HIST 203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Drafter, Middle Power, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Lecture 9 – May 16th
Social Welfare
Study Questions
• Why was the Canadian welfare state not better planned or coordinated?
• How were Federal-provincial relations rocked in the postwar era?
• How did Canadian-American relations evolve during the Cold War?
Postwar Liberal Consensus
• State to regulate capitalism and provide social programs but not eliminate the latter
no over reach with the former
• Liberalism once meant freedom from state intervention, now emphasized freedom
from want
• Welfare state inaugurated gradually and in a piece-meal fashion
o Collection of federal and provincial programs
o Minimum wages and programs for wage increase, were included in the
definition
• 1945-1972 saw the gradual piece by piece establishment of the welfare state
• Provided social insurance for most Canadians
• Cost-sharing
• Primary goal was to help Canadians, but not redistribute wealth or income
• Liberal party dominated the period after the second world war and before the
1980s
o Despite this dominance of Liberal prime ministers, Liberal’s barely got %
of the popular vote
o Liberals continue to operate the center of the political spectrum
o Little to distinguish between Liberal and Conservative, as they both wanted
to establish a welfare state
• Ongoing support of Quebec
Early Approaches to Welfare
• Planning for postwar reconstruction as a major catalyst for the welfare state
• Fear of similar social unrest that followed WWI and of Great Depression-like
conditions
• For Ottawa, threat of the CCF’s rising popularity
o The push for reform
o CCF – socialist party, popular in the West
▪ Cooperative Commonwealth Federation
o Was weak in Quebec and the Maritimes, grew stronger the more west you
went
• King decided to implement many reforms
Leonard Marsh Report
• The report offered 3 main things:
o 1) A broad overview of existing Social Security legislation and practice
▪ Both the federal and provincial levels of government
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o 2) Suggestions for improvement and expansion of these programs
o 3) Argued for the creation of a planned, integrated, and comprehensive
system of Social Security
• Children's allowances
• No need for publicly funded daycares, didn’t challenge the male breadwinner,
female domestic sphere model of this time
• Government paid little attention to this report
• Most of the ideas for Social Security were implemented later on – this report could
be considered as the blue print for what began Canada’s SS program later on
Saskatchewan Election
• 1944
• Changed King’s thinking as the CCF wiped out the long serving Liberal party
• The election was very much centered on social services, voting for an expansion of
the state
• Gave the CCF its first elected government – was a provincial one
o Was the first socialist government in North America
• Dynamic leader Tommy Douglas
Tommy Douglas
• Born in Scotland 1904
• Immigrated to Winnipeg, then moved to Saskatchewan after entering the Baptist
Ministry
o Witnessed the devastation of the Depression and its effects of farmers
• Elected in the House of Commons in 1935
• Would resign his seat to lead the CCF in Saskatchewan in 1944 victory
• Would pioneer many social welfare programs
o Including hospital care and medical insurance, which would eventually be
implemented nationally
• Premier of Saskatchewan until he resigned in 1961 to become the first leader of the
New Democratic Party (NDP)
• Mouse Land voice clip
o Not a typical politician
Mackenzie King’s Welfare
• After the 1945 election, Mackenzie King tabled a comprehensive national program
to care for the old, the sick, and the unemployed
• Ottawa suggested it would require exclusive rights to income and corporate taxes
• The provinces argued that they could not surrender all major taxes and still fulfill
their responsibilities
• After 9 months of meetings, talks collapsed
o Any notion of a comprehensive SS plan was abandoned
o They system grew haphazardly in response to the political winds of the day
Veterans Benefits
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
1980s to establish a welfare state: ongoing support of quebec. Immigrated to winnipeg, then moved to saskatchewan after entering the baptist. New democratic party (ndp: mouse land voice clip, not a typical politician. In the years following the war, more than 90% of canadian children were receiving: family allowances act of 1944 monthly benefits through their mothers at an average rate of a month per. Health care: saskatchewan introduced medicare in 1962, prepaid, universal, and publicly managed physician care, this initiative was to compliment hospitals, 1950s, organized medicine in saskatchewan became more opposed to universality. Issues were the control of billing and the payment process were worried it would: emphasized universal coverage, central administration, liability affect the quality of care. Canada and the united states: louis st. laurent. The (cid:498)diefenbunkers(cid:499) organization: canada strongly supported that nato become an economic and cultural, house of commons approved the treaty nato came into existence in april.
