at the crowd and were firing at the unarmed crowd. The police in this case were the aggressors and did not follow their own rules by saying they did not want any violence. The government was abusing its power by a series of raids across the country on many homes of know agitators and offices of radical organizations. The government was attempting to limit and restrict its opponents. Foreign leaders were very discriminated against by the government and when they got arrested they did not get a jury trial, when Anglo-Saxon union leaders got arrested they were able to have a jury trial. Another way the foreign leaders were discriminated was when they got arrested during “Bloody Saturday” they got deported. The federal government introduced section 97 of the criminal code which identified an association and used it to prosecute members of the communist Party, radicals and union leaders. This was not justified because the government is once again abusing its power to destroy opposition from left wing parties or groups and unions; therefore, the actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified.
The actions of the Government before and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. When Canada’s workers begun to form trade unions, all they demanded were higher pay, better working conditions and an eight-hour workday. Overthrowing government and Revolution was not in that list, and yet that is how Government took their demands. The Government feared being taken as weak, which influenced many of their poor decisions. The Government’s job is to make the people of their Country’s lives easier and safer, yet they did the complete opposite. The Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson refused to meet and discuss with the Strike Committee, but were undeniably willing to meet with Citizens Committee of One Thousand who they supported and showed favoritism towards. This proves that the Government did not want a friendly settlement, but a victory. They were willing to disbanding their own people. Winnipeg’s Mayor fired a whole force of Police Officers for their refusal to sign a contract to prevent them from joining union. Anything that may get in the way had to be gotten rid of. The Government went as far as to amend the Immigration Act so that they were able to arrest and deport any foreign born Strike Leaders without reason, which is considered major discrimination and Guilty by Association. Any attempt to arrest Strike Leaders was broadened, even though Strike Leaders had a set list of demands and no means for Revolution. All these people wanted was to live a healthy and affordable life, was this too much to ask for? It was to Government. This led to Bloody Saturday, a day that got innocents arrested and turned men into murderers. Both the Strikers and Police were at fault, forgetting their morals completely, leaving only the thought of success in their minds. The people of Canada wanted what they disserved after all the hard years of war, and the Government was abusing its power to the fullest. The Anglo-Saxon Strikers were treated with more leisure than the Foreign Strikers, when each Canadian should be treated equally. Anglo-Saxons may face jury trials, where as Immigrants faced deportation. Violence was the last thing they wanted, and yet it’s what all this led to. We expect the Government to look after us and make the big decisions which effect how we live, and yet when we needed them most they abandoned us.
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg general strike were not justified. The minister of Justice Meighen and minister of Labour Robertson meet with citizens committee of one thousand but not the strike committee would be not justified, because the government supported the employers and CCOT that mean that they weren’t committee to the settlement but defeating the strikers. The Winnipeg mayor fired police officers for refusing to sign contract to prevent them from joining unions is justified the police is an essential to keep law in order, if the police had the same rights as other workers they would be allowed to strike and that would not be very good because it would be unsafe for people. And police is an a essential and cannot be allowed to strike. The federal government amended the immigration act to be able to deport foreign born leaders accused of insurrection is not justified there was no way of seeing they foreign leaders because they were encouraging to revolution but instead demanding the right to collective bargaining. The RNWMO arrest union leaders was justified because the government general strike he would feared it would lead to money issues and that can lead to union. Bloody Saturday was not justified after striker returned back to work after protesting for 43 days the police was aggressors and fired on an unarmed crowed for going back to work after 43 long days. The federal government conducts a series of raids across the country was not justified because the government was abusing the power, of the radical organizations. The British Anglo-Saxons leader arrested were given jury trials while foreign born leaders Canadian born leaders had the right to a trial but that foreign born leaders did not. Foreigners arrested during bloody Saturday was deported those who participated in the violated the ban on meeting was the lost of their right to remain in Canada.
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The ultimate reason as to why it was unjustifiable is that what the government cared about was doing whatever it could to defeat the strikers, instead of thinking about the ways to solve the problems which caused the strike such as few jobs, low wages, and bad working conditions. First of all, the government made a decision to support the employers and Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand and oppose the strikers. Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Roberson met with CCOT but not the strike committee, which obviously stated the government’s basic standpoint. Generally, the government should represent the behalf of majority people. But this time the government chose the side of employers and was not interested in reaching a settlement but defeating the strikers who represented the most people’s behalf. The government also broadened the Criminal Code’s definition of revolution. It was showed that the government was attempting to make it easier to arrest the strike leaders even by amending the clause. What’s more, federal government conducted a series of raid across the country on a series of homes of know agitators and offices of radical organizations. The government was abusing its power to destroy opposition from the Communist Party, radicals and union leaders. The second reason for it was not justifiable is that although the government claimed that they feared a revolution and violence would brought by the strikers, the government use violence to suppress the strike. On “Bloody Saturday”, the police charged the protesters and fired on an unarmed crowd. They were the ones who induced the violence of the strikes, and it was absurd that the aggressors asserted that they always put avoiding violence in the first place. The third reason why the actions of the government were not justified is that it was severe the discrimination against immigrants. Federal government amended the Immigration Act to be able to deport foreign born leaders accused of insurrection. The government used the potential revolution as an excuse to deport the foreign leaders so that they could maintain their power and behalf. However, the truth is that there was no evidence that the foreign leader were communist and were encouraging revolution but instead demanding the right to collective bargaining. Because of the foreign born leaders’ ethnic background, they were discriminated and faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board of Inquiry. Whereas the Anglo-Saxon union leaders arrested were given jury trials. Finally, all the decisions the government made is for defeating the strikers, but what they did not only exploded the conflict between the workers and government, but also did the political power of government fluctuate.
Were the actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike Justified?
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The government made decisions that were best for them and not for the people of Canada. The people of Canada were asking for things including higher pay, and improved working conditions, although the government denied these things due to fear of being overthrown. The Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson made this very clear as they met with citizens from the Committee of One Thousand but did not reach out towards the strike committee. This was because the government was not interested in a settlement but defeating them and only saw the strikers as an enemy. They opted to the business leaders who made a higher amount of money instead of the less fortunate families. Police officers should not have different rules compared to the other people of Canada. Although, the Winnipeg Mayor fired police for refusing to sign contracts that prevent them from joining unions. They deported any immigrants they saw as a threat and changed the criminal code to make arrests easier for them to fulfill. They also introduced section 97 of the Criminal Code identifying and unlawful association and were used to prosecute members of the communist party, union leaders and radicals. This was incorrect and not justified because the government is abusing its power to destroy opposition from parties, groups and unions. The government feared the general strike would lead to a revolution, so they would arrest union leaders. There was no evidence the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution; therefore, the government should have not been able to arrest leaders so easily. As well as arresting union leaders, the government would conduct raids across the country on homes all because they fear. They made things unfair for the foreign born leaders as Canadian or British born leaders had a right to trial and they did not. The government believed that the foreigners who participated in the demonstration during Bloody Saturday violated the ban on meetings and as a result lost all rights to remain in Canada. Overall the government’s job is to act on behalf of the people of Canada. The government during and after the Winnipeg General strike didn’t follow that as they only did what was best for them.
“ The overall actions taken by the government were unjustifiable in doing what they did, the government supported the employers and CCOT; however, the government was not interested in making any deals/ coming to a settlement or even acknowledging the legitimacy of the strikers committee. This meet that not take place accurately depicted the respect the government had for the workers at the time. When the Winnipeg Mayor fired the 16 police officers for expressing their views of wanting a union they were fired. At this point the government was starting to feel a little intrusive in the daily lives of your everyday workers. The police officers should indeed have the same workers as other workers. The federal government indeed amended the Immigration Act to be able to deport foreign leaders on the assumption of insurrection. Criminal Code’s definition of revolution was broadened thus making it easier to arrest the strike leaders to defeat the strikers. Which they in fact did follow through with and arrested the strike leaders with miniscule evidence. Bloody Saturday saw the deaths of two innocent by-standers the police were in fact the aggressors even though the protestors had used violent protesting tactics nothing as lethal as taking up arms was done by the strikers. Not only was the government acting irresponsibly but they even intruded the lives of these workers and soldiers the federal government would abuse its power by conducting a multitude of raids across the country on known agitators and offices of radical organizations which once again was NOT justifiable. Anglo-Saxon union leaders were given jury trials while foreign born leaders faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board of Inquiry, it was more that obvious that these foreign leaders were discriminated against because of their ethnic background. Foreigners who were arrested on Bloody Saturday were deported another act of discrimination taken by the government. The federal government introduced Section 97 which identified unlawful association further making it easier and used it to prosecute members of Communist, radical or union leaders, the government is trying to obliterate he opposition making the point of view within Canada very refined. The overall actions taken by the government were unjustifiable such historical event illustrates the fault in our government.”
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. Throughout this time, returning soldiers faced a very tough time returning home to Canada because they didn’t have any jobs to return to and were bitter about poor quality guns, shells and clothing they were provided with during the war. Also, there was a huge rise in inflation meaning that everybody was hungry and frustrated and wanting to be heard and have change take place so they could meet their basic needs. Initially the Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson met with the Citizen’s Committee but not the strike committee and the conversation didn’t represent everyone and was one sided. The business people grew richer and the government protected them and themselves. Meanwhile, the government feared that the citizens would follow union leaders and would copy the revolution that took place in Russia. Instead of listening to and providing for the citizens of Canada they served themselves out of fear and in greed of controlling a climate which they wanted to maintain. They continuously used their power and tried to stop meetings about strikes and unions from meeting and took some very drastic measures including changing laws and the Criminal Code so they could do so. They changed the Immigration Act so they could send leaders back to where they were born if their thinking didn’t match up with the governments even though those leaders were only interested in collective bargaining. The RNWMP were ordered to arrest the union leaders. The government did that because they were worried that rebellion could result in instability of the government; it was all about power. There were a series of raids on agitator’s homes and offices of the radical organizations from the federal government. This government continuously abused its power and can be described as corrupt. The event of Bloody Saturday was extreme. The mayor had placed a ban on demonstrations and meetings fearing that they would gain more power. The protesters did in fact meet, and many died. The police really caused it to get out of control by acting very aggressively and firing on the unarmed group of people. A train was flipped and set on fire. Desperate times call for desperate measures and these were desperate unemployed hungry people. They needed to have their needs listened to and they needed their basic needs met. There were many events that raised the tension among the desperate people in Winnipeg who were just trying to organize labour relations and meet their basic needs. The government was being irresponsible and corrupt and took drastic measures trying to control the citizens.
Actions taken by the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The government in fear of a revolution, made rushed decisions and took immediate action, due to workers striking for improved working conditions, higher wages, and an eight-hour work day. However, the majority of these drastic actions were not justified. First off, the Minister of Justice Meighan and Minister of Labour Robertson only met with the Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand, completely ignoring the strike committee. As a government, they should have taken a neutral standpoint in the whole of this, but inside they sided with the employers. The government wanting to bring an end to the strikes quickly was unwilling to negotiate a settlement with strikers. Even the Mayor of Winnipeg went to such extremes as to firing and replacing police officers, for wanting to join unions. The actions of the government also had a huge effect on immigrants. They amended the Immigration Act, to gain the power to deport foreign leaders accused of insurrection. However, there was no evidence that foreign leaders were encouraging revolution, but instead demanding the right to collective bargaining. The Royal Northwest Mounted Police was sent out to arrest union leaders, without any evidence that strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution. Anglo-Saxon union leaders arrested were given jury trials, while foreign leaders faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board of Inquiry. During the First World War, immigrants already faced a lot of discrimination, this action by the government only added to that. On “Bloody Saturday”, police charged the protesters and fired into the crowd of unarmed citizens, in an attempt to display dominance. The police were the ones who brought violence into this peaceful strike, firing into the crowd was completely unnecessary. Another act of discrimination that immigrants faced was foreigners arrested during “Bloody Saturday” were deported. The government also abused its power, conducting a series of raids across the country of suspected homes of agitators and offices of radical organizations. Abusing their power furthermore to destroy opposition parties and unions, the government introduced Section 97 of the Criminal Code, using it to persecute members of the Communist Party, radicals and union leaders. The Winnipeg General Strike was a time in Canadian history where the government was more concerned with staying in power than the basic needs of its citizens.
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justifiable. The minister of labour Robertson as well as the Minister of Justice Meighen only met with the Committee of One Thousand and not with the strike committee. Winnipeg mayor Charles Frederick Gray fired police officers for refusing to sign contracts to prevent them from joining unions, although police officers should have the same rights as other workers and be allowed to join a union. RNWMP arrested union leaders while there was no evidence the strike leaders encouraged insurrection or revolution. June 21, 1919 Bloody Saturday the police charged the protesters and fired on an unarmed crowd.The government was abusing its power and attempting to limit and restrict its opponents by having the federal government conducted a series of raids across the country on a series of homes of known agitators and offices of radical organizations. Anglo-Saxons union leaders that were arrested were given jury trails while foreign born leaders faced deportation hearings before the immigration boars of inquiry. The foreigners arrested on Bloody Saturday faced discrimination and were deported. The government abused its powers to destroy opposition from left wing parties or groups and unions by having the federal government introduce Section 97 of the Criminal Code which identified an unlawful association and used it to prosecute members of the communist party's, radicals and union leaders.
The actions of the government before and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The government did not listen to what the strikers had to say about things like raising wages, and shorter work shifts. Instead, the government supported the employers and the CCOT and the opposed of the strikers; the government was not interested in coming to a settlement, but instead defeating the strikers. They fired police officers because they refused to sign a contract that would keep them from being allowed to join into a union, and that is not fair. They are police officers, its like any other job in the fact they have rights too. They should be allowed to join a union if they so please to. The Immigration Act was amended so foreign born leaders accused of insurrection could be deported was not justified because it was discrimination, and no real evidence was present to place the charges. The leaders just wanted the right to collective bargaining. The criminal code's definition of revolution was also broadened on a attempt to make it easier to arrest strike leaders in order to defeat the strike. On "Bloody Sunday", the North-West Mounted Police were the ones who gave the day the name, because they were the ones that opened fire on a unarmed crowd. They were the aggressors, and did not follow their own rules of them not wanting any violence. The foreigners arrested during "Bloody Sunday" were deported back to their home countries which was a discrimination towards the foreigners themselves. Raids were conducted across the country by the Federal Government on a series of homes of known agitators and offices of radical organizations. By doing so, the government was abusing its powers and attempting to limit and restrict its opponents. The British leaders were given trial by jury, where as the foreign born leaders faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board. By doing so, the government was yet again, discriminating towards the foreign members of our country because of their ethnic background. The government then introduced Section 97 of the Criminal Code gave them the ability to prosecute members of the Communist Party, radicals, and union leaders by identifying and unlawful association. Doing so, proved again that the government wast abusing its power in order to destroy opposition from the left winged parties/groups and unions.
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justifiable. The Minister of Labour Robertson as well as the Minister of Justice Meighen only met with the Committee of One Thousand and not with the strike committee. The government only supported the Citizens Committee of One Thousand and the employers but they did not support the strikers. Instead the government was more interested in defeating the strikers then to come to a settlement. The Winnipeg Mayor fired police officers because they had refused to sign the contract to prevent them from joining the workers unions. This had been a justifiable act because the police are an essential service that keep law and order and without them crime rates would escalate dramatically causing no law and order, therefore they can not be allowed to strike. On June 21, the Royal North-West Mounted Police and the city’s special forces charged the protesters as they fired shots at an unarmed crowd. The Royal North-West Mounted Police had no right to shoot at an unarmed crowd without an lawful reason. In this situation the police were the aggressors. This event later became known as Bloody Saturday. The Criminal Code's definition of revolution was then broadened. This was wrong because the government were attempting to make it easier to have the strike leaders arrested and to defeat the strikers. The Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) arrested union leaders but there was had been no evidence that the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution. The Anglo-Saxon union leaders that were arrested were given jury trials, while the foreign born leaders were forced to a deportation hearing in front of The Immigration Board of Inquiry. The foreign born leaders were discriminated against because of ethnic background. The foreigners that had been arrested on Bloody Saturday were later deported out of the country. The Federal government introduced section 97 of the Criminal Code which identified an unlawful association which they had used to prosecute the members of the Communist Party, radicals and union leaders. These were some of the results of the government abusing their power to destroy their opposition. The government’s actions were not justifiable during and after the war because all that the government cared about was doing whatever it could to defeat the strikers. The government didn’t think about ways to solve the problems which had caused the strike like fewer jobs, lower wages and bad working conditions and the government had chosen the side of the employers and the Citizens Committee of One Thousand. They also used all of these things to suggest that the protesters were a threat to the government when all what the strikers wanted was fairer wages, more jobs and better working conditions.
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg general strike were not justified. The government was trying to eliminate all possibilities of a communist revolution in Canada. It was known as the “Red Scare”. The Minister of Justice Meighen and the Minister of Labor Robertson met with the citizens’ Committee of One Thousand but not the strike committee. This was not justified because the government supported the employers and CCOT (citizens committee of one thousand) and opposed the strikers; the government was not interested in reaching a settlement but defeating the strikers. They did not want to negotiate with the strikers because that would identify the strike committee as an actual threat to the government. The Winnipeg Mayor fired all of their police force members that refused to sign a contract preventing them from joining unions. This was not justified because police officers should have the same rights as other workers and be allowed to join a union. The Federal government amended the Immigration Act to be able to deport foreign born leaders accused of insurrection (trying to overthrow the government). The government also broadened the definition of revolution in the Criminal Code to be able to arrest strike leaders much more easily. This was not justified because the government was trying to eliminate the possibility of a revolution as fast as possible without considering any demands. Furthermore, the RNWMP (Royal North West Mounted Police arrested union leaders. This was not justified because there was no evidence that the strike leaders we’re encouraging insurrection or a revolution, again, “Red Scare”. The English union leaders that were arrested were given jury trials while foreign born leaders faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board of Inquiry. This was not justified as the foreign born leaders were being prosecuted and discriminated against because of their ethnic background. Increasing evidence of discrimination is found in the fact that Foreigners arrested during “Bloody Saturday” were also deported. This is not justified. The Federal Government also conducted a series of raids across the country on a series of homes of known agitators and offices of radical organizations. This is not justified because the government was abusing its power and attempting to limit and restrict the strikers as much as possible. The Federal Government additionally introduced Section 97 of the Criminal code which identified an unlawful association and used it to prosecute members of the Communist Party, radicals and union leaders. The government again is abusing its power to destroy the opposition from left wing parties or groups and unions. In conclusion the actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified because the government discriminated against foreigners and abused their power to unjustly arrest several leaders of the opposition without trial.
Were the actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg general strike justified?
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General strike were not justified. The governments main goal when the General strike happened was on defeating the strikers, since they did not care on what the people were asking such as improved working conditions, higher pay and a normal eight hour work day. The people were asking for this because inflation made it almost impossible for some families to pay for rent and basic needs like food. Even though people tried various ways to tell the government what they wanted, it was clear that the government did not want to listen. The minister of justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson met with citizens committee of one thousand but not the strike committee. Police officers were fired by the Winnipeg mayor because they refused to sign a contract to prevent them from joining a union. This was unfair to the police officers because should be able to have the same rights as other workers and be allowed to join a union. Even though the war was over their was still discrimination to immigrants from foreign countries especially ones from Germany for example. The Federal government amended the immigration act to be able to deport foreign born leaders accused of insurrection. Criminal code was the attempt of the government to make it easier to arrest the strike leaders and to the defeat the strikers. The government tried different ways to get rid of the strikers, the RNWMP was used to arrest leaders of unions even if there was no evidence the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection (violence) or revolution just like the Russians in 1917 by a party called Bolsheviks. On "Bloody Saturday" protesters attacked a train and set it on fire and foreigners were arrested and deported. The Federal government determined, conducted a series of raids across the country on home of agitators and offices of organizations, the government was abusing its power!
In my opinion I think only some of the government actions could be justified without any questions but on the other hand the government is in the position with the most power. The government should be able to work out problems with the people whom the government is governing. Arresting and harming the people of Winnipeg for standing up for their rights isn't fair or right. The government should be able to compromise with the citizens of Winnipeg and come to an agreement. Though the actions made by the angry people of Winnipeg I understand that the government felt upset or lost with what to do but that doesn’t mean you can go around arresting and hurting people who were only trying to stick up for their rights. All the citizens of Winnipeg wanted was higher pay, better working conditions and an eight-hour workday. The government could have fixed this problem with the simple solution of raising pay wages and lowering work hours. If the government listened to the people and thought about how the people felt this problem wouldn’t have gotten so bad where the people had to take outrages actions to get some justice. So in conclusion, No the government’s actions were not justified. An understanding could have been made and a common ground could have been built but because miscommunication between the government and its people caused for actions by the people of Winnipeg to happen.
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justifiable because the Labor movement was a development of a organization of working people, who campaigned for better working conditions, wages, and treatment for their employers and governments. The government was also afraid that the same violence that happened in Russia would happen in Canada so they used fermenting to scare off the trade unions. Police officers lost their jobs because they sympathized with the strikes. Due to many born foreign born union leaders the government changed the criminal code s that they would be arrested and deported without a trial. I disagree with the way the governments performance was towards the Winnipeg General Strike. The 2 main issues were how the government discriminated all the immigrants as an enemy due to their ethnic background, and also how he abused his powers as a Governor to keep the country under control.The Government discriminated immigrants because when the leaders of the British Union were arrested they were given jury trials unlike the immigrants. As the British were given a jury trial as the foreigners who were born leader were faced with deportation Board of inquiry. Due to the discrimination of their ethnic background many foreign born leaders protested for their right and freedoms, that lead into many foreigners being arrested which was discriminatory. The federal government used his power to conduct a series of raids that went across the country. The government abused his power by attempting to limit and restrict his opponents by using a series of raids to affect many homes of known agitators and offices of radical organizations due to the fear of being overthrown. The government introduced Section97 from the criminal code that identified unlawful associations and used it to prosecute members from the communist party, including radicals and union leaders. The Minister of justice and Minister of Labor met up with the citizens committee of One Thousand but opposed the strikes. the government supported the employers of CCOT but was not interested in the strikers or reaching a settlement with them, which lead to the defeat of the strikers. The end result in the Labor Movement was that the government defeated the strikers and they were sent back to work after 43day protest. In the end only one protester died and 30 wounded/injured. This became a known event called "Bloody Saturday".
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. All of the decisions made by the government were based on two things, fear of getting overthrown by communists and their own particular values. They did not make decisions based on what the people of Canada were asking for such as improved working conditions, higher pay, and an eight-hour work day.The job of the government is to make decisions on behalf of the people and their opinions, not make decisions despite the people and their opinions. The government made it very clear that they were not interested in what the strikers had to say. The Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson met with the Citizen’s Committee of One Thousand but not the strike committee after all. This was not just so the strike wouldn't be given legitimacy, this was because they did not want the strike to have a chance in being successful. They saw anyone affiliated with the strike to be an enemy standing in their way.They took the side of the business leaders and industrialists who had made great profit from the war instead of the workers who can barely pay rent and feed their families. Instead, the government was too concerned about showing that they were the ones in charge. They arrested union leaders and deported many immigrants. They changed the Criminal Code so that they would be able to arrest strike leaders much more easily. The discrimination against immigrants was severe as well. Firstly, they amended the Immigration Act so that they would be able to deport immigrant leaders. Also, the government would give jury trials to Anglo-Saxon union leaders that were unfairly arrested; however, they would not do the same for the immigrant leaders. Instead they would face deportation hearings. During World War I, immigrants were subject to harsh discrimination, and the government definitely continued that streak in the Winnipeg General Strike. Furthermore, the government claimed that they were trying to prevent a Revolution and wanted to act peacefully but they contradicted this when they had the Royal North-West Mounted Police and Halifax’s special force charge the parade of strikers with clubs and pistols in hand which was absolutely absurd. They are the ones that turned the strike violent on “Bloody Saturday” which is very hypocritical seeing as they are the ones who said they didn't want violence in the first place. Conclusively , the supposed democratic government who's job is to act on behalf of the people of Canada and fairly represent them acted solely according to their own agenda which is unwarranted.
ReplyDeleteThe actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. They didn’t care what the people wanted they just wanted to do what they wanted to and if that meant not listening to the people then they were going to do that. Reasons as to why it was not justifiable are that the government supported the employers and CCOT and opposed the strikers, which shows that the government was not interested in reaching a settlement but overcoming the strikers. The government did this because they didn’t want the strikers to happen and be successful. The government fired police officers because they refused to sign the contract, which was preventing them from joining a union. They shouldn’t have done this because police officers should have the same rights as other workers do and they should be allowed to join a union if they wanted to. On Bloody Saturday the police charged the protestors and fired on an unarmed crowd. The police had no right to do this so in saying that it was not justifiable. The government saw anyone associated with the strike to be an enemy and would do anything to stop them from being apart of the strike. The federal government conducted many raids on a series of homes of people they thought were apart of the war or were against the government, the government was mistreating their power and attempting to limit and restrict its opponents. When people were arrested the British unions were given jury trials while the foreign born unions were deported before they even got a chance to be proven otherwise. In this case the foreign born union was discriminated against because of who they are and what they believe in. In conclusion the governments actions were not justifiable during or before the war because they were acting solely, based on their own needs and beliefs
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn Raposo
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justifiable. The Minister of Labour Robertson and the Minister of Justice Meighen did not meet the strike committee, but did meet the committee of one thousand. The government supported the Citizens Committee of One Thousand (CCOT) and also the employers; however, they opposed the strikers. The government was not interested in coming to a settlement, though they were interested in defeating the strikers. The Federal government amended the Immigration Act, and was able to deport the foreign leaders because they were accused of insurrection. This is not right. There was no evidence that the foreign leaders were the ones encouraging revolution, but instead demanding the right to collective bargaining. The Winnipeg Mayor fired police officers because they had refused to sign a contract to prevent them from join the unions, this was a justifiable act because the police are an essential service that keep law and order; they can not be allowed to strike. The police are a service that is needed to keep us safe and if you allow them to strike then who would keep the law and order. On Bloody Saturday the police charged the protesters and they fired shots at an unarmed crowd; the police were the aggressors in this situation. The police had no right to do this as it was not their job to shoot at an unarmed crowd with no lawful reason. The Criminal Codes definition of revolution was then broadened. This was wrong because the government were attempting to make it easier to arrest the strike leaders and to defeat the strikers in general. The strikers were only trying to do what was right in their minds and it was not right to dry and defeat the strikers. The Federal government conducted a series of raids across the country on a number of different homes of the known agitators and the offices of radical organisations; the government was abusing its power and they were attempting to limit and restrict its opponents. The Royal North West Mounted Police (RNWMP) arrested union leaders but there was no evidence that the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution. The Anglo-Saxon (British) union leaders that were arrested were given jury trials, whilst the foreign born leaders were forced to have a deportation hearing before The Immigration Board of Inquiry. The foreign born leaders were discriminated upon because of their ethnic background which was unfair. The foreigners arrested during Bloody Saturday were eventually deported. After the fact, the Federal government introduced section 97 of the Criminal Code which identified an unlawful association and they used it to prosecute the members of the Communist Party, The Radicals and the Union Leaders. This was all the result of the government abusing their power to destroy their opposition. The government’s actions were not justifiable during and after the war because they were not following the laws that had been laid down in previous Acts and Codes.
ReplyDeleteMaddie Lees
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The government did not listen to what the strikers had to say such as, higher wages, and 8 hour work shifts. The government supported the employers and the CCOT and opposed the strikers; the government was not interested in reaching a settlement but defeating the strikers. Firing police officers for refusing to sign the contract to join a union was not reasonable and not fair. Just because they are police officers they should have the same rights as the other ordinary workers and should be allowed to join a union if they want to. Deporting foreign born leaders and being accused of insurrection was not justified because that is discrimination and there was no evidence that they were encouraging revolution. The foreign born leaders just wanted the right to collective bargaining. The criminal code’s definition of revolution was broadened because the government was attempting to make it easier to arrest the strike leaders to defeat the strikers. There was no real evidence that the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution for the Royal North-West Mounted Police to arrest them and it was not reasonable. On “Bloody Saturday” the North-West Mounted Police are the ones who made the parade violent by charging at the crowd and were firing at the unarmed crowd. The police in this case were the aggressors and did not follow their own rules by saying they did not want any violence. The government was abusing its power by a series of raids across the country on many homes of know agitators and offices of radical organizations. The government was attempting to limit and restrict its opponents. Foreign leaders were very discriminated against by the government and when they got arrested they did not get a jury trial, when Anglo-Saxon union leaders got arrested they were able to have a jury trial. Another way the foreign leaders were discriminated was when they got arrested during “Bloody Saturday” they got deported. The federal government introduced section 97 of the criminal code which identified an association and used it to prosecute members of the communist Party, radicals and union leaders. This was not justified because the government is once again abusing its power to destroy opposition from left wing parties or groups and unions; therefore, the actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified.
ReplyDeleteFanoula Petrou
The actions of the Government before and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. When Canada’s workers begun to form trade unions, all they demanded were higher pay, better working conditions and an eight-hour workday. Overthrowing government and Revolution was not in that list, and yet that is how Government took their demands. The Government feared being taken as weak, which influenced many of their poor decisions. The Government’s job is to make the people of their Country’s lives easier and safer, yet they did the complete opposite. The Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson refused to meet and discuss with the Strike Committee, but were undeniably willing to meet with Citizens Committee of One Thousand who they supported and showed favoritism towards. This proves that the Government did not want a friendly settlement, but a victory. They were willing to disbanding their own people. Winnipeg’s Mayor fired a whole force of Police Officers for their refusal to sign a contract to prevent them from joining union. Anything that may get in the way had to be gotten rid of. The Government went as far as to amend the Immigration Act so that they were able to arrest and deport any foreign born Strike Leaders without reason, which is considered major discrimination and Guilty by Association. Any attempt to arrest Strike Leaders was broadened, even though Strike Leaders had a set list of demands and no means for Revolution. All these people wanted was to live a healthy and affordable life, was this too much to ask for? It was to Government. This led to Bloody Saturday, a day that got innocents arrested and turned men into murderers. Both the Strikers and Police were at fault, forgetting their morals completely, leaving only the thought of success in their minds. The people of Canada wanted what they disserved after all the hard years of war, and the Government was abusing its power to the fullest. The Anglo-Saxon Strikers were treated with more leisure than the Foreign Strikers, when each Canadian should be treated equally. Anglo-Saxons may face jury trials, where as Immigrants faced deportation. Violence was the last thing they wanted, and yet it’s what all this led to. We expect the Government to look after us and make the big decisions which effect how we live, and yet when we needed them most they abandoned us.
ReplyDeleteAlly Quayle
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg general strike were not justified. The minister of Justice Meighen and minister of Labour Robertson meet with citizens committee of one thousand but not the strike committee would be not justified, because the government supported the employers and CCOT that mean that they weren’t committee to the settlement but defeating the strikers. The Winnipeg mayor fired police officers for refusing to sign contract to prevent them from joining unions is justified the police is an essential to keep law in order, if the police had the same rights as other workers they would be allowed to strike and that would not be very good because it would be unsafe for people. And police is an a essential and cannot be allowed to strike. The federal government amended the immigration act to be able to deport foreign born leaders accused of insurrection is not justified there was no way of seeing they foreign leaders because they were encouraging to revolution but instead demanding the right to collective bargaining. The RNWMO arrest union leaders was justified because the government general strike he would feared it would lead to money issues and that can lead to union. Bloody Saturday was not justified after striker returned back to work after protesting for 43 days the police was aggressors and fired on an unarmed crowed for going back to work after 43 long days. The federal government conducts a series of raids across the country was not justified because the government was abusing the power, of the radical organizations. The British Anglo-Saxons leader arrested were given jury trials while foreign born leaders Canadian born leaders had the right to a trial but that foreign born leaders did not. Foreigners arrested during bloody Saturday was deported those who participated in the violated the ban on meeting was the lost of their right to remain in Canada.
ReplyDeleteNicole Poson
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The ultimate reason as to why it was unjustifiable is that what the government cared about was doing whatever it could to defeat the strikers, instead of thinking about the ways to solve the problems which caused the strike such as few jobs, low wages, and bad working conditions. First of all, the government made a decision to support the employers and Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand and oppose the strikers. Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Roberson met with CCOT but not the strike committee, which obviously stated the government’s basic standpoint. Generally, the government should represent the behalf of majority people. But this time the government chose the side of employers and was not interested in reaching a settlement but defeating the strikers who represented the most people’s behalf. The government also broadened the Criminal Code’s definition of revolution. It was showed that the government was attempting to make it easier to arrest the strike leaders even by amending the clause. What’s more, federal government conducted a series of raid across the country on a series of homes of know agitators and offices of radical organizations. The government was abusing its power to destroy opposition from the Communist Party, radicals and union leaders. The second reason for it was not justifiable is that although the government claimed that they feared a revolution and violence would brought by the strikers, the government use violence to suppress the strike. On “Bloody Saturday”, the police charged the protesters and fired on an unarmed crowd. They were the ones who induced the violence of the strikes, and it was absurd that the aggressors asserted that they always put avoiding violence in the first place. The third reason why the actions of the government were not justified is that it was severe the discrimination against immigrants. Federal government amended the Immigration Act to be able to deport foreign born leaders accused of insurrection. The government used the potential revolution as an excuse to deport the foreign leaders so that they could maintain their power and behalf. However, the truth is that there was no evidence that the foreign leader were communist and were encouraging revolution but instead demanding the right to collective bargaining. Because of the foreign born leaders’ ethnic background, they were discriminated and faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board of Inquiry. Whereas the Anglo-Saxon union leaders arrested were given jury trials. Finally, all the decisions the government made is for defeating the strikers, but what they did not only exploded the conflict between the workers and government, but also did the political power of government fluctuate.
ReplyDeleteGary Zou
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ReplyDeleteMegan Purdy
ReplyDeleteWere the actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike Justified?
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The government made decisions that were best for them and not for the people of Canada. The people of Canada were asking for things including higher pay, and improved working conditions, although the government denied these things due to fear of being overthrown. The Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson made this very clear as they met with citizens from the Committee of One Thousand but did not reach out towards the strike committee. This was because the government was not interested in a settlement but defeating them and only saw the strikers as an enemy. They opted to the business leaders who made a higher amount of money instead of the less fortunate families. Police officers should not have different rules compared to the other people of Canada. Although, the Winnipeg Mayor fired police for refusing to sign contracts that prevent them from joining unions. They deported any immigrants they saw as a threat and changed the criminal code to make arrests easier for them to fulfill. They also introduced section 97 of the Criminal Code identifying and unlawful association and were used to prosecute members of the communist party, union leaders and radicals. This was incorrect and not justified because the government is abusing its power to destroy opposition from parties, groups and unions. The government feared the general strike would lead to a revolution, so they would arrest union leaders. There was no evidence the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution; therefore, the government should have not been able to arrest leaders so easily. As well as arresting union leaders, the government would conduct raids across the country on homes all because they fear. They made things unfair for the foreign born leaders as Canadian or British born leaders had a right to trial and they did not. The government believed that the foreigners who participated in the demonstration during Bloody Saturday violated the ban on meetings and as a result lost all rights to remain in Canada. Overall the government’s job is to act on behalf of the people of Canada. The government during and after the Winnipeg General strike didn’t follow that as they only did what was best for them.
Megan Purdy
ReplyDelete“ The overall actions taken by the government were unjustifiable in doing what they did, the government supported the employers and CCOT; however, the government was not interested in making any deals/ coming to a settlement or even acknowledging the legitimacy of the strikers committee. This meet that not take place accurately depicted the respect the government had for the workers at the time. When the Winnipeg Mayor fired the 16 police officers for expressing their views of wanting a union they were fired. At this point the government was starting to feel a little intrusive in the daily lives of your everyday workers. The police officers should indeed have the same workers as other workers. The federal government indeed amended the Immigration Act to be able to deport foreign leaders on the assumption of insurrection. Criminal Code’s definition of revolution was broadened thus making it easier to arrest the strike leaders to defeat the strikers. Which they in fact did follow through with and arrested the strike leaders with miniscule evidence. Bloody Saturday saw the deaths of two innocent by-standers the police were in fact the aggressors even though the protestors had used violent protesting tactics nothing as lethal as taking up arms was done by the strikers. Not only was the government acting irresponsibly but they even intruded the lives of these workers and soldiers the federal government would abuse its power by conducting a multitude of raids across the country on known agitators and offices of radical organizations which once again was NOT justifiable. Anglo-Saxon union leaders were given jury trials while foreign born leaders faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board of Inquiry, it was more that obvious that these foreign leaders were discriminated against because of their ethnic background. Foreigners who were arrested on Bloody Saturday were deported another act of discrimination taken by the government. The federal government introduced Section 97 which identified unlawful association further making it easier and used it to prosecute members of Communist, radical or union leaders, the government is trying to obliterate he opposition making the point of view within Canada very refined. The overall actions taken by the government were unjustifiable such historical event illustrates the fault in our government.”
Nick Barry 11/03/14
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. Throughout this time, returning soldiers faced a very tough time returning home to Canada because they didn’t have any jobs to return to and were bitter about poor quality guns, shells and clothing they were provided with during the war. Also, there was a huge rise in inflation meaning that everybody was hungry and frustrated and wanting to be heard and have change take place so they could meet their basic needs. Initially the Minister of Justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson met with the Citizen’s Committee but not the strike committee and the conversation didn’t represent everyone and was one sided. The business people grew richer and the government protected them and themselves. Meanwhile, the government feared that the citizens would follow union leaders and would copy the revolution that took place in Russia. Instead of listening to and providing for the citizens of Canada they served themselves out of fear and in greed of controlling a climate which they wanted to maintain.
ReplyDeleteThey continuously used their power and tried to stop meetings about strikes and unions from meeting and took some very drastic measures including changing laws and the Criminal Code so they could do so. They changed the Immigration Act so they could send leaders back to where they were born if their thinking didn’t match up with the governments even though those leaders were only interested in collective bargaining. The RNWMP were ordered to arrest the union leaders. The government did that because they were worried that rebellion could result in instability of the government; it was all about power. There were a series of raids on agitator’s homes and offices of the radical organizations from the federal government. This government continuously abused its power and can be described as corrupt.
The event of Bloody Saturday was extreme. The mayor had placed a ban on demonstrations and meetings fearing that they would gain more power. The protesters did in fact meet, and many died. The police really caused it to get out of control by acting very aggressively and firing on the unarmed group of people. A train was flipped and set on fire. Desperate times call for desperate measures and these were desperate unemployed hungry people. They needed to have their needs listened to and they needed their basic needs met.
There were many events that raised the tension among the desperate people in Winnipeg who were just trying to organize labour relations and meet their basic needs. The government was being irresponsible and corrupt and took drastic measures trying to control the citizens.
Michael Grundy
Actions taken by the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The government in fear of a revolution, made rushed decisions and took immediate action, due to workers striking for improved working conditions, higher wages, and an eight-hour work day. However, the majority of these drastic actions were not justified. First off, the Minister of Justice Meighan and Minister of Labour Robertson only met with the Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand, completely ignoring the strike committee. As a government, they should have taken a neutral standpoint in the whole of this, but inside they sided with the employers. The government wanting to bring an end to the strikes quickly was unwilling to negotiate a settlement with strikers. Even the Mayor of Winnipeg went to such extremes as to firing and replacing police officers, for wanting to join unions. The actions of the government also had a huge effect on immigrants. They amended the Immigration Act, to gain the power to deport foreign leaders accused of insurrection. However, there was no evidence that foreign leaders were encouraging revolution, but instead demanding the right to collective bargaining. The Royal Northwest Mounted Police was sent out to arrest union leaders, without any evidence that strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution. Anglo-Saxon union leaders arrested were given jury trials, while foreign leaders faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board of Inquiry. During the First World War, immigrants already faced a lot of discrimination, this action by the government only added to that. On “Bloody Saturday”, police charged the protesters and fired into the crowd of unarmed citizens, in an attempt to display dominance. The police were the ones who brought violence into this peaceful strike, firing into the crowd was completely unnecessary. Another act of discrimination that immigrants faced was foreigners arrested during “Bloody Saturday” were deported. The government also abused its power, conducting a series of raids across the country of suspected homes of agitators and offices of radical organizations. Abusing their power furthermore to destroy opposition parties and unions, the government introduced Section 97 of the Criminal Code, using it to persecute members of the Communist Party, radicals and union leaders. The Winnipeg General Strike was a time in Canadian history where the government was more concerned with staying in power than the basic needs of its citizens.
ReplyDeleteMatthew Ng
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justifiable. The minister of labour Robertson as well as the Minister of Justice Meighen only met with the Committee of One Thousand and not with the strike committee. Winnipeg mayor Charles Frederick Gray fired police officers for refusing to sign contracts to prevent them from joining unions, although police officers should have the same rights as other workers and be allowed to join a union. RNWMP arrested union leaders while there was no evidence the strike leaders encouraged insurrection or revolution. June 21, 1919 Bloody Saturday the police charged the protesters and fired on an unarmed crowd.The government was abusing its power and attempting to limit and restrict its opponents by having the federal government conducted a series of raids across the country on a series of homes of known agitators and offices of radical organizations. Anglo-Saxons union leaders that were arrested were given jury trails while foreign born leaders faced deportation hearings before the immigration boars of inquiry. The foreigners arrested on Bloody Saturday faced discrimination and were deported. The government abused its powers to destroy opposition from left wing parties or groups and unions by having the federal government introduce Section 97 of the Criminal Code which identified an unlawful association and used it to prosecute members of the communist party's, radicals and union leaders.
ReplyDeleteMitchell Davies.
The actions of the government before and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified. The government did not listen to what the strikers had to say about things like raising wages, and shorter work shifts. Instead, the government supported the employers and the CCOT and the opposed of the strikers; the government was not interested in coming to a settlement, but instead defeating the strikers. They fired police officers because they refused to sign a contract that would keep them from being allowed to join into a union, and that is not fair. They are police officers, its like any other job in the fact they have rights too. They should be allowed to join a union if they so please to. The Immigration Act was amended so foreign born leaders accused of insurrection could be deported was not justified because it was discrimination, and no real evidence was present to place the charges. The leaders just wanted the right to collective bargaining. The criminal code's definition of revolution was also broadened on a attempt to make it easier to arrest strike leaders in order to defeat the strike. On "Bloody Sunday", the North-West Mounted Police were the ones who gave the day the name, because they were the ones that opened fire on a unarmed crowd. They were the aggressors, and did not follow their own rules of them not wanting any violence. The foreigners arrested during "Bloody Sunday" were deported back to their home countries which was a discrimination towards the foreigners themselves. Raids were conducted across the country by the Federal Government on a series of homes of known agitators and offices of radical organizations. By doing so, the government was abusing its powers and attempting to limit and restrict its opponents. The British leaders were given trial by jury, where as the foreign born leaders faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board. By doing so, the government was yet again, discriminating towards the foreign members of our country because of their ethnic background. The government then introduced Section 97 of the Criminal Code gave them the ability to prosecute members of the Communist Party, radicals, and union leaders by identifying and unlawful association. Doing so, proved again that the government wast abusing its power in order to destroy opposition from the left winged parties/groups and unions.
ReplyDeleteThe actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justifiable. The Minister of Labour Robertson as well as the Minister of Justice Meighen only met with the Committee of One Thousand and not with the strike committee. The government only supported the Citizens Committee of One Thousand and the employers but they did not support the strikers. Instead the government was more interested in defeating the strikers then to come to a settlement. The Winnipeg Mayor fired police officers because they had refused to sign the contract to prevent them from joining the workers unions. This had been a justifiable act because the police are an essential service that keep law and order and without them crime rates would escalate dramatically causing no law and order, therefore they can not be allowed to strike. On June 21, the Royal North-West Mounted Police and the city’s special forces charged the protesters as they fired shots at an unarmed crowd. The Royal North-West Mounted Police had no right to shoot at an unarmed crowd without an lawful reason. In this situation the police were the aggressors. This event later became known as Bloody Saturday. The Criminal Code's definition of revolution was then broadened. This was wrong because the government were attempting to make it easier to have the strike leaders arrested and to defeat the strikers. The Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) arrested union leaders but there was had been no evidence that the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection or revolution. The Anglo-Saxon union leaders that were arrested were given jury trials, while the foreign born leaders were forced to a deportation hearing in front of The Immigration Board of Inquiry. The foreign born leaders were discriminated against because of ethnic background. The foreigners that had been arrested on Bloody Saturday were later deported out of the country. The Federal government introduced section 97 of the Criminal Code which identified an unlawful association which they had used to prosecute the members of the Communist Party, radicals and union leaders. These were some of the results of the government abusing their power to destroy their opposition. The government’s actions were not justifiable during and after the war because all that the government cared about was doing whatever it could to defeat the strikers. The government didn’t think about ways to solve the problems which had caused the strike like fewer jobs, lower wages and bad working conditions and the government had chosen the side of the employers and the Citizens Committee of One Thousand. They also used all of these things to suggest that the protesters were a threat to the government when all what the strikers wanted was fairer wages, more jobs and better working conditions.
ReplyDeleteChayleen Peters
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg general strike were not justified. The government was trying to eliminate all possibilities of a communist revolution in Canada. It was known as the “Red Scare”. The Minister of Justice Meighen and the Minister of Labor Robertson met with the citizens’ Committee of One Thousand but not the strike committee. This was not justified because the government supported the employers and CCOT (citizens committee of one thousand) and opposed the strikers; the government was not interested in reaching a settlement but defeating the strikers. They did not want to negotiate with the strikers because that would identify the strike committee as an actual threat to the government. The Winnipeg Mayor fired all of their police force members that refused to sign a contract preventing them from joining unions. This was not justified because police officers should have the same rights as other workers and be allowed to join a union. The Federal government amended the Immigration Act to be able to deport foreign born leaders accused of insurrection (trying to overthrow the government). The government also broadened the definition of revolution in the Criminal Code to be able to arrest strike leaders much more easily. This was not justified because the government was trying to eliminate the possibility of a revolution as fast as possible without considering any demands. Furthermore, the RNWMP (Royal North West Mounted Police arrested union leaders. This was not justified because there was no evidence that the strike leaders we’re encouraging insurrection or a revolution, again, “Red Scare”. The English union leaders that were arrested were given jury trials while foreign born leaders faced deportation hearings before the Immigration Board of Inquiry. This was not justified as the foreign born leaders were being prosecuted and discriminated against because of their ethnic background. Increasing evidence of discrimination is found in the fact that Foreigners arrested during “Bloody Saturday” were also deported. This is not justified. The Federal Government also conducted a series of raids across the country on a series of homes of known agitators and offices of radical organizations. This is not justified because the government was abusing its power and attempting to limit and restrict the strikers as much as possible. The Federal Government additionally introduced Section 97 of the Criminal code which identified an unlawful association and used it to prosecute members of the Communist Party, radicals and union leaders. The government again is abusing its power to destroy the opposition from left wing parties or groups and unions. In conclusion the actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justified because the government discriminated against foreigners and abused their power to unjustly arrest several leaders of the opposition without trial.
ReplyDeleteTyler Jadot
Were the actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg general strike justified?
ReplyDeleteThe actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General strike were not justified. The governments main goal when the General strike happened was on defeating the strikers, since they did not care on what the people were asking such as improved working conditions, higher pay and a normal eight hour work day. The people were asking for this because inflation made it almost impossible for some families to pay for rent and basic needs like food. Even though people tried various ways to tell the government what they wanted, it was clear that the government did not want to listen. The minister of justice Meighen and Minister of Labour Robertson met with citizens committee of one thousand but not the strike committee. Police officers were fired by the Winnipeg mayor because they refused to sign a contract to prevent them from joining a union. This was unfair to the police officers because should be able to have the same rights as other workers and be allowed to join a union. Even though the war was over their was still discrimination to immigrants from foreign countries especially ones from Germany for example. The Federal government amended the immigration act to be able to deport foreign born leaders accused of insurrection. Criminal code was the attempt of the government to make it easier to arrest the strike leaders and to the defeat the strikers. The government tried different ways to get rid of the strikers, the RNWMP was used to arrest leaders of unions even if there was no evidence the strike leaders were encouraging insurrection (violence) or revolution just like the Russians in 1917 by a party called Bolsheviks. On "Bloody Saturday" protesters attacked a train and set it on fire and foreigners were arrested and deported. The Federal government determined, conducted a series of raids across the country on home of agitators and offices of organizations, the government was abusing its power!
In my opinion I think only some of the government actions could be justified without any questions but on the other hand the government is in the position with the most power. The government should be able to work out problems with the people whom the government is governing. Arresting and harming the people of Winnipeg for standing up for their rights isn't fair or right. The government should be able to compromise with the citizens of Winnipeg and come to an agreement. Though the actions made by the angry people of Winnipeg I understand that the government felt upset or lost with what to do but that doesn’t mean you can go around arresting and hurting people who were only trying to stick up for their rights. All the citizens of Winnipeg wanted was higher pay, better working conditions and an eight-hour workday. The government could have fixed this problem with the simple solution of raising pay wages and lowering work hours. If the government listened to the people and thought about how the people felt this problem wouldn’t have gotten so bad where the people had to take outrages actions to get some justice. So in conclusion, No the government’s actions were not justified. An understanding could have been made and a common ground could have been built but because miscommunication between the government and its people caused for actions by the people of Winnipeg to happen.
ReplyDeleteRupinder Mann xo
The actions of the government during and after the Winnipeg General Strike were not justifiable because the Labor movement was a development of a organization of working people, who campaigned for better working conditions, wages, and treatment for their employers and governments. The government was also afraid that the same violence that happened in Russia would happen in Canada so they used fermenting to scare off the trade unions. Police officers lost their jobs because they sympathized with the strikes. Due to many born foreign born union leaders the government changed the criminal code s that they would be arrested and deported without a trial. I disagree with the way the governments performance was towards the Winnipeg General Strike. The 2 main issues were how the government discriminated all the immigrants as an enemy due to their ethnic background, and also how he abused his powers as a Governor to keep the country under control.The Government discriminated immigrants because when the leaders of the British Union were arrested they were given jury trials unlike the immigrants. As the British were given a jury trial as the foreigners who were born leader were faced with deportation Board of inquiry. Due to the discrimination of their ethnic background many foreign born leaders protested for their right and freedoms, that lead into many foreigners being arrested which was discriminatory. The federal government used his power to conduct a series of raids that went across the country. The government abused his power by attempting to limit and restrict his opponents by using a series of raids to affect many homes of known agitators and offices of radical organizations due to the fear of being overthrown. The government introduced Section97 from the criminal code that identified unlawful associations and used it to prosecute members from the communist party, including radicals and union leaders. The Minister of justice and Minister of Labor met up with the citizens committee of One Thousand but opposed the strikes. the government supported the employers of CCOT but was not interested in the strikers or reaching a settlement with them, which lead to the defeat of the strikers. The end result in the Labor Movement was that the government defeated the strikers and they were sent back to work after 43day protest. In the end only one protester died and 30 wounded/injured. This became a known event called "Bloody Saturday".
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