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Military Service Act (1917)

On 24 July 1917 the Military Service Bill was adopted by a coalition of federal Conservatives and Liberal Unionists. From that time forward, any Canadian male aged 18 to 60 could be called up for military service. The act not only promised a solution to lagging military enlistment, but also split the opposition. Its implementation prompted hundreds of thousands of petitions across Canada for exemptions and resulted in Easter weekend riots in Quebec City in 1918. In due course just under 100,000 single men, aged 20 to 22, would be conscripted.

Related Biographies

BENNETT, RICHARD BEDFORD, 1st Viscount BENNETT
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FOSTER, Sir GEORGE EULAS
GIBSON, Sir JOHN MORISON
GOODWIN, ALBERT (Ginger)
LAURIER, Sir WILFRID (baptized Henry-Charles-Wilfrid)
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Other Resources

Canada A Country by Consent: Military Service Bill 1917
Conscription. Content archived on 22 Apr. 2018
Conscription Crisis: 1917
Conscription | Wartime Canada
Dundas Museum & Archives | Recruitment and Conscription in World War I. Content archived on 19 Apr. 2022
Military History
Military Service Act (Canada) - Wikipedia
Quebec’s conscription crisis divided French and English Canada | World War I. Content archived on 28 Nov. 2020
Recruitment and Conscription - Conscription, 1917 | Canada and the First World War
Status Indians and Military Service in the World Wars | Canadian History: Post-Confederation
The Conscription Crisis

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