Commonwealth and Foreign
CANADA'S CONTRIBUTION
By GRANT DEXTER AFTER four months of it, most Minister Chamberlain's remark war. From one end of Canada of frustration. No one seems to business of beating Germany. Canadians are echoing Prime upon the strangeness of this to the other there is a sense know how to get on with the Meantime, the war has not been all lost—not by any means. As previously pointed out in The Spectator, the King Government from the outset of the War was in some peril from the more extreme elements. On the left were the Nationalists, chiefly in Quebec, who opposed all participation in external wars. On the right were the extreme loyalists, chiefly Conservative Imperialists and confined largely to Ontario, who desired this country to be committed to Britain without reservation.
The King Government faced Parliament in September with a policy of unlimited voluntary participation. There would be no conscription, but otherwise Canada was in the war to the limit of her resources. The Government encoun- tered no important criticism or opposition in Parliament, but faced the task of so directing war policy that neither extreme could make headway. Prime Minister King did this with conspicuous success until the Nationalist Government of Quebec challenged the right of the Dominion to impose war- time restrictions. The election in Quebec on October 25th was a triumph for Mr. King and a crushing, irretrievable disaster for the Nationalists. Premier Duplessis of Quebec entered the campaign with some 70 Feats in a House of 86 and emerged with 16. The strength of the Liberal Party increased from 16 to 7o.
The defeat of the Duplessis Government is probably the greatest stroke for Canadian unity that has occurred since Confederation. If Canada is to play the part in this War which is confidently predicted both at Ottawa and in London, the Quebec election was equivalent to winning a major cam- paign on the Western Front. For if Mr. Duplessis had been returned, if his appeal to nationalist sentiment had prevailed, this Dominion would have had either to face civil war or to retire from the conflict as gracefully as possible. But with the defeat of the Duplessis Government Canadian unity throughout the war is assured—so far as French Canada is concerned. The deep wounds of 1914-18 have been healed, and many are saying today that it required a war to undo the damage done by war 25 years ago.
In many quarters the credit for this demonstration of unity is ascribed to the Royal Tour. It would indeed be difficult to exaggerate the impression made by their Majesties on French Canada. And yet this is a superficial view. No doubt the crisis of war in 1939 found Canada in every way better placed to meet it than she was in 1914. This aspect of the Canadian situation has already been discussed in these columns. But the crisis disclosed a fact long suspected by those whose business it is to study such matters. The years have brought a closer understanding between Quebec and the rest of the country. The effect of the wireless, of improved communications, of business associations, has been to lessen the gap between Canada's partner races. This time they have chosen to stand together, and as the war proceeds their mutual trust and confidence in each other inevitably will increase. At every point in Canada's war effort the French Canadians are playing their part. Every Canadian brigade includes a French Canadian unit. Officers from Quebec hold key positions in the higher command. This is French Canada's war as well as the war of the English-speaking com-
munity.
At the other extreme, there have been periodic outbursts of criticism. Quite obviously the loyalists suspect that the King Government is holding back, is whittling down Canada's Ottawa, December .r4th.
contribution. To offset these outbursts, the Govertunent have sought to take the people into their confidence and explain Canada's part in the war. But their efforts have not been entirely successful. Canadians associate war with fighting, and fighting with soldiers. Why, they ask, aren't there more soldiers?
Moreover, there is a general tendency to think of this War
in terms of the last War. In 1914-18 there was a war boom in this country. No controls were applied until the summer of 1917, and meantime everyone was bidding against every- one else. The Canadian Government bought war-supplies through private agencies in competition with the purchasing agencies of Britain and of France. The result was that prices soared. For example, the price of wheat was bid so high that the Winnipeg market was closed and the purchases over a period of days were wiped out. As with wheat, so with other commodities. All along the line there were many buyers and few sellers. This time all is different. Purchasing is in the hands of a War Supply Board, manned by dollar-a-year industrialists and skilled purchasers, and the maximum value is being obtained for every dollar spent. This board, as well, is the purchasing agent for Britain and France.
The effect is to reverse the experience of 1914-18. There is now but one buyer and many sellers. For the past three months Ottawa has been over-run with manufacturers eager to obtain war contracts. They ere finding this war very strange indeed, and their tendency is to believe that some- thing is wrong somewhere. Who ever heard of a war in which prices and profits did not soar and in which war contracts did not abound? The feeling of frustration is increased by the virtual shut-down in recruiting, except for the Air Force. The air training scheme has not yet been announced. [It has since been.—En. The Spectator.] Whcn it is, the public may realise that Canada's chief contribution is to be a specialised one. Meantime, many people are wondering what the Government is doing.
In one respect, however, the enemy has succeeded in striking a shrewd blow at Canada. Canadians have been caught with their guard down, and hereafter the activities of Herr Goebbels and his associates will be followed with keener interest. One of the important industries in this country is the tourist industry. Every year some $290 millions are spent by tourists in Canada and all but $20 millions odd is spent by Americans. Immediately after the outbreak of war there was a sharp drop in the tourist trade. This caused surprise, because the fall of the year, the hunting season, is usually a time favoured by visitors, but it occasioned no anxiety. The tourist trade, how- ever, did not pick up in October and November, and only in December did the true cause become dear. Letters began to reach the Government, asking questions. These letters came from most of the large cities of the United States, and the similarity of the questions asked, at once revealed the work of the German agents. " Why is the Canadian Government seizing the cars of American visitors and using these cars for war purposes? " " Is it true that the Canadian Government is taking American money from tourists and giving them worthless Canadian dollars? " and more of that order.
The truth is that no change whatever has been made in the regulations governing the entry or departure of Americans, and steps are being taken to make this fact known in the United States. But this propaganda will probably cost Canada $50 millions in income this year and, unless American tourists can be persuaded of the deception, the loss might almost equal the country's war expenditures in the first year of the conflict. Herr goebbels' stock is somewhat higher than it was.
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