Political Party and Leader

Solution Tried or Advocated

Reason for Success or Failure

Liberal Party (King)

Business led recovery, so the Liberals did nothing at this time

He did nothing, and the economy worsened

Conservative Party (Bennett)

Unemployment Relief Act

Work (relief) groups

New Deal programs of Prairie Frame Rehabilitation, the Canadian Wheat Board, the Natural Products Marketing Board, and the Bank of Canada Act

Administered by a variety of organizations, not enough money, by 1932, 1.5 million people were on relief

Not enough money, poor food, and untrained staff led to unrest and a riot in Regina

Much of this legislation faced court challenges; Bennett lost the election, but many of the programs exist today

Liberal Party (King)

Closes work camps

They were not working

Social Credit (Aberhart)

$25/month dividend to each Albertan

The Credit of Alberta Regulation Act to protect banks

Prosperity certificates were not accepted instead of cash; it did not work

The federal government intervened and declared the act (and several others) null and void

CCF (Woodsworth)

State-sponsored medical care, welfare, and unemployment insurance, and government ownership of key industries

Never elected to introduce the legislation, but these policies were adopted by other parties

Union Nationale (Duplessis)

Regulate monopolies, improve conditions for farmers and workers

Padlock Law (close buildings used to propagate communism)

Dropped ideas

Chilled civil liberties

Communist Party (Buck)

Capitalism not able to provides basic needs

Not elected – he was, in fact, jailed