By Zeba Khoja
Determining how popular and successful a Canadian Prime Minister is helps us understand our stance as Canadians on politics and the type of leadership we believe in. Prime Minister R.B. Bennett does deserve his bad reputation as he had a conceited attitude, and he did not know how to solve the depression. Firstly, he was perceived as conceited as he was a smart man who thought he knew what to do at all times and did not need advice or other people's opinions (“Canadian Politics in the 1930's and 1930's”, April 14th, 2014). This is made clear when he allowed the relief camps to continue to exist even after learning that they had serious problems and were not being helpful in any way because he thought that he could make a few changes to his original plan and make things work (“Canadian Prime Ministers in the 1920s and 1930s”, April 10th, 2014). Secondly, he did not understand the depression from the perspective of his people as he was detached from them, and therefore, was unable to solve it. This is evident when he raised tariffs on international goods to protect Canadian businesses thinking that it would create more jobs for the works but ended up causing major issues for industries that depended on exports, resulting in a standstill in foreign trade and worsening the effects of the depression (p. 164). Additionally, he never visited the relief camps in person so he was not aware of the poor conditions that existed within them which ultimately caused the Regina Riot (“Canadian Politics in the 1930's and 1930's”, April 14th, 2014). Some may say that he had a good plan, “The New Deal”, to solve the depression but he was voted out of power and just did not get a chance to implement it. However, he only proposed this new idea out of selfishness to gain some public support and votes as the elections were nearing, not to better serve the public interest (p. 165). In conclusion, Prime Minister Bennett aroused much deserved dislike towards himself and his leadership while he was in power because of his self-centered nature and inability to solve the depression. He is amongst the poorly favored Canadian Prime Ministers and therefore, he represents the ideals that we, as Canadians, do not believe in.
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