The Bromley Historical Society is honoured to welcome Sean Conway, former Member of the Provincial Parliament, to give a presentation on the so-called “khaki” federal election of 1917. His talk, which is open to the public, will take place on Saturday, November 5th, 2022 at 2pm in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Highway 17, Cobden, ON.
The 1917 election took place when World War 1 was in its fourth year. The Battle of Passchendaele had 15,000 Canadian casualties. Canadians had begun to question the senseless slaughter of the young and whether the war would ever end. Domestically, Canada was gripped by an annual inflation rate of 18%
A housing crisis was evident in the country’s fledging metropolitan centres. Unrest was growing on the farms and in the cities.
The proposed mandatory conscription deeply divided citizens. The Conservative government, under Prime Minister, Sir Robert Borden, believed voluntary recruitment no longer met Canada’s wartime needs. Compulsory conscription, they decided, needed to be put in place.
In South Renfrew, the election looked like it would be a fought battle between the well-known Dr. James Martin Maloney of Eganville for the Conservative and Isaac Ellis Pedlow of Renfrew for the Liberals. But, unexpectedly, Dr. Maloney withdrew to be replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel L. T. “Larry“ Martin of Renfrew, a close relative of the Renfrew millionaire and railway magnate, M.J. O’Brien. In North Renfrew, a young Paul Martin witnessed a bitter controversy erupt about the use of French and German in local public schools.
Light refreshments will be served following his presentation.
