Canada, the Second Great War, and the Future
| DOI | 10.1177/002070204600100201 |
| Published date | 01 April 1946 |
| Date | 01 April 1946 |
| Author | A.R.M. Lower |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Canada,
the
Second
Great
War,
and
the
Future
A.R.M.
Lower
A
n
attempt
to
survey
the
effects
of
the war
on
Canada
so
soon
after
its
conclusion
seems
bold
to
the
point
of
being
foolhardy,
but
since
this
is
the
task
which
has been
assigned
to
me,
I
shall
essay
it,
asking
the
reader's
indulgence.
Any
conclusions
one
draws
must
be
tentative
and
except
in certain
tangible
matters,
subjective.
Everybody
is
at
liberty
to
make
his
own
estimate
of
the
effects
of
the
war
on Canada,
and
the
one
that
follows
has
no
claim
to
being
definitive.
There are
many
material
aspects
of
the war
which
can
be
set
out
fairly
easily
and
upon
which
there
is
probably
no
great
difference
of
opinion.
Canadian productive
capacity,
both
in
industry
and
agriculture,
has
been
enormously increased.
Just
as
after the
last
war
a
permanent
extension
of
industrial
capacity occurred,
so
it,
may
be
expected
that
after
this,
the
scale
of
industry
in
Canada
will
be
considerably
greater
than
before.
The
two
wars
together
have
turned
us
from
a
country
with
a
dominantly
rural
background
to
one
with
a
dominantly
urban.
This
has
brought
its
logical
social
accompaniment
in
the
increase
in
the
strength
of
trade
unionism. Ours
is
no
longer
the
simple
economy
that
it
used
to
be,
but
it still
remains
true
that
it
is
anything
but
self-contained.
If
not
quite
the
simple
staple-trade
structure
of
a
generation
ago,
it
is
still
precariously
dependent
upon
forces
and controls
outside
itself.
Increase
in
industrial
complexity
has
not
been contained
within
the
traditional
grooves,
for
in
the
war
the
state
played
a
dominant
r6le.
The
second
war
placed Canada
on
a
basis
of
state
socialism.
The
state
was
by
long odds
the
most
important
force
in
Canadian
life,
private
initiative
being almost
entirely
subordinated
to
state
policy.
The
state
dominated
every
aspect
of
industry,
finance,
and production.
Whether
Canadians
*
liked
it
or
not-and
most
of
them
seemed
to like
it-during
the
war
Canada
lived
under
an almost
completely socialist r6gime.
A
leading
aspect
of
control
lay
in
finance.
Wherever
the
97
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