Discussion Questions
February 12, 2020
- What was the Wartime Elections Act? What was its role in the conscription crisis?
- What does the Wartime Elections Act and the election of 1917 tell us about Canadian nativism during WWI? (Be certain that you understand the term nativism for the readings)
- What were the divisions in Canadian society created (or highlighted) by the conscription crisis of 1917?
- Why is Gavel’s contribution to the study of the crisis important?
- Why hasn’t the internment story of WWI become more visible in Canada? Was this aspect of the home front experience in Canada surprising? If so, why? If not, why not?
- Is a national wartime memory invariably selective? If so, why? What might be examples of that selectiveness?
- How are we to interpret the labour unrest in Hamilton? What does it tell us about wartime unity?
- How do these readings connect with the readings of previous weeks? What are some connections between them?
- Overall, what is the picture of Canada that emerges during wartime?