Canada was a very young nation at the beginning of the war. Alberta and Saskatchewan had been provinces less than a decade. The most recent census, in 1911, showed a total population of 7.21 million. Some 1.59 million, or 28 per cent, had been born in other countries, including 834,229, or 11.5 per cent, in Britain. Physically, the country was united by a couple of railway lines. But little sense of shared nationalism existed, and many recent immigrants felt more loyalty to their mother countries, which included nations on both sides of the European conflict.

Nevertheless, Canada was automatically at war when King George V of Great Britain made a declaration of war on behalf of all British subjects. Canada was part of the British Empire and Britain's declaration of war meant that all the empire was also at war. If no one consulted the Canadian people, most Canadians accepted that situation.

For assistance in exploring the
site, please proceed to the
User Information page.

If you have any comments,
questions, or suggestions,
please contact us at ler@chinookmultimedia.com.

This website and its contents
are the intellectual property of
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum.

Any reproduction of any part of
the site to which copyright laws
apply without the consent of
the owners is strictly prohibited.

© 2000 The Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum
Site last revised 27 December2001.

Edmonton web design by
Chinook Multimedia Inc

Canada; An Illustrated Weekly Journal, 22 August 1914. © Chinook Multimedia, Inc.

"Watching."

Canada, the young lion and first Dominion, is shown standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the mother country, ready to defend the empire.

"The Call to Arms," by Fane Sewell.

English Canadians viewed the Great War as a clear call to duty and demanded that other groups respond in a similar manner. For example, Canada expected enemy aliens to renounce their mother countries.

French Canada, though less enthusiastic, was not strongly opposed to the war. Laurier, now Leader of the Opposition, declared that Canada was fighting a just war for England and France. He would "offer no criticism… so long as there is danger at the front."(1) Canada had a duty to assist the mother country. Even the brilliant journalist and French-Canadian nationalist Henri Bourassa offered qualified support for the war effort so long as Canada acted in its own self-interest, sending food and supplies to Europe, but not troops.

Robert Borden, the Prime Minister, also believed that Canada's interests were linked to those of Britain. He pledged "to put forth every effort and to make every sacrifice necessary to ensure the integrity and maintain the honour of our Empire." Canada's participation could be fulfilled through voluntary measures: the government would not conscript men into the army to fight. Nor would Ottawa have to control the country's war effort.

Nevertheless, the government did pass the War Measures Act, legislation modelled very closely on a British statute, in August 1914. It gave the government the authority to undertake any action seen as necessary "for the security, defence, peace, order and welfare of Canada." Its sweeping powers included total control over transportation, trade and commerce, and property; censorship of the means of communication, notably newspapers; and the right to arrest and deport perceived enemies. Already, support for the war effort and the Canadian military was changing the nature of Canada.

Letter from Lieutenant-Colonel W.A. Griesbach to Miss Edna Clarke, 9 April 1915.

Griesbach tells a little girl the reasons why her father must go to Europe to fight the war.

War Measures Act