W

War Measures Act

A Canadian statute, it was enacted during the very early stages of World War I giving the government the right to bypass the normal legislative process, suspend habeas corpus and deport without trial. German and Austrian immigrants were forced to carry special ID and report in at regular intervals. During World War II, 6414 orders were made under the War Measures Act. In 1970, Prime Minister Trudeau invoked the act once again to deal with the October Crisis in Quebec.

Treaty of Washington (1871)

This treaty was between the U.S. and Great Britain (including Canada) whereby the U.S. demanded compensation for the damage inflicted during the American Civil War by Confederate raiders using arms manufactured in Britain together with arbitration of the boundary south of Vancouver Island and the possession of San Juan. The U.S. secured compensation and a favourable settlement of the boundary question while Canada under Macdonald was given free navigation rights to the rivers of Alaska. This was crucial for the Hudson’s Bay Company’s survival and in exchange, the U.S. was given free use of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Fishing and trade agreements were also negotiated between the two bordering countries.

Homer Watson (1855-1936)

An important Canadian artist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Watson was the son of a mill owner in the village of Doon, Ontario (now a southern suburb of the city of Kitchener). Watson is among the best known Canadian landscape artists in the generation before the Group of Seven. After living in New York for two years after 1875, he came under the influence of the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, but during his lifetime he experimented with many different styles. Watson founded the Canadian Art Club in 1907 and served as its first president for four years. He died in Doon in 1936.

The Statute of Westminster, 1931

The statute of Westminster marked the full independence of Canada as a nation, while redefining the relationship between Britain and Canada as well as the other dominions such as Australia. This statute, passed by the British government on December 11, 1931, is usually seen as the document which established the ground work for the transformation of the British empire into the British Commonwealth. The statute effectively changed the nature of dominion status from semi-autonomous colony to independent nation.

Eunice Williams (1696-1785)

Eunice was seven when she and other family members were kidnapped by French and Mohawk forces and taken to New France. Adopted by a Mohawk family, Eunice later repeatedly refused to rejoin her Puritan family in New England. She married a Mohawk and today her Iroquois descendants live in Kahnawake and St. Regis, Quebec.

Winnipeg General Strike (1919)

The workers in the building and metal trades went on strike when their employers refused to negotiate a collective bargaining procedure or to raise wages. Although the strike was peaceful, the government intervened by bringing in special police to break up the strike. One spectator was killed and 30 injured, the strike was over and their leaders were jailed. The strike became a political issue and one of its leaders was elected in the provincial elections of 1920 and the following year, J.S. Woodsworth became the first socialist member of the federal House of Commons representing Winnipeg.

Major-General James Wolfe (1727-1759)

James Wolfe was born in Westerham, Kent, England in 1727. He entered the army at the age of 14, and served with distinction throughout the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-47) and the Scottish campaign of 1746. At this time, only nobles usually served as officers, as promotions were not won by merit, but were bought and sold as property, and an officer=s commission cost a considerable sum of money. However, Wolfe not only had the necessary social connections, but was also a very talented commander. During the Seven Years War, in 1757, he was name second in command under Major General Jeffrey Amherst, British commander in chief in North America. Wolfe's competence in the siege and capture (1758) of the French fortress of Louisbourg, in what is now the province of Nova Scotia, earned him promotion to major general and the command of a military and naval expedition against Québec. In the decisive battle on the Plains of Abraham, Wolfe was killed, although not before his army had won the victory.

James Shaver Woodsworth (1874-1942)

He was a Methodist minister, social worker and politician. Touted as a spokesperson for the disadvantaged, he was sympathetic to the strikers during the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919. He criticized conscription and resigned his ministry as a protest against the Church’s support for the war. He was founder and President of the CCF. Seen as a man with a conscience, Woodsworth was the only MP to vote against Canada’s involvement in World War II.