Trek to Ottawa

In June of 1935, representatives from the “Trek to Ottawa” met with Prime Minister Borden on Parliament Hill. The Trek was born in the relief camps built by the Canadian government, which were intended to provide labour for unemployed single men. The camps, run by the military, paid as little as twenty cents per day and proved to be an unsatisfactory solution for the thousands of men they housed. The men organized demonstrations, strikes and sit-ins to bring the attention of the public to their situation. This attention was largely negative and the camps were often regarded as centres of communist and criminal activity. On April 5th, in Vancouver, 1000 workers headed east to confront the government directly. Gathering strength as it moved eastward, the march was halted in Regina by the RCMP for the government. Eight delegates were brought to meet with Prime Minister Borden. The meeting was not a success for the eight delegates and upon their return to Regina, a riot broke out in which several marchers and an RCMP officer were killed (Horn, 1972, pp. 307-310).