Prohibition in Canada
Encyclopedia
The temperance movement
reached its height in Canada
in the 1920s, when outside imports were cut off by provincial referendum
s. As legislation prohibiting consumption of alcohol was repealed, it was typically replaced with regulation restricting the sale of alcohol to minors and imposing excise taxes on alcoholic products.
was mostly spurred on by the efforts of people of the temperance movement
to close all drinking establishments, which they viewed as the source of societal ills and misery. The main temperance organizations at the time was the Dominion Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Traffic. They believed that poverty, crime, disease and domestic abuse would stop in dry mankind. Baptist, Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists all strongly believed in prohibition as well and campaigned for it in the beginning of the 19th century and continued throughout the rest of the century.
The Dominion Alliance submitted a memorial, or a written statement of principles, to the nineteenth session of the Huron Diocese's Anglican Synod in 1876. In it they stated:
Some legislative steps toward prohibition were taken in the nineteenth century. The passage of the Canada Temperance Act (1864), also called the Dunkin Act
, in the Canadas allowed any county to forbid the sale of liquor by majority vote. Due to some loopholes in the legislation, the sale of liquor for ‘sacramental’ or ‘medicinal’ usage being legal, doctors prescribed “medicinal pints”, while Catholics and Jews used liquor for ritual use.
A few years after Confederation
, the Canada Temperance Act
was enacted by the Parliament of Canada
in 1878, which provided an option for municipalities to opt-in by plebiscite to a prohibitionist scheme. It was often known as the Scott Act for its sponsor Sir Richard William Scott
.
An official, but non-binding, federal referendum on prohibition
was held in 1898, receiving 51.3% for and 48.7% against prohibition on a voter turnout of 44%. Prohibition had a majority in all provinces
except Quebec
, where a strong 81.2% voted against it. Despite this national electoral majority, Prime Minister
Wilfrid Laurier
's government chose not to introduce a federal bill on prohibition, mindful of the strong antipathy in Quebec. As a result, Canadian prohibition was instead enacted through laws passed by the provinces during the first twenty years of the 20th century.
Prince Edward Island
was the first to bring in prohibition in 1901. Alberta
and Ontario
passed prohibition laws in 1916. Quebec implemented prohibition in 1919 but it was quickly repealed after intense public pressure.
The drinking of alcohol within Canada in the early twentieth century was widespread. The prohibition movement blanketed the public media in the early twentieth century with the majority of those who drank alcohol doing so in saloons. Prohibition affected a wide variety of people. Alcohol was believed to be used for workers, travelers, nursing mothers, and children to keep strong, keep the cold and heat away and used for medicine and tonic.
The push for the dry movement was done primarily by Protestant churches but was never as simple as a Protestant-Catholic issue. The only province that was under prohibition before 1914 was Prince Edward Island
but some municipalities across Canada had gone dry under provincial local option. World War One became the driving force behind the “banning of the bar,” but similar in influence were the crusading spirit of the Social Gospel and the effective arguments of progressivism. In late 1917 the federal Union government prohibited importation of alcohol of more than 2.5 per-cent into Canada
as well as the shipping of alcohol into a province under prohibition and announced a ban on production. National prohibition was the first and last attempt to impose national standards on the production, distribution, and consumption of alcohol.
Prohibition was able to reach success as a result of World War One because it was seen as necessary and natural because of the benefits of the soldiers so that the country they returned to was a better place. The argument was also raised that this would benefit the war effort as well because it would prevent waste and potential inefficiency. Former opponents of prohibition became silenced; provinces began to implement the concept of prohibition. Following the election of 1917 the federal government introduced national prohibition by Order-in-Council on April 1, 1918. Due to an idea for wartime domestic reform, prohibition became part of the War Measures Act
in 1918.
Constitutionally Provincial Governments had responsibilities for Aboriginal peoples but they used the prohibition movement, primarily the liquor laws as a way to define Aboriginals. Rules for the retail selling of alcohol were primarily a provincial responsibility. This came to be following the adoption of government control after Canada’s experience with prohibition during the First World War.
were exempted from closure, and various breweries and distilleries
remained open for the export market. In London, Ontario, Harry Low and his group of rum-runners bought the Carling Brewery, while the Labatt family left the operations to the manager Edmund Burke. The fact that the "export" might be by small boat from Windsor
across the river to Detroit only helped the province's economy (see also Canadian Rum Running). Rum-running was alive and well in other provinces.
narrowly defeated the repeal of the Ontario Temperance Act
the Ontario government of Howard Ferguson
permitted the sale of low alcohol beer and, following its re-election on the platform of repealing the OTA, ended prohibition in 1927 and created the Liquor Control Board of Ontario
, permitting the sale of liquor in the province though under heavy regulation.
Between the years of 1920-1925 five provinces voted to repeal prohibition. The elimination of alcoholic beverages had made a demonstrable difference in society; the jails were becoming emptied in most places, since alcoholic-related offences had contributed to them becoming quite full. The Ontario Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Trade stated that in 1922 that the number of convictions for offences associated with drink had declined from 17,413 in 1914 to 5,413 in 1921, and drunkenness cases had dropped from 16,590 in 1915 to 6,766 in 1921.
The passing of the Liquor Control Act in 1934 allowed anyone who visited Canada to purchase liquor to drink in the privacy of where they were staying and this was effective for thirty days. Following the passing of the Liquor Control Act it allowed for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario
and local liquor inspectors to apply a subjective interpretation of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour which was based upon the community context. The passing of this act allowed for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to enforce who was a bad drinker and who was a good drinker for it was not defined in the Liquor Control Act. Within Ontario the Liquor Control Act was also passed in an effort to emphasize customer service in an effort to limit Bootlegging
. The Liquor Control Act also brought back saloons because now people wanted to be able to drink in the public space and this was an opportunity to bring back anyone who wanted to drink for a social event.
After World War I, opponents of the Liquor Control Act claimed that that too many people were going to ignore the law and drink illegally and that prohibition contributed to the expansion of organized crime and violence. The new slogans were ‘Moderation’ and ‘Government Regulation.’ Moreover, the denominations of Presbyterianism, Methodism, and Congregationalism voted to merge that created a stronger liberal voice. The possibility of new revenue led several provinces to introduce government control on the sale of alcohol and by the mid 1920s prohibition was fighting a losing battle.
Alberta repealed in 1924, along with Saskatchewan
, upon realizing that the laws were unenforceable. Prince Edward Island
was last to repeal in 1948.
Nevertheless, some communities, such as the city of Owen Sound, Ontario
, continued to outlaw liquor well into the 1970s and parts of west Toronto did not permit liquor sales until 2000 due largely to the efforts of William Horace Temple
.
Realizing that they could not stop people from drinking entirely, temperance advocates successfully pressured all provincial and territorial governments to curtail the sale of liquor through the tight control of liquor control boards.
With the Repeal, it is unlikely prohibition would reappear in Canada in the future.
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
reached its height in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the 1920s, when outside imports were cut off by provincial referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
s. As legislation prohibiting consumption of alcohol was repealed, it was typically replaced with regulation restricting the sale of alcohol to minors and imposing excise taxes on alcoholic products.
Origins
ProhibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
was mostly spurred on by the efforts of people of the temperance movement
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
to close all drinking establishments, which they viewed as the source of societal ills and misery. The main temperance organizations at the time was the Dominion Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Traffic. They believed that poverty, crime, disease and domestic abuse would stop in dry mankind. Baptist, Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists all strongly believed in prohibition as well and campaigned for it in the beginning of the 19th century and continued throughout the rest of the century.
The Dominion Alliance submitted a memorial, or a written statement of principles, to the nineteenth session of the Huron Diocese's Anglican Synod in 1876. In it they stated:
- "The Council of the Alliance has agreed to the following principles as a basis to which they most respectfully but earnestly call your attention:
"DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES.
"1. That it is neither right nor politic for the Government to afford legal protection and sanction to any traffic or system that tends to increase crime, to waste the resources of the Dominion, to corrupt the social habits, and to destroy the healths and lives of the people.
"2. That the traffic in intoxicating liquors as common beverages is inimical to the true interests of individuals, and destructive of the order and welfare of society, and ought therefore to be prohibited.
"3. That the history and results of all legislation in regard to the liquor traffic abundantly prove, that it is impossible satisfactorily to limit or regulate a system so essentially mischievous in its tendencies.
"4. That no consideration of private gain or public revenue can justify the upholding of a traffic so thoroughly wrong in principle, so suicidal in policy, and disastrous in its results, as the traffic in intoxicating liquors.
"5. That the Legislative Prohibition of the liquor traffic is perfectly compatible with national liberty, and with the claims of justice and legitimate commerce.
"6. That the Legislative Prohibition of the liquor traffic would be highly conducive to the development of progressive civilization.
"7. That rising above sectarian and party considerations, all good citizens should combine to procure an enactment prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages, as affording the most efficient aid in removing the appalling evils of intemperance."
"There may be differences of opinion in regard to the foregoing particulars, but the Council assures the Christian Body it has now the honor to approach, that the utmost diligence has been exercised in the examination of evidence on all the subjects embraced therein.
"Deeply convinced of the value of the aid of Christian Ministers and Churches, as such, we solicit your co-operation in the efforts now being made to concentrate the moral and religious energies of the Dominion against the liquor traffic.
"Your memorialists most earnestly hope that your counsels may be wisely directed, and that you will take such action in the premises as may strengthen the hands and encourage the hearts of those who have the direction of the Prohibitory Liquor Law movement."
Some legislative steps toward prohibition were taken in the nineteenth century. The passage of the Canada Temperance Act (1864), also called the Dunkin Act
Christopher Dunkin
Christopher Dunkin, PC was a Canadian editor, lawyer, teacher, judge, and politician.Born in Walworth, London, England, the son of Summerhays Dunkin and Martha Hemming, he was educated at the University of London, the University of Glasgow, and Harvard University.He was first elected to the...
, in the Canadas allowed any county to forbid the sale of liquor by majority vote. Due to some loopholes in the legislation, the sale of liquor for ‘sacramental’ or ‘medicinal’ usage being legal, doctors prescribed “medicinal pints”, while Catholics and Jews used liquor for ritual use.
A few years after Confederation
Confederation
A confederation in modern political terms is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign...
, the Canada Temperance Act
Canada Temperance Act
The Canada Temperance Act was an Act of the Parliament of Canada in 1878, which provided for an option for municipalities to opt-in by plebiscite to a prohibitionary scheme...
was enacted by the Parliament of Canada
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
in 1878, which provided an option for municipalities to opt-in by plebiscite to a prohibitionist scheme. It was often known as the Scott Act for its sponsor Sir Richard William Scott
Richard William Scott
Sir Richard William Scott, PC, KC was a Canadian politician and cabinet minister.He was born in Prescott, Ontario in 1825. A lawyer by training, Scott was admitted to the bar in 1848 and established a practice in Bytown...
.
An official, but non-binding, federal referendum on prohibition
Canadian prohibition plebiscite, 1898
A plebiscite on prohibition was held in Canada on 29 September 1898, the first national referendum in the country's history. The non-binding plebiscite saw 51.3% in favour of introducing prohibition, although turnout was only 44%...
was held in 1898, receiving 51.3% for and 48.7% against prohibition on a voter turnout of 44%. Prohibition had a majority in all provinces
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
except Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, where a strong 81.2% voted against it. Despite this national electoral majority, Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....
's government chose not to introduce a federal bill on prohibition, mindful of the strong antipathy in Quebec. As a result, Canadian prohibition was instead enacted through laws passed by the provinces during the first twenty years of the 20th century.
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
was the first to bring in prohibition in 1901. Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
passed prohibition laws in 1916. Quebec implemented prohibition in 1919 but it was quickly repealed after intense public pressure.
The drinking of alcohol within Canada in the early twentieth century was widespread. The prohibition movement blanketed the public media in the early twentieth century with the majority of those who drank alcohol doing so in saloons. Prohibition affected a wide variety of people. Alcohol was believed to be used for workers, travelers, nursing mothers, and children to keep strong, keep the cold and heat away and used for medicine and tonic.
The push for the dry movement was done primarily by Protestant churches but was never as simple as a Protestant-Catholic issue. The only province that was under prohibition before 1914 was Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
but some municipalities across Canada had gone dry under provincial local option. World War One became the driving force behind the “banning of the bar,” but similar in influence were the crusading spirit of the Social Gospel and the effective arguments of progressivism. In late 1917 the federal Union government prohibited importation of alcohol of more than 2.5 per-cent into Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as well as the shipping of alcohol into a province under prohibition and announced a ban on production. National prohibition was the first and last attempt to impose national standards on the production, distribution, and consumption of alcohol.
Prohibition was able to reach success as a result of World War One because it was seen as necessary and natural because of the benefits of the soldiers so that the country they returned to was a better place. The argument was also raised that this would benefit the war effort as well because it would prevent waste and potential inefficiency. Former opponents of prohibition became silenced; provinces began to implement the concept of prohibition. Following the election of 1917 the federal government introduced national prohibition by Order-in-Council on April 1, 1918. Due to an idea for wartime domestic reform, prohibition became part of the War Measures Act
War Measures Act
The War Measures Act was a Canadian statute that allowed the government to assume sweeping emergency powers in the event of "war, invasion or insurrection, real or apprehended"...
in 1918.
Constitutionally Provincial Governments had responsibilities for Aboriginal peoples but they used the prohibition movement, primarily the liquor laws as a way to define Aboriginals. Rules for the retail selling of alcohol were primarily a provincial responsibility. This came to be following the adoption of government control after Canada’s experience with prohibition during the First World War.
Alcohol production in Ontario
Despite having laws until 1927 against the consumption of alcohol in Ontario, the government allowed numerous exceptions. WineriesCanadian wine
Canadian wine is produced in mainly southern British Columbia and southern Ontario. There is also a growing number of small scale producers of grapes and wine in southern Quebec and Nova Scotia. The two largest wine-producing regions in Canada are the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and the...
were exempted from closure, and various breweries and distilleries
Distillers in Canada
Distillers in Canada are distillers of various alcoholic distilled beverages such as whisky, rum, vodka, brandy, gin, etc. in the country of Canada.- History :Canada's first recorded distillery was established in Quebec City in 1769...
remained open for the export market. In London, Ontario, Harry Low and his group of rum-runners bought the Carling Brewery, while the Labatt family left the operations to the manager Edmund Burke. The fact that the "export" might be by small boat from Windsor
Rum-running in Windsor
Windsor, Ontario, Canada, was a major rum-running port in the early part of the twentieth century. In 1916, the State of Michigan, in the United States, adopted Prohibition. Alcohol was smuggled from Ohio until Prohibition became national in 1919...
across the river to Detroit only helped the province's economy (see also Canadian Rum Running). Rum-running was alive and well in other provinces.
Repeal
The provinces repealed their prohibition laws, mostly during the 1920s. After the 1924 Ontario prohibition referendumOntario prohibition referendum, 1924
An Ontario prohibition referendum was held on October 23, 1924 on the repeal of the Ontario Temperance Act. The referendum was brought about by a clause in the Act, which permitted the possible repeal of prohibition by a majority vote.- Referendum question :...
narrowly defeated the repeal of the Ontario Temperance Act
Ontario Temperance Act
Ontario Temperance Act was a law passed in Ontario in 1916 to prohibit the sale of alcohol, a period known as Prohibition. This meant the province remained dry in legal terms, but smugglers continued to import alcohol into the province. The cause was the demand of religious elements led by women...
the Ontario government of Howard Ferguson
Howard Ferguson
George Howard Ferguson, PC was a Conservative politician and the ninth Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1923 to 1930.-Background:He was the son of Charles Frederick Ferguson who served in the Canadian House of Commons...
permitted the sale of low alcohol beer and, following its re-election on the platform of repealing the OTA, ended prohibition in 1927 and created the Liquor Control Board of Ontario
Liquor Control Board of Ontario
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is a provincial Crown corporation in Ontario, Canada established in 1927 by Lieutenant Governor William Donald Ross, on the advice of his Premier, Howard Ferguson, to sell liquor, wine, and beer through a chain of retail stores...
, permitting the sale of liquor in the province though under heavy regulation.
Between the years of 1920-1925 five provinces voted to repeal prohibition. The elimination of alcoholic beverages had made a demonstrable difference in society; the jails were becoming emptied in most places, since alcoholic-related offences had contributed to them becoming quite full. The Ontario Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Trade stated that in 1922 that the number of convictions for offences associated with drink had declined from 17,413 in 1914 to 5,413 in 1921, and drunkenness cases had dropped from 16,590 in 1915 to 6,766 in 1921.
The passing of the Liquor Control Act in 1934 allowed anyone who visited Canada to purchase liquor to drink in the privacy of where they were staying and this was effective for thirty days. Following the passing of the Liquor Control Act it allowed for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario
Liquor Control Board of Ontario
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is a provincial Crown corporation in Ontario, Canada established in 1927 by Lieutenant Governor William Donald Ross, on the advice of his Premier, Howard Ferguson, to sell liquor, wine, and beer through a chain of retail stores...
and local liquor inspectors to apply a subjective interpretation of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour which was based upon the community context. The passing of this act allowed for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to enforce who was a bad drinker and who was a good drinker for it was not defined in the Liquor Control Act. Within Ontario the Liquor Control Act was also passed in an effort to emphasize customer service in an effort to limit Bootlegging
Bootlegging (business)
In economics and business administration literature, Kenneth E. Knight introduced the notion bootlegging in 1967. Bootlegging is defined as research in which motivated individuals secretly organize the innovation process. It usually is a bottom-up, non-programmed activity, without the official...
. The Liquor Control Act also brought back saloons because now people wanted to be able to drink in the public space and this was an opportunity to bring back anyone who wanted to drink for a social event.
After World War I, opponents of the Liquor Control Act claimed that that too many people were going to ignore the law and drink illegally and that prohibition contributed to the expansion of organized crime and violence. The new slogans were ‘Moderation’ and ‘Government Regulation.’ Moreover, the denominations of Presbyterianism, Methodism, and Congregationalism voted to merge that created a stronger liberal voice. The possibility of new revenue led several provinces to introduce government control on the sale of alcohol and by the mid 1920s prohibition was fighting a losing battle.
Alberta repealed in 1924, along with Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, upon realizing that the laws were unenforceable. Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
was last to repeal in 1948.
Nevertheless, some communities, such as the city of Owen Sound, Ontario
Owen Sound, Ontario
Owen Sound , the county seat of Grey County, is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada...
, continued to outlaw liquor well into the 1970s and parts of west Toronto did not permit liquor sales until 2000 due largely to the efforts of William Horace Temple
William Horace Temple
William Horace Temple , nicknamed "Temperance Bill" or "Temperance Willie", was a Canadian democratic socialist politician, trade union activist, businessman and temperance crusader. As a youth he worked for the railway. During World War I, and World War II he was a soldier in the Royal Naval...
.
Realizing that they could not stop people from drinking entirely, temperance advocates successfully pressured all provincial and territorial governments to curtail the sale of liquor through the tight control of liquor control boards.
With the Repeal, it is unlikely prohibition would reappear in Canada in the future.
See also
- Whiskey Gap, Alberta
- Govenlock, SaskatchewanGovenlock, SaskatchewanGovenlock was once a small village of 151 in Reno Rural Municipality No. 51, Saskatchewan, Canada. The former townsite of Govenlock is located on Highway 13 also known as the historic Red Coat Trail, about 15 km east of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border...
- :Category:Canadian temperance activists