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A New World |
Prosperity |
World Role |
Newfoundland |
Korea | CCF &
Tommy | Immigration
September 2, 1945 marked the official
surrender of the Japanese forces and marked the
emergence of the word from the dark shadow of the Second
World War. Canada had made enormous contributions to the
war effort in men and material and had only slightly
suffered direct attack by the Axis powers.
Canada had paid out more then $18 Billion
on the war effort and done this from it's own pocket
while remaining solvent. Canada had another 2 1/2
Billion on aid for it's allies and given another billion
to Britain outright. It had built up a huge industrial
base and expanded the national infrastructure to match
the growth in business and the demands of the war.
Canadian's were proud of their achievements during the
war and the post war world looked bright and promising.
The wartime politic
scene was also changing. As victory looked more and more
certain, people were more willing to look at the other
options again. 1944 had witnessed the election of Tommy
Douglas and the C.C.F. (Cooperative Commonwealth
Federation) in Saskatchewan which marked the first
election of a socialist party in any province in Canada.
Duplessis had returned to power in Quebec marking a
partial shift of the voters from the national war effort
banner back to the nationalistic French Canadian
ambitions of the people of Quebec.
Mackenzie King had
recognized the warning signs across the country and
adopted many of the socialist social programs and
economic reform polices and made them his own. The
Liberal party had in effect killed the leftist baby in
the cradle. The unfortunate fate of Churchill in England
in not recognizing or addressing this mood swing
resulted in his embarrassing electoral defeat at the
polls in July of 1945, just a month after the Canadian
Federal election in June which saw another Liberal
majority government.
The efforts of Churchill during the
Imperial Conference in May of 1944, to once again form a
Commonwealth organization that would represent the
Commonwealth countries with a form of Empire Cabinet
and, country representation and overall responsibility
for the health and welfare of the British Empire was
once again rebuffed by King. Canada was looking in
different directions for future development and
cooperation. The United States and Canadian economies
had become considerably more intertwined and business
across the boarder was to produce the largest trading
partnership in the world. Canada was also looking
towards real support of the new version of he League of
Nations, the United Nations. It was in the UN and with
the U.S. as a superpower that, Canada confidently choose
to throw its support behind, expecting real
international security and peace. This marked a decisive
turning point in the history of Canada and another step
in along the road to full independence and autonomy,
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