On-to-Ottawa Trek
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Image:Kamloops on to Ottawa.jpg The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a protest movement in Canada during the Great Depression by the poor and unemployed. Its goal was to travel from the Interior of BC to the capital city of Ottawa to show their displeasure with working conditions. These protestors climbed aboard Eastbound trains on June 3 and 4th, 1935. The protest was halted, however, before it could reach the capital. In Regina, the RCMP confined the protestors in a local stadium. Only the eight leaders of the protest were actually allowed to proceed to Ottawa, where they were granted a meeting with Prime Minister R.B. Bennett. Bennett attacked the group as radicals, and eventually had the delegation hustled out of his office. Upon returning to Regina to unite with the rest of the protestors, they organized large public rallies, which broke out into riots when the Federal government deployed police to break up the rallies and arrest the leaders. Two people were killed and several injured. The most notable effect of this incident was to effectively destroy any chance for Bennett to be reelected in the 1935 general election, as well as increasing the popularity of the Communist Party of Canada, which was behind the organization of the Trek. When the trek was over the government provided free transportation as a peace sign back to the camps. They were also no longer run in military fashion because they were handed over to the provinces. The pay rates also improved. The trek did get many of the things the protesters were looking for, so it was somewhat successful.
