Prohibition in Canada
- Laws passed by the Federal and Provincial governments preventing:
- first passed by Prince Edward Island in 1901
- the remaining provinces, the Yukon, and Northwest Territories passed Prohibition into law in 1916
- The Canadian government controlled the making and trading of liquor.
- In March 1918 it stopped, for the rest of the war, its manufacture and importation into provinces where purchase was illegal.
- The high point of prohibition in Canada was reached in the early 1920s when imports from the outside were again cut off by provincial votes.
- Production of alcohol diverted valuable resources away from the war effort (sugar, energy, and grain)
- More important force was the "Temperence" movement, an organization who saw alcohol as a cause of social problems in Canada.
- Temperence movements were lead mainly by women.
- It gave women organizational skills that they used later to get the vote.
- Alcohol related social problems had a great impact on women and children:
- paychecks were spent by alcoholic husbands
- alcohol induced accidents and alcoholism cost men jobs
- dependents suffered from domestic violence linked to alcohol
- Although enforcement was difficult, drunkenness and associated crimes declined.
- However, illicit stills and home-brewed "moonshine" increased.
- Bootlegging (smuggling of alcohol) rose dramatically, as did the number of unlawful drinking places known as "speakeasies" or "blind pigs."
- Much inferior booze hit the streets, but good liquor was readily available since its manufacture was permitted after the war.
- One way to drink legally was to be "ill," for doctors could give prescriptions to be filled at drugstores.
- Québec rejected prohibition as early as 1919
- Tourists flocked to "historic old Québec" to buy alcohol
- The provincial government reaped huge profits from the sale of booze.
- Alcohol from Quebec could be legally purchased and shipped to other provinces
- In 1920 BC voted against prohibition and by the following year some alcoholic beverages were legally sold there and in the Yukon through government stores.
- Manitoba - 1923
- Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1924
- Newfoundland in 1925
- Ontario and New Brunswick in 1927
- Nova Scotia in 1930.
- Prince Edward Island in 1948.
- By constitutional amendment, the US was under even stricter prohibition than was Canada from 1920 to 1933.
- The manufacture, sale, and transportation of all beer, wines, and spirits were forbidden there.
- Liquor legally produced in or imported into Canada was exported legally under Canadian law to the US.
- Smuggling, often accompanied by violence, erupted in border areas and along the coastlines.
- Organized crime used violence and spread corruption in order to control the alcohol trade.
- Groups such as the Purple Gang (Detroit) and Al Capone (Chicago) often exterminated their rivals.
- Women were expert smugglers and transporters. Some would hide a flask in their garters and some attached bottles to their hips.
- Alcohol was transported hidden in eggs, fruit, cough syrup, cleanser, and garbage.
- Rum-running is the business of smuggling or transporting of alcoholic beverages during Prohibition.
- The term usually applies to transport of goods over water, over land it is commonly referred to as bootlegging (as the alcohol was often smuggled in flasks carried along the legs or hidden in high boots).
Rum-runners often made the trip through Canada across the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway, and down the west coast to San Fransico and Los Angeles.
· The French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, located south of Newfoundland, were an important base used by well-known smugglers including Al Capone and Bill McCoy.
- Smugglers used high-speed boats that were often luxury yachts and speedboats fitted with powerful aircraft engines, machine guns, and armor plating.
- Rum-runners often kept cans of used engine oil handy to pour on hot exhaust manifolds, in case a smoke screen was needed to escape the revenue ships.
- Add to that the fact that a rum-running captain could make several hundred thousand dollars a year.
- In comparison, the Coast Guard Commander made just $6,000 annually, and seamen made $30/week.
- These huge rewards meant the rum-runners were willing to take big risks.
- The automobile also allowed "moonshiners" (homebrewed alcohol) and "bootleggers" (smugglers) to flourish
- Cars were outfitted to carry heavy loads of alcohol and to outrun the police
- These cars and drivers often raced, and eventually gave birth to stock car racing
- Was the Canadian government sincere in its pursuit of the prohibition of alcohol or were they just following a global trend (the example of the Americans perhaps)? Why or why not? Provide specific examples.
- What were the consequences of prohibition? How do prohibition's consequences still impact us today?
- Ethical Dimension: Is social morality a good basis to build laws around? Can you think of examples (good and bad) where morality is at work in Canadian laws?
What is Prohibition?
The Questions
Why Ban Alcohol?
Moonshiners and Bootleggers
The Effect?
Not Quite the End....
Rum Running