On Tuesday, October 29, 1929, the stock market fell 15%, triggering what we now know as the Great Depression. The Depression hit Canada hard, no one bought raw materials and all American factories located in Canada were closed, leaving the Canadian people unemployed, poor and hungry. The Depression had forced people to leave their homes and take refuge in unemployment camps. Why did things come to this? Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King believed unemployment was seasonal and refused to help while so many struggled. Then Bennett, a wealthy lawyer who knew nothing about running a country, was elected, with the result that many plans failed. To end all of Canada's responses, the government increased tariffs by isolating us from the world. Although the Canadian government tried, its responses to the Great Depression proved inadequate and failed to bring the Canadian economy back to life. Imagine not knowing when your next meal might be, if there was one coming. This is how the average Canadian felt during the Great Depression. Bubble gum turned into alpha alpha, meat pies turned into gopher pies, the whole standard of living was lowered during the depression. If you were an unemployed male you were not wanted anywhere and at the same time companies were firing workers more often than they would pay their workers which is underpaying their workers. What was the government doing while all these people were struggling, you may ask? It seemed like the government was doing nothing. This is exactly what Prime Minister King was doing, nothing. Lyon Mackenzie King is Canada's longest-serving prime minister to date, the man who helped Canada finish the war strong but decided to fill the people's need for help during the Depression. King believed it was a thing... middle of paper... in a depression. Not to mention the tariffs that have cut us off from countries like England and the United States that could have helped us recover more quickly by trading and building each other's economies. Rates Increased During Depression Like many ideas, they seem really good until they are put into practice, especially when nothing else works. Tariffs end world trade to help support locals, but locals can't afford the products or simply don't need the products, thus shutting down much of Canada's workforce leaving so many unemployed. In conclusion, the evidence shows that the Canadian government did an inadequate job of responding to the problems of Canadian citizens during the Great Depression. Due to a lack of effort and knowledge and the closure of international markets, the Canadian economy did nothing but suffer until the Second World War..