
Times of Transformation
The 1921 Canadian General Election
Barbara J. Messamore(Author)
University of British Columbia Press
Published on 1. April 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
366 pages
978-0-7748-7059-7 (ISBN)
Description
Times of Transformation positions the watershed 1921 federal election in the context of activist efforts and the revolutionary mood in the years following the Great War. New Liberal leader William Lyon Mackenzie King, who went on to become Canada's longest-serving prime minister, came to power, with his party capturing every Quebec seat. This election brought many Canadian firsts: the first post-Confederation minority government, the first time women were eligible to vote on terms equal to men, and the first effective fracturing of the two-party system, with the establishment of a federal Labour party and the dramatic rise of the Progressives.
These changes had been brewing before the end of the war. The Progressive party owed its success to the increased politicization of farmers and the concerns of the western voting base. Suffrage came after a decades-long battle for political rights for women. Labour strikes swept the nation in the post-Great War era, and a new national Labour party gained Commons representation. In short, this election manifested long-building forces for change and the global zeitgeist of postwar disillusionment and hope.
These changes had been brewing before the end of the war. The Progressive party owed its success to the increased politicization of farmers and the concerns of the western voting base. Suffrage came after a decades-long battle for political rights for women. Labour strikes swept the nation in the post-Great War era, and a new national Labour party gained Commons representation. In short, this election manifested long-building forces for change and the global zeitgeist of postwar disillusionment and hope.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Vancouver
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
13 b&w photos, 3 tables, 2 maps
Dimensions
Height: 213 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7748-7059-7 (9780774870597)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Barbara J. Messamore is a professor of history and department chair at the University of the Fraser Valley. She is the author of Canada's Governors General, 1847-1878 and coauthor of Narrating a Nation: Canadian History Post-Confederation and Conflict and Compromise: Pre-Confederation Canada. She cofounded and edited the Journal of Historical Biography and is president of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada.
Content
Foreword: Turning Point Elections and the Case of the 1921 Election / Gerald Baier and R. Kenneth Carty
Preface
Introduction
1 The 1921 Results
2 Farmers' Grievances and Early Organization
3 Tariffs, Trade, and the Economy
4 Disappointed Hopes
5 War and Transformation in Farmer Politics
6 An Uneasy Peace
7 The Growing Power of Labour
8 The Winnipeg General Strike and Labour in Federal Politics
9 New Times, New Parties
10 Economic Troubles and Auguries of Change
11 The Fight for Suffrage
12 A Long Battle Won
13 Winning and Losing Quebec
14 The Electoral Process
15 The 1921 Campaign Underway
16 Election Day and After
Appendix 1: List of Key Players
Appendix 2: Timeline of Events
Notes; Suggestions for Further Reading; Index
Preface
Introduction
1 The 1921 Results
2 Farmers' Grievances and Early Organization
3 Tariffs, Trade, and the Economy
4 Disappointed Hopes
5 War and Transformation in Farmer Politics
6 An Uneasy Peace
7 The Growing Power of Labour
8 The Winnipeg General Strike and Labour in Federal Politics
9 New Times, New Parties
10 Economic Troubles and Auguries of Change
11 The Fight for Suffrage
12 A Long Battle Won
13 Winning and Losing Quebec
14 The Electoral Process
15 The 1921 Campaign Underway
16 Election Day and After
Appendix 1: List of Key Players
Appendix 2: Timeline of Events
Notes; Suggestions for Further Reading; Index