During the Great Depression, the Canadian government established the Unemployment Relief Scheme. It was a nationwide system of camps for single, unemployed men. The beneficiaries of the program worked on road construction and other ...See moreDuring the Great Depression, the Canadian government established the Unemployment Relief Scheme. It was a nationwide system of camps for single, unemployed men. The beneficiaries of the program worked on road construction and other physically-demanding projects, in exchange for room-and-board and 20 cents a day. In 1935, about 1,500 men from various BC camps went on strike in demand of better working conditions. After a few weeks of protests, and encouraged by many expressions of support from the community, they decided to go to Ottawa to lay their demands before the Prime Minister. It was the beginning of the On-to-Ottawa trek, a journey that has been the source of inspiration to the worker's movement in Canada for more than eight decades. Our documentary tells the story of the trek, and pays tribute to the workers that have kept the memory of that journey alive over the years.
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