Forced Relief
Like many Canadians of the baby boom generation, I gained my first knowledge of the Great Depression from my parents. In particular, I remember my father’s stories about the dirty thirties and how he always emphasized the precarious nature of the times, when jobs were scarce and no welfare system existed to help those in need.
Many people, including the policymakers of the day, had experienced economic recessions, but these downturns in the economy had been relatively brief compared to the severity and duration of the Depression. As a result, most people were unprepared when the world economy was plunged into chaos in 1930 ...