1. Explain how Canada’s decision to go to war in WWII was different than WWI.

For starters, Canada was no longer obligated to join Britain in on war like they were in World War One. So when Britain and France declared war on Germany, it was ultimately Canada’s decision due to their autonomous rights. Because of this, Prime Minister Mackenzie King had a special meeting of Parliament to decide if Canada would enter the war. There were several officials in favor of supporting Britain in the choice to join the war such as King, Ernest Lapointe (Quebec), and the opposition Conservative Party. However, many made it very clear that conscription should not be an option this time and King, realizing how divided Canada was after WWI, promised that “no such measure shall be enacted.” With all of this discussion, it was only Woodsworth (leader of the CCF) that felt Canada should stay neutral but no one supported this idea and a vote was taken in favor of the war. Canada officially declared war on Germany on September 10, 1939.

2. What were the BCATP and CD Howe’s Total War economy?

The BCATP, also known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, was a program to train pilots and aircrew during World War Two. This plan produced half of all the Commonwealth aircrew and is the largest air training program in history. Canada had agreed to host and run this program so King didn’t have to run into the problem of conscription if Canada was to provide many troops. Those who came to train in this plan were trained by British instructors and used old refitted aircraft’s on Airfields that were built in the prairies for training.

With the federal government in control of planning and controlling the economy due to the demands of total war, there was an industrialist named C.D. Howe who was put in charge. Howe was given authority to do whatever necessary in preparing the economy to meet the wartime demands. This meant that he could tell industries what to produce and how to do so as well as convince many business leaders to make goods that they never had before. In no time, Vancouver was building ships for the navy, Montreal was constructing new planes and bombers, and our car industries were producing military vehicles and tanks. There were also munition factories opened in Ontario and Quebec. Farmers were given the task to produce more wheat, beef, dairy products, and other food. If someone could not produce what they were told to, he would create Crown corporations to do the job instead and basically had power over many at the time.

3. Come up with a statement that best describes Canada’s attitude towards WWII and support it by referring to the evidence from the class and the textbook.

Upon looking at the evidence, most of Canada seemed very open to the idea of supporting Britain in WW2 through the vote to join the war, their willingness to provide opportunities in training, and Canadians taking action across the country to produce wartime demands and boost the economy.