Editing Robert Borden (section)

===First World War===

In late July, Borden and his wife, Laura, went for a vacation to the [[Muskoka District Municipality]]. However, the trip was cut short after [[World War I]] broke out in Europe. On July 31, the Bordens were on a train for [[Toronto]]. The next day, he returned to [[Ottawa]]. The [[United Kingdom declaration of war upon Germany (1914)|British declaration of war]] on August 4, 1914, automatically brought [[Canada]] into the war.<ref name="Bordenbio" /><ref>{{cite book|author1=James Ciment|author2=Thaddeus Russell|title=The home front encyclopedia: United States, Britain, and Canada in World Wars I and II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0P04JuMSM8C&pg=PA423|year=2007|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-849-5|page=423}}</ref>

====Major reforms====

On August 22, 1914, Parliament passed the controversial ''[[War Measures Act]]'' (with support from both Conservatives and Liberals), which gave the government extraordinary and emergency powers, including the right to censor and suppress communications, the right to arrest, detain, and deport people without charges or trials, the right to control transportation, trade and manufacturing, and the right to seize private property during times of "war, invasion or insurrection". The act also allowed Borden to govern by [[order in council]], meaning that Cabinet was allowed to implement pieces of legislation without the need for a vote in the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] and [[Senate of Canada|Senate]].<ref name="Bordenbio" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Denis |title=War Measures Act |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/war-measures-act |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=9 February 2022 |date=25 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite canlaw|short title  =War Measures Act, 1914|abbr =SC|year =1914|chapter =2.|link =https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08039/2}}</ref>

Borden's government created the [[Canadian Patriotic Fund]] to give financial and social assistance to the families of soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/public_mikan/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=267&rec_nbr_list=267|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013234723/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/public_mikan/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=267&rec_nbr_list=267|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 13, 2012|title=Department of Veterans Affairs fonds [multiple media (some microform)].|publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]]|quote=In addition, a {{Sic|hide=y|publicly|-}}subscribed Canadian Patriotic Fund was organized in August 1914, with responsibilities towards soldiers' families.|access-date=February 11, 2022}}</ref> The government also raised tariffs on some high-demand consumer items to boost the economy.<ref name="Bordenbio" />

In 1916, Borden's government established the [[National Research Council Canada]] for scientific and industrial research.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brett |first1=Alexandra |last2=Phillipson |first2=Donald |title=National Research Council of Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/national-research-council-of-canada |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=21 February 2022 |date=7 February 2006}}</ref> In 1918, to gain information on Canada's population, social structure, and economy, the government established the [[Dominion Bureau of Statistics]] through the ''[[Statistics Act]]''. It was renamed [[Statistics Canada]] in 1971.<ref name="Bordenbio" />

Borden's government set up the [[Canadian Expeditionary Force]] (CEF). The force posted several combat formations of the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] during the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/life-at-the-front/military-structure/the-canadian-expeditionary-force/|title=Military Structure - the Canadian Expeditionary Force}}</ref> In December 1914, Borden stated, "there has not been, there will not be, compulsion or [[conscription]]." As the war dragged on, more troops for the CEF were deployed through the [[volunteer military|voluntary force]]. In July 1915, the number of CEF soldiers increased to 150,000 before being increased to 250,000 in October 1915 before doubling to 500,000 in January 1916. By mid-1916, the rate of volunteers enlisting started to slow down.<ref name="Bordenbio" />

====Economy====
[[File:BordenVictoryBondCampaignToronto.jpg|250px|thumb|Borden opening a [[Victory Bond]] campaign in [[Toronto]], 1915]]
Despite the threat of an economic collapse and the need for more revenue to fund the war effort, Borden's [[Finance Minister (Canada)|finance minister]], [[William Thomas White]], rejected calls for direct taxation on Canadian citizens in 1914, though this position would be shortly reversed. White cited his beliefs that taxation would cost too much to implement and would interfere with provincial taxation systems.<ref name="Bordenbio" /> Borden and White instead opted for "business as usual" with Britain by assuming that the country would cover the costs incurred by Canada. However, at the end of 1914, Britain was not able to lend money to Canada due to their own economic priorities. By 1917, Britain had become unable to pay for wartime shipments from Canada. During the war, Canada drastically increased imports of specialized metals and machinery needed for production of [[ammunition]] from the United States.<ref name="MacleansWW1">{{cite web |last1=Granatstein |first1=J.L. |title=After the fighting, a nation changed |url=https://www.macleans.ca/after-fighting-nation-changed/ |website=Maclean's |access-date=12 February 2022}}</ref> This led Borden and White to successfully negotiate a $50 million loan in New York City in 1915.<ref name="Bordenbio" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Berry |first1=Paul |title=Canada Financially Comes of Age |url=https://www.bankofcanadamuseum.ca/2018/10/canada-financially-comes-of-age/ |website=Bank of Canada Museum |access-date=12 February 2022 |date=2 October 2018}}</ref> Canada also succeeded in negotiating larger bond issues in New York in 1916 and 1917. In 1918, a [[War bond#Canada|Victory Bond]] of $300 million brought in $660 million.<ref name="Bordenbio" /> Overall, Victory Bond campaigns raised around $2 billion. American investment in Canada significantly increased whereas British investment declined. By 1918, imports of goods from the United States were 1,000 percent of British exports to Canada.<ref name="MacleansWW1" />

In 1915, 1916, and 1917, Borden's government began to reverse their anti-taxation position, not least because of the need for more government revenue. The government introducing wartime savings bonds and raising import tariffs was not enough. In 1915, a [[luxury tax]] on tobacco and alcohol and taxes on transport tickets, telegrams, money orders, cheques, and patent medicines were introduced. By the end of the war, staple items were taxed. In a politically motivated move in 1916, the government introduced the Business Profits War Tax to address increasing concerns about businesses practising [[war profiteering]]. The tax expired in 1920 but was brought back in the [[Second World War]].<ref name="Bordenbio" /><ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=If some things never change, when did they begin? |url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/canada-first-world-war/Pages/when-did-they-begin.aspx |website=Government of Canada |access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref>

In 1917, Borden's government introduced the [[income tax]] which came into effect on September 20, 1917. The tax exempted the first $1,500 of income for single people (unmarried persons and widows and widowers without dependent children); the tax exempted the first $3,000 for everyone else. Single people were taxed at four percent while the tax rate ranged from two to 22 percent for married Canadians with dependents and an annual income over $6,000. Due to its several exemptions, only two to eight percent of Canadians filed tax returns during the early days of the income tax. When the war ended in 1918, $8 million in income tax revenue had been recorded, which was a small fraction of the national net debt of $1.6 billion. Though Borden's government declared the income tax to be temporary, it has remained in place ever since.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bilbao |first1=Maya |title=Income Tax in Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/income-tax |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=3 April 2023 |date=28 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=William |last2=Clemens |first2=Jason |title=The HISTORY and DEVELOPMENT of CANADA'S PERSONAL INCOME TAX |url=https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/history-and-development-of-canadas-personal-income-tax.pdf |website=Fraser Institute |access-date=3 April 2023}}</ref>

In 1917, facing skyrocketing prices, Borden's government established the Board of Grain Supervisors of Canada to distance the marketing of crops grown in 1917 and 1918 away from the private grain companies. It was succeeded by the [[Canadian Wheat Board]] for the 1919 crop.<ref name="Bordenbio" /> The board was dissolved in 1920, despite the concept being popular among farm organizations.<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Canadian Wheat Board |url=https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/canadian_wheat_board.jsp |website=The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan |access-date=13 February 2022 |archive-date=June 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613021744/https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/canadian_wheat_board.jsp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Conscription, Unionist Party, and 1917 election====
{{See also|Conscription Crisis of 1917}}
In Spring 1917, Borden visited Europe and attended the [[Imperial Conference]]. There, he participated in discussions that included possible peace terms and helped spearhead the passage of ''Resolution IX'' which called for a post-war constitutional conference to "provide effective arrangements for continuous consultation in all important matters of common Imperial concern, and for such necessary concerted action, founded on consultation, as the several Governments may determine."<ref name="Bordenbio" /> He also assured leaders of [[Allies of World War I|the Allied countries]] that Canada was committed to the war. Also during his trip, Borden made visits to the hospital to meet wounded and [[shell shock]]ed soldiers and became determined that the soldiers' sacrifices should not be in vain, and that therefore, the war must end. With volunteer enlistment slowing down, Borden believed that the war should finish through only one method: conscription. Reversing their pledge to not introduce the policy, Borden's government passed the ''[[Military Service Act (Canada)|Military Service Act]]'' to introduce conscription.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Foot |first1=Richard |title=Election of 1917 |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/election-of-1917 |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=14 February 2022 |date=12 August 2015}}</ref> The act became law on August 29, 1917.<ref name="Military Service Act">{{cite web |last1=Preston |first1=Richard |title=Military Service Act |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/military-service-act#:~:text=The%20Military%20Service%20Act%20became,of%20the%20First%20World%20War. |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=14 February 2022 |date=7 February 2006}}</ref>
[[File:Borden and wounded soldiers (cropped).png|275px|thumb|right|Borden speaking to wounded soldiers at a hospital in the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], March 1917]]
The disputes over conscription triggered the [[Conscription Crisis of 1917]]; most [[English Canada|English Canadians]] supported the policy whereas most [[French Canadians]] opposed it, as seen by protests in [[Quebec]]. In a bid to settle Quebec opposition towards the policy, Borden proposed forming a wartime [[coalition government]] composed of both Conservatives and Liberals. Despite Borden offering the Liberals equal seats in the Cabinet in exchange for Liberal support for conscription, the proposal was rejected by Liberal leader Laurier. In October, Borden formed the [[Unionist Party (Canada)|Unionist Party]], a coalition of Conservatives and pro-conscription Liberals (known as [[Liberal–Unionist]]s). Laurier, maintaining his anti-conscription position, refused to join the Unionist government and instead created the "[[Laurier Liberals]]", a party of Liberals opposed to conscription.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Foot |first1=Richard |title=Election of 1917 |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/election-of-1917 |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=14 February 2022 |date=12 August 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Sir Robert Borden addressing the Troops, Bramashott, England, April, 1917.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Borden addressing troops in England, April 1917]]
The [[1917 Canadian federal election|1917 federal election]] was held on December 17. The election was Canada's first in six years; it was supposed to be held in 1916 due to the constitutional requirement that Parliament last no longer than five years, but was delayed by one year due to the war.<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=British North America Act, 1916 - Enactment No. 4 |url=https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/constitution/lawreg-loireg/p2t41.html |website=Government of Canada |date= November 3, 1999|access-date=14 February 2022}}</ref> Months before the election was called, Borden's government introduced the ''[[Military Voters Act]]'' that allowed all 400,000 conscripted Canadian soldiers — including those who were underage and born in Britain, to vote. The act also allowed current and former Indigenous veterans to vote. In addition, the ''[[Wartime Elections Act]]'' allowed female relatives of soldiers (excluding Indigenous women) to vote. However, this law confiscated voting rights from German and Austrian immigrants (i.e. immigrants from "enemy nations") who moved to Canada during and after 1902 as well as those who exempted from the coming conscription draft, including [[conscientious objector]]s. Some believe that these laws put the Unionists in a favourable position.<ref name="MacleansWW1" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Foot |first1=Richard |title=Election of 1917 |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/election-of-1917 |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=14 February 2022 |date=12 August 2015}}</ref>

The Unionist election campaign criticized French Canada for its low enlistment rate to fight in the war. Fearing the possible event of a Liberal victory, one of the Unionist pamphlets highlighted ethnic differences, stating, "the French Canadians who have shirked their duty in this war will be the dominating force in the government of this country. Are the English-speaking people prepared to stand for that?"<ref name="MacleansWW1" />

The Unionist campaign was an overwhelming success; the government won a powerful [[majority government|majority]] (114 Conservatives and 39 Liberals), won the highest share of the popular vote in Canadian history, and won the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history at the time (at 65.1%). The Liberals on the other hand lost seats and won their smallest share of the popular vote since the [[1882 Canadian federal election|1882 federal election]]. The election revealed ethnic divides in the country; the Conservatives won over English Canadians whereas the Liberals swept French-Canadian-dominated Quebec.<ref name="Bordenbio" /><ref name="MacleansWW1" />

The process of conscripting soldiers began in January 1918.<ref name="Military Service Act"/> Only 124,588 out of the 401,882 men who registered for conscription were drafted and only 24,132 actually fought in Europe. By spring 1918, the government removed certain exemptions.<ref name="Conscription in Canada">{{cite web |last1=McIntosh |first1=Andrew |last2=Granatstein |first2=J.l. |last3=Jones |first3=Richard |title=Conscription in Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/conscription |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=14 February 2022 |date=6 February 2006}}</ref> To suppress the anti-conscription "Easter Riots" that occurred in [[Quebec City]] between March 28 and April 1, Borden's government used the ''War Measures Act'', invoked [[martial law]], and deployed more than 6,000 troops. The troops and rioters exchanged gunfire, resulting in four civilian deaths and as many as 150 casualties.<ref name="Conscription in Canada"/>

====Ukrainian Canadian internment====
{{Main|Ukrainian Canadian internment}}
Between 1914 and 1920, more than 8,500 [[Ukrainian Canadians]] were interned under the measures of the ''War Measures Act''. Some immigrated from the [[Central Powers]] countries of the [[German Empire]], [[Austria-Hungary]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The internees faced intense labour; they worked in the national parks of [[Western Canada]], built roads, cleared bush, and cut trails. They also had their personal wealth and property confiscated and never returned by the Borden government. Overall, 107 internees died. Six were shot dead while trying to escape and others died from disease, work-related injuries, and suicide.<ref name="Ukrainian Internment in Canada">{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Ukrainian Internment in Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ukrainian-internment-in-canada |website=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=15 February 2022 |date=5 June 2018}}</ref>

Another 80,000 Ukrainian Canadians were not imprisoned but were registered as "[[enemy alien]]s" and were compelled to report regularly to the police. Their freedom of speech, movement, and association were also restricted.<ref name="Ukrainian Internment in Canada"/>