Given the theme of “GAG30” (ie. Star Trek) and the trek to Ottawa by protesters in early 2022, it seemed appropriate to recognize another historic “trek” to our city some 87 years ago – the “ON TO OTTAWA TREK” of 1935. Below is a CBC report of the event.
“On July 1, 1935, the simmering tensions of the Great Depression boiled over in Canada as police and jobless protesters clashed in the streets of Regina. When it was over, one policeman was dead, 40 protesters and five citizens were wounded, and 130 men were arrested. The city was a ruin, the sidewalks covered in broken glass.
It was Canada's worst riot during the Depression.
The Regina Riot was the culmination of months of protests as thousands of unemployed men moved across the country in what became known at the "On To Ottawa Trek." The men wanted to coerce the federal government into finding them jobs. The trek originated on the West Coast as a local demonstration. In April 1935, fifteen-hundred men from British Columbia relief camps went on strike and congregated in Vancouver.
The men resented the federal work camps set up at the height of the Depression to offer jobless single men subsistence living. Men earned 20 cents a day for a 44-hour workweek in the remote camps spread around the country.
In Vancouver, strikers held demonstrations and elicited support from other citizens. Vancouver women held a picnic to raise money for the strikers - 20,000 people attended. It was a signal to Prime Minister Bennett that it was time to take care of Canada’s poor.
But the Prime Minister was blind to the message and virtually ignored the protests.
By early June, discouraged by their lack of progress, strike leaders decided to move the protest to Ottawa. One thousand strikers peacefully commandeered freight trains and began the "On to Ottawa Trek."
There was a growing militancy along the way. In Calgary, the strikers demanded three days of relief assistance from the city. A meeting with the mayor had the air of intimidation, as the mayor and government officials were pinned in city hall by the crowd of desperate men.
The protesters seemed unstoppable; everywhere they went, momentum grew as the strikers picked up hundreds more recruits. They made stops in Calgary, Medicine Hat, Swift Current and Moose Jaw and by the time they reached Regina their numbers had doubled to 2,000.
In Regina, the federal government forbade the railways to take the men any further.
Prime Minister Bennett finally agreed to meet with a delegation of strikers but the meeting ended badly as both sides exchanged words. The delegation returned to Regina having decided to disband the trek.
Meanwhile Bennett was determined to arrest the leaders
On July 1 several hundred strikers were meeting in Regina's Market Square to discuss strategy when they were suddenly interrupted. A shrill whistle blasted out a signal. The backs of vans were opened and out poured the Mounties, each armed with a baseball bat. In less than four minutes Market Square was a mass of writhing, groaning forms, like a battlefield.
The strikers erected barricades and threw stones, and the Mounties retaliated with their .38 revolvers.
The "On to Ottawa Trek" was over. The men dispersed, were jailed or slowly returned to the work camps. Bennett had won, but his reputation suffered. Within months his government would be voted out of office.”
Back to 2022 …
To claim a find for this Virtual cache, visit the plaque at the posted coordinates, take a picture of it or some other unique feature of this lovely and historical locale that also shows something with your geocaching name on it (eg. a piece of paper, card, phone, etc.) and include this photo in your log.
Enjoy your visit to our delightful village.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.