Monday, December 30, 2013

Bennett's New Deal

Evaluate the effectiveness of Bennett's proposed New Deal programs in Canada.  Was it possible for Bennett to remain a conservative and propose similar programs to FDR?  How were his programs received by his constituents and how did they effect the election of 1935?

7 comments:

  1. Bennett's proposed New Deal programs in Canada was not as effective as he said because he didn't realize the actual purposes of New Deal until it was late. It was impossible for Bennett to remain a conservative and propose similar programs to FDR because Bennett proposed New Deal because he was hugely affected by FDR, but he didn't realize the serious problems of Canadian depression. Another reason why Bennett was strongly proposing New Deal was probably because it was closer to the time of election, and he knew if he didn't make a big change in order to be able to hold the spotlight so he can continue in office.

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  2. Bennett's effectiveness of proposed New Deal programs in Canada was obviously not effective because "Bennett's New Deal proposals were ambitious and far reaching. Had they been fully implemented they might have extended the role of federal government along the lines of of the US New Deal." I think it might have been hard for Bennett to remain a conservative and propose similar programs to FDR because, "The Reconstruction Party won only one seat, but did attain almost nine percent of the vote, which hurt the Conservatives. I definitely agree with Andrew in that why Bennett was strongly proposing the New Deal was because the time of the election of 1935.

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  3. One of Bennett's downfalls was that he realized too late that, “the economy would not solve its own problems.” I believe that is was difficult for Bennett to remain conservative in order to propose similar programs as FDR because conservatives believe that the government should take a hands off approach. Bennett's constituents were shocked to learn of his conversion,“apparently his cabinet colleagues were [just] as surprised [as]the general public; he had not discussed his conversion with any of them.” His programs affected the election of 1935 because Bennett was blamed for the depression and, “Bennett failed to act on the recommendation of the commission investigating the business practices... Stevens resigned from the government and formed the Reconstruction Party. Stevens [became] very popular... Bennett should perhaps have made more of an effort to appease him.”

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  4. It didnt really say how his New Deal measures affected the symptoms of the Depression (and I'm sure even then its still a matter of opinion). As a conservative, no, he could not say he was because he made the federal government too involved and the people too dependent on it. As for the election of 1935 the Conservative Party was dealt a major blow, almost getting wiped out in the House of Commons. This was all seen as a repercussion of Bennett's actions to implement more government control.

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  6. Bennet realized that the economy would not figure itself out and he would have to implement some type of plan to fix it. Although he was traditionally a conservative, he knew that something had to be done in order to solve the problem. It was probably hard to remain conservative considering he was making changes. But his other views do not necessarily mean that he isn't allowed to make changes without being a conservative. He can still keep his other beliefs, but for a problem that needed some benefactors it had to be done. He was viewed by his constituents poorly because of his decision to make change. The Conservative Party's reputation suffered because of his decision for more government control. But it was a necessary sacrifice in order for the economy to rebuild.

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  7. After I read these readings, I think Bennett decided to propose very similar programs to FDR (that is how we see how Canada depended on the US still somehow) but it did not work in Canada since the US and Canada are very different nations. Bennett's "New Deal" promised a more progressive taxation system, a maximum work week, a minimum wage, closer regulation of working conditions, unemployment insurance etc... which was very interesting and good; but even though it is true he tried as I said in my last post (at least at the end of his leadership), he completely failed. Canadiens did not like him at all since he was making worse the nation and unemployment was increasing a lot more. They also did not want to see anymore the inaction of the federal government therefore they did not vote for him.

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