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Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for

Spring 2004

Canada's Campaign For Immigrants And The Images In Canada West Magazine

Laura A. Detre University of Maine

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Detre, Laura A., "Canada's Campaign For Immigrants And The Images In Canada West Magazine" (2004). Great Plains Quarterly. 2451. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/2451

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LAURA A. DETRE

One of the major challenges that Canadian of the East. To do this the government en­ government officials felt they faced at the end gaged in a systematic program to encourage of the nineteenth century was the develop­ immigration of farmers and agricultural labor­ ment of the prairie West. By this time there ers from the United States and Britain. This were large urban centers in eastern Canada, involved many forms of promotion, including but many Canadians worried that they had a magazine entitled Canada West. From this not truly ensured the future existence of their publication we can see that the ideal society country. They hoped that filling the middle, envisioned by Canadian officials was a mod­ the province of Manitoba and the region that ern, highly developed society, based on family would become the provinces of Saskatchewan farms. This work shall demonstrate through a and Alberta, with prosperous, white, family detailed analysis of the magazine's covers over farmers would support the industrialized cities several years the ways in which Canada de­ picted the ideal life farmers could hope to have on the prairies.

CANADA WEST AND THE PROMOTION KEY WORDS: advertising, Canada, ethnicity, OF CANADA farming, immigration The subject of this work, the publication Canada West, was one of the most important Laura A. Detre is a Ph.D. candidate at the University pieces of promotional material that the Cana­ of Maine whose dissertation topic is immigration dian Immigration Branch of the Department advertising and the Canadian government's prairie of the Interior produced. When it was intro­ development policy from 1896-1918. She received a Fulbright grant to the University of Alberta in 2002. duced, the immigration agents throughout Britain and the United States found it the most useful publication in their collection for [GPQ 24 (Spring 2004): 113-29] promoting the West. l The booklet itself was a

113 114 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2004 magazine-sized text featuring sections on the ficials who oversaw the production of Canada general history of Canada, the development West put more priority on updating the visual of the West, and each of the prairie provinces message of the cover than they did the written and territories. It was a catchall document, as one contained inside. opposed to some of the other brochures avail­ able to the agents, which promoted only one HISTORY OF ADVERTISEMENT AND region. It was also much more sophisticated in PROMOTION appearance than the earlier works. Designed by Rand McNally under the direction of the For the purpose of this work, the word ad­ Immigration Branch, Canada West was filled vertising will be used interchangeably with the with black and white pictures of prairie life term promotion. This is appropriate because and colorful maps of Canada and its regions. the Canadian government was engaged in a The magazine evolved over time, reflecting systematic campaign to promote the West, and the changing reality of prairie farm life but this campaign used many of the same tech­ also incorporating new advertising techniques. niques that product manufacturers of the time This paper focuses on the covers of Canada would have used to sell their products. Part of West rather than the text contained within. the Canadian plan was to place advertisements Many of the themes addressed in the covers in many of the newspapers of the United States are more explicitly identified in the written and Britain, up to 7,000 publications in 1906.3 promotion, and where appropriate the text will The government used an advertising agency, be used to illustrate and elaborate on the top­ Lord and Thomas of Chicago, to create and ics discussed. The covers will be the focus, place the newspaper advertisements, which though, because they succinctly demonstrate were just part of a sophisticated, modern cam­ that the Canadian government had an agenda paign.4 As John Oldland noted, "[W. J.] White of populating the prairies with prosperous [Press and Advertising Agent for the Immi­ white families. gration Branch] was giving Canada a positive identity at the same time as Kodak ('you press IMAGES AS SOURCES the button; we do the rest') was branding cam­ eras and National Biscuits was first packaging Traditionally historians have undervalued cookies with the Uneeda brand ('lest you for­ images, preferring texts as their primary get, we say it yet, Uneeda Biscuit'}."5 sources, and this work hopes to address some The Canadian immigration campaign was of those omissions of the past. It is possible to a good example of modern advertising, fitting analyze an image and find historical signifi­ into many of the categories established by pre­ cance in it, without making the image second­ vious advertising historians. One such author ary to a related text. As Jean Colson has said, was Richard Tedlow, who broke the history of it is a matter of looking at the images system­ American advertising down into three stages. atically, identifying individual themes in the The Canadian ads fit into his second period, same way that historians have traditionally that is, those appearing after 1880. He said looked at texts.2 These covers are of interest that because they were the viewers' first contact with the government's message; thus, the cre­ toward the end of the nineteenth century, ators took special care with them. This is true the completion of the railroad and tele­ in the sense that each year's edition of the graph network set the stage for the second magazine text changed relatively little, some­ phase of American marketing. This was the times not at all. Despite the continuity in the era of the national mass market, in which a written message, each edition had a different small number of firms realized scale econo­ cover. Obviously the Immigration Branch of- mies to an unprecedented degree by ex- IMMIGRANTS AND IMAGES IN CANADA WEST MAGAZINE 115

panding their distribution from coast to nocratic and argued "this mode of expression coast and border to border. 6 was rooted in the assumption that human tech­ nical prowess could transform the course of The Canadian advertisements not only oc­ life into a predictable pursuit of personal well­ curred in this period, but they fit Tedlow's being."10 The Canadian advertisements por­ description in other ways. There is no evi­ tray settlement as the natural extension of dence that they were regional; they do not human achievements, accomplished not just mention the places where the advertisements through the hard work of pioneers but also were placed. They also fit the description of through technological advancements in agri­ the second phase in that Canada was mar­ culture. In this respect the Canadian adver­ keted as the perfect place for all farmers, not tisements represent an important shift in just one particular group, such as farm owners. advertising methods. The earliest ads use the Although certain advertisements singled out older techniques of hyperbole and exagger­ one group as their target, none of them sug­ ated claims, but the later ones show signs of gested that the group was the only appropriate the shift to technocratic advertising. one for the prairies.7 Finally, Lears said "the late-nineteenth-cen­ Tedlow was only one of the advertising his­ tury ideal of gemeinschaft-the self-sufficient, torians whose methodology is appropriate for organic community-achieved its embodiment analyzing the Canadian advertisements. in commercial imagery long before it was codi­ Roland Marchand in his book Advertising the fied in sociological texts."!! There may be no American Dream points out the importance of better representation of community in adver­ advertising as a historical source. He quoted a tising than the Canadian advertisements. In 1926 publication from the advertising firm N. part this was a response to the sparse settle­ W. Ayer and Son that said, "[D]ay by day a ment of the prairies; in order to attract settlers picture of our time is recorded completely and they had to downplay the isolation of prairie vividly in the advertising in American news­ life. That was not the only purpose of commu­ papers and magazines."8 Marchand contended nity in these advertisements. It was a reflec­ that advertisements do not just influence a tion of the type of settlers the Canadian society, but they also reflect certain aspects of government desired. According to historian that society. As Marchand argued, "advertis­ Cecilia Danysk, "the agricultural community ing leaders recognized the necessity of associ­ of the prairie West had been designed and was ating their selling messages with the values defined, both economically and socially as fam­ and attitudes already held by their audience."9 ily-oriented, based on small-scale units of pro­ In the case of the advertisements used to re­ duction-family farms."!2 The Canadian cruit farmers to the Canadian West, the soci­ gove'rnment had more than an economic ety they reflected was the ideal one envisioned agenda in mind with the settlement of the by the Canadian government and the hope prairies. A major goal was to populate the re­ was that this would appeal to potential immi­ gion with hard-working, white, Protestant farm grants in the United States. The message that families who would uplift the moral character the Canadian prairies were the perfect place of the prairies and ensure that the West would for American farmers was one that the gov­ remain "Canadian." This desire was expressed ernment would repeat time and time again. through their advertisements. A final source for this methodology is Jack­ son Lears's book Fables of Abundance. Espe­ CANADA'S GOALS FOR THE PRAIRIES cially in the later advertisements, the Canadian government tried to use scientific claims, From the beginning Canadian politicians backed by the testimony of experts. Lears re­ had an eye toward developing the prairies, in ferred to this new form of advertising as tech- part because of the agricultural potential of 116 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2004 the region. Sir John A. Macdonald, the first most important changes was that the Liberals prime minister, believed that the best way to reorganized the way the government ap­ encourage industrial development in the East proached immigration. The previous adminis­ was to settle the prairies with farmers who trations had taken a fairly haphazard approach could provide a stable source of food for to immigration. They put immigration under Canada's growing population as well as an the auspices of the Department of Agricul­ additional source of exports in the form of ture, which produced only a limited amount grains, which were in great demand in Europe. of promotional material and did little else to Agricultural settlement, along with high tar­ advance immigration. In the second half of iffs and several other aspects of domestic and the nineteenth century the immigrants com­ foreign policy, formed what was known as the ing to Canada were not of the class or ethnicity National Policy. Although there were farms that the political establishment desired. Most in the older provinces, these were smaller op­ politicians believed that there were enough erations that could not produce grains in the people in the East to serve as the industrial desired quantities, and farmers in some regions workforce. They wanted to encourage the im­ concentrated more on producing specialty migration of farmers who would establish a items, such as dairy products and fruits, which white presence in the prairies. Not only did would bring them greater returns but did little they want the grains that these farmers could to further the National Policy. produce, but they also wanted to form prov­ This may have been the most often stated inces from the regions. 14 reason for Canada's emphasis on westward ex­ As in the United States, the end of the pansion in the period, but it was not the only nineteenth century and the beginning of the one. Cecilia Danysk states: twentieth was a period of tremendous immi­ gration, but the Canadian government was not [Wlestward expansion provided tangible impressed with the way that immigration had political benefits as well. Capitalist support transformed American society. As Irving for a government providing such a lucra­ Abella and Harold Troper noted in their work tive market was the most obvious political None Is Too Many, reward. Industrial workers, promised more jobs and security through expanded mar­ By the early 1920s Canada, once terminus kets, were enthusiastic in their support. of the Underground Railway, had effectively Ontario farmers regarded the West as a pat­ barricaded itself against "foreigners." If rimony for their sons unable to take up farms Canada, unlike the United States, never in an overcrowded province. Beyond a legislated quotas against particular groups, simple collection of votes, the acquisition Canada's government still enforced a re­ of the prairies would ensure Canadian sov­ strictive immigration policy with unabashed ereignty in the northern part of the conti­ ethnic and racial priorities. With public nent, protecting it from America's grasp. 13 support, it knew what ethnic and racial groups it wanted and how to keep out those The year 1896 brought political change to it did not. 15 Canada. It was in this year that the Liberal Party, under the leadership of Wilfrid Laurier, Although Abella and T roper in this instance brought the Conservative Party's tenure to an were referring to the early 1930s, their obser­ end. The Liberals agreed to the essence of the vations hold true for the earlier period as well. National Policy, but they changed many as­ Many Canadians felt that unchecked immi­ pects of how the government was run. As west­ gration was ruining American society; in par­ ern development was concerned, one of the ticular they felt that immigrants were prone IMMIGRANTS AND IMAGES IN CANADA WEST MAGAZINE 117 to many vices and that they would contribute Canada was aware of this and had agents to little to the betterment of Anglo-North specifically recruit these groups in the United American society. States, such as the special agent in St. Paul, Minnesota. Most Canadians felt that, while ETHNICITY AND CANADA'S IMMIGRA­ these immigrants were unfamiliar with British TION CAMPAIGN institutions, they were, for the most part, ra­ cially compatible with Anglo-Canadians. The Most Canadians had a ethnic hierarchy of exceptions to this rule were religious minori­ immigrants. As Abella and Troper said, "Brit­ ties. Groups such as Hutterites and Menno­ ish and American immigrants, especially agri­ nites often came under the suspicion of cultural immigrants, were always welcome, native-born Canadians, mostly because of their encouraged to come, recruited, made great desire to live in autonomous, insular commu­ promises, their journey often subsidised."!6 The nities. They were most certainly a second highest rung on this ladder was up for debate. choice, but they were vastly preferred over Some believed that the best ethnic group for the next group on the ladder, eastern Europe­ Canada was the British. People who supported ans. this position felt that the most important as­ Abella and Troper demonstrated that "only pect of Canadian society was its imperial char­ in periods of great economic prosperity did it acter and that the only way to maintain this [Canada] reach well down its ladder of ethnic was to import people who were already famil­ preference to admit southern and eastern Eu­ iar with British institutions. The other school ropeans."!9 This group caused great contro­ of thought was that Americans were prefer­ versy in Canada, even among Liberal Party able. The people who espoused this view as­ leaders. Clifford Sifton, Laurier's first minis­ sumed that Americans would have better ter of the interior and the official in charge of farming skills, especially when it came to dry the Immigration Branch, believed that Brit­ farming. Also, native-born residents of the ish and American immigrants were preferable, prairies held negative stereotypes of British but that there were advantages to Slavic im­ immigrants. As Cecilia Danysk noted of im­ migrants as well. Sifton is famous today for his migrant Wilfred Rowell, "as an Englishman comment in defense of the many Ruthenian looking for farm work, he encountered skepti­ immigrants coming to Canada at the time: "I cism from prairie farmers who believed that think a stalwart peasant in a sheepskin coat, Englishmen were 'frightfully lazy and don't born on the soil, whose forefathers have been even earn their keep."'!? People who preferred farmers for ten generations, with a stout wife American immigrants also assumed that these and a half-dozen children, is good quality."2o newcomers would be Anglo-Americans, or at He felt that they had vast experience as farm­ least northern Europeans, such as Germans er? and also that their poverty would prevent and Scandinavians. them from expecting too much from the prai­ Northern Europeans were a distinctly less ries. Many British and even American immi­ desirable ethnic group, but still acceptable. In grants were shocked by the conditions that their book Abella and T roper state that "when, they encountered on the prairies and gave up out of economic necessity, Canada required their homesteads after just a few seasons farm­ immigrants from countries other than Britain ing them. Sifton hoped that their extreme and the United States, it gave preference to poverty would make Slavic immigrants more northern and central Europeans."!8 In fact, amenable to the harsh conditions in the prai­ many of the Scandinavians and Germans who ries. came to Canada in this period had either trans­ Not all politicians shared this view. Frank migrated through the United States or were Oliver, Clifford Sifton's immediate successor the American-born children of immigrants. as minister of the interior, espoused the view 118 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2004 that Slavic immigration would be detrimental immigrants. Particularly, Anglo-Canadians to Canada. He believed that Slavs were mor­ saw Jews as exclusively urbanites and there­ ally inferior to Anglo-Saxons and that their fore not useful in their plan to populate the presence in Canada would corrupt the native­ prairies with farmers. Certainly this was not born population. His biggest concern was that true; many of the Jews coming from the Pale of he saw Slavs as unable to assimilate to British the Russian Empire were rural people with cultureY Overall, the Canadian government experience in agriculture, but reality could not was moderately tolerant of immigrants from break down the strongly held stereotypes of central and eastern Europe, but there were Canadian officials. Other than a few settlements limits. As the 1911 edition of Canada West established by Jewish relief agencies, there was put it, "[Nlationality is no bar to progress ... little Jewish immigration to the prairies.24 but a natural preference is shown to those who Asians met with even greater resistance speak English and appreciate well-modeled than did Jews in this period. To some extent institutions" (1). Though Sifton and Oliver this was because they were a visible presence, represented opposite perspectives when it especially in western Canada. In his book White came to Slavic immigration, they agreed about Canada Forever, W. Peter Ward countered the undesirability of other ethnic groups, par­ earlier arguments that anti-Asian sentiments ticularly southern Europeans. were based in economic concerns and found One of the groups most eager to come to rather that the prejudice Asians in Canada Canada was southern Europeans, but native­ faced was a "problem in the social psychology born Canadians universally disregarded them. of race relations."Z5 For the most part, Canadi­ Along with Greeks, Italians formed one of the ans opposed all Asian immigration, including largest groups of immigrants coming to Canada Indian, Chinese, and Japanese, although pres­ at the turn of the century, -but politicians did sure from British imperial officials to not dam­ not appreciate their presence. Most of the age their relationship with the empire ofjapan political establishment viewed Italians and prevented Canadians from taking dramatic Greeks as a drain on Canada's resources, a action against Japanese immigrants. Indian and moral detriment to society, and most signifi­ Chinese immigrants were eventually barred cantly, not likely to become farmers. Since from entry altogether. The reasons that na­ most of these immigrants were drawn to met­ tive-born Canadians gave for objecting to ropolitan areas, such as Montreal, they did Asian immigrants were based completely in not further the government's goal of populat­ stereotypes and a lack of understanding of the ing the prairies. 22 Despite the lack of enthusi­ immigrants' position. Among the most com­ asm for southern Europeans, there were ethnic mon complaints made against Asian immi­ groups who fared even worse in Canada. grants was that they worked for wages that Perhaps the most despised groups to come were too low and undercut native-born labor­ to Canada at the turn of the century were ers. They were also accused of being amoral Jews, Asians, and African Americans. Of these and having a corrupting influence, especially groups, Abella and Troper noted, "as Canada on white women. Finally, they were reviled proceeded through the first half of the twenti­ for not bringing their families with them when eth century, those groups that did not fit the they immigrated. Anglo-Canadians perceived national vision-especially Jews, Asians and this as a lack of commitment to Canada. There blacks-were ever more often relegated by Ca­ was little discussion of Asian immigrants' po­ nadian officials to the bottom of the list of tential to become farmers, although many of those preferred. "23 The opposition to Jews took them, particularly Japanese immigrants, did the form of typical anti-Semitism. Native-born engage in this profession. Often, in reality, Canadians held racial stereotypes about Jews the immigrant groups that were deemed unde­ that prevented them from seeing Jews as good sirable by native-born Canadians had exactly IMMIGRANTS AND IMAGES IN CANADA WEST MAGAZINE 119 the qualities most desirable for prairie life, and It is apparent that these translations were this was certainly the case with African Ameri­ of secondary concern to the Immigration cans. Branch officials and that they did not put a African Americans had many of the char­ great deal of effort into the non-English edi­ acteristics that Canadian officials most wanted tions of these works. On the other hand, there from immigrants. One particular group, the was a fair amount of concern that surrounded former slaves of the Creek tribe in Oklahoma, the production of the English-language ver­ expressed an interest in immigration and would sions of these works. have furthered the goals of the government. These were experienced farmers who knew DESIRABLE IMMIGRANTS more about the prairies than did the average immigrant from the British Isles. Addition­ Just as Canadian officials had strongly held ally, their push factors were strong; they were notions as to whom they did not want to re­ experiencing tremendous prejudice in Okla­ cruit, they also had ideas as to which immi­ homa and hoped that Canada would provide a grants would be most beneficial for the region. more tolerant home. Soon after their initial As discussed previously, this group was largely contacts with the Canadian government, these families who would live on their farms. One hopes were dashed. 26 Even otherwise open­ group that the Canadian government felt sure minded politicians, such as Clifford Sifton, it could encourage to immigrate was tenant failed to support African American immigra­ farmers. As Cecilia Danysk noted in her book tion, and eventually they were barred com­ Hired Hands, tenants were desirable because pletelyY they were in a precarious economic position. This ethnic hierarchy was important to the They teetered between the status of farm own­ way Canada recruited immigrants. Although ers, who were the highest class of farmers, and the Immigration Branch produced some pro­ farm laborers at the bottom. Although you motional materials for immigrants from the could make a good living as a tenant, the fu­ European continent, the vast majority of its ture was not secure, and therefore they were a efforts were directed at the United States and group receptive to the Canadian immigration Britain. This work will address a series of docu­ campaign.3o In large part they were open to ments produced by the Canadian government the Canadian message because land was actu­ for distribution primarily in the United States ally becoming a scarcer commodity in the as well as in Britain. Eventually many of these United States. Beginning around 1893, with documents were translated into a great num­ Frederick Jackson Turner's observation of the ber of languages, but this was something of an end of the frontier, American farmers began afterthought.28 For example, the Immigration to panic that there would be no land left for Branch translated its 1900 edition of Canada them on which to expand, and certainly none West into French for distribution to Franco­ for their sons. This made farmers, especially Americans in New England as well as in France tenants, even more open to CanadaY and Belgium, but their literal translations of Immigration Branch officials had an addi­ the English text led to such odd and uncon­ tional reason for recruiting not only tenants vincing promotion as the following: but also farm laborers. Farm laborers had lower expectations for life on the prairies. Men who Ce qu'en pensent les Anglais: Causant avec had been owners or even tenants in their home un jeune anglais qui revent au Canada apres countries would expect to achieve that same un voyage fait pour revoir la mere-patrie, standard of living in a relatively short time. celui-ci disait en parlant du climat: 'C' est apres Hired hands were more desperate just to get avoir passe quelque temps en Angleterre que land of their own, and the government hoped l'on apprecie Ie climat du Canada Ouest.'29 that they would not expect much beyond that. 120 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2004

Additionally, the farmers who were already in social and cultural institutions they could ex­ the region needed seasonal help with their pect to find in their new homes. Men, on the farms, and Canada hoped to provide this assis­ other hand, were informed of the types of ag­ tance in the form of young farm laborers who riculture they would practice on the prairies; would work for a few seasons before starting both mixed and grain farming were empha­ farms of their own. For this reason, the gov­ sized in different covers. On the covers dis­ ernment followed the lead of the railways and tributed in Britain, the immigration officials recruited men who had "no money but muscle emphasized that Canada was a part of the and pluck."32 empire and that immigrants could hope to find many British institutions recreated in Canada. SOURCES USED Finally, these officials acknowledged that they could not hope to create generations of family For the most part, the covers analyzed in farms in the West without children, and they this work came from issues of Canada West were represented in the cover images as well. housed at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Canada's immigration campaign began in Library at the University of Alberta, and the earnest in 1898 and continued into the 1930s. conclusion drawn from them are backed up by There was a brief lessening, but not a com­ evidence from the National Archives of plete cessation, during the First World War; Canada. These are the volumes concerning otherwise it was a continuous, although evolv­ immigration and they contain most of the of­ ing, effort. The major differences between the ficiaLdocuments produced and received by the propaganda produced early in this period and Immigration Branch for the period concerned. that produced later are in the themesaddressed. This paper discusses Canada West issues from Additionally, developments in printing al­ the end of this period in Canada's immigra­ lowed for the production and distribution of tion policy, in most part because they are the detailed images. It is in this later period that most well-developed examples of the themes the Canadian government came to produce discussed. The earlier covers focus less specifi­ large numbers of colorful, image-filled publi­ cally on women, children, and families than cations such as Canada West. The covers dis­ do those from this later period. These covers cussed here were produced between the years are the clearest examples of the topics dis­ of 1921 and 1930, when these documents were cussed in this work, although families were not only visually stunning, but also began to certainly important to immigration officials include new themes. The earlier magazines are earlier in the campaign. aimed at men who would be establishing home­ Finally, before moving into a detailed dis­ steads in remote areas. As time went by, Ca­ cussion of the covers, it is important to specify nadian immigration material focused more on what themes will be illustrated in this work. the amenities to be found in the West, such as The first topic is Canada's emphasis on the schools, churches, telephone networks, and importance of women to farms. Much of other signs of white settlement. One major Canada's promotion dealt with the role of concern that became apparent as immigrants women in prairie society, although this mate­ came to Canada was that the number of men rial was not always addressed to women. In a in the prairies vastly outnumbered women. related vein, the immigration officials who This threatened the government's vision for a created these documents often emphasized the society made of farm families, and in order to material development of prairie communities correct this imbalance Canada issued adver­ as a way of reassuring men and women alike tisements that were aimed directly at women. that their new homes would be comfortable The cover of Canada West from 1921 is a good and modern. Women were made aware of the example of these new forms of promotion. IMMIGRANTS AND IMAGES IN CANADA WEST MAGAZINE 121

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE CAMPAIGN

Earlier covers of Canada West depicted men working in fields or with livestock. Although their texts mentioned families, women and children did not appear in the cover imagery. This changed with the 1921 issue. The pre­ dominant figure on this cover was the woman in the foreground. Although there are three men working in the background, they are much less significant than the woman figure. She represents the postwar vision for prairie de­ velopment, the face that the Canadian gov­ ernment wanted to put on the prairies. There were two intended audiences for this image. Men were meant to draw from it the idea that they could be more prosperous farmers in Canada because they could concentrate on the fieldwork while women, whether a house­ keeper or a wife, would take care of domestic issues. As Frank Oliver said, "Canada is es­ tablishing a landed aristocracy" in the Canadian West, and in order to do so men needed some­ FIG. 1. The cover of Canada West in 1921. one to care for their household (CW 1911, 37). Photograph courtesy of the Bruce Peel Special For women, this image was meant to have a Collections Library, University of Alberta. similar but subtly different message. They were supposed to place themselves in the position claimed that even untrained domestics could of this woman, who demonstrated that there make high wages in Canada, although they was a place for women in this society. The did acknowledge that wages were higher in Canadian advertisements concentrated the cities than in rural communities. heavily on addressing issues of interest to In addition to specifying the types of women women, and in many cases the government that they wanted to immigrate, the Canadian produced documents that were explicitly di­ officials were clear about whom they did not rected at potential women immigrants. want as well. In many of the documents they Whether as wives or domestic worker, women produced to recruit women, the authors in­ were essential to the proper functioning of a cluded ·a section with a title like "classes for farm. Recognizing the important contributions which demand is small."33 Listed were profes­ women made to farms, the Canadian govern­ sions such as "telephone clerks, typists, ste­ ment recruited women to the region, often nographers, and telegraph clerks."34Just as with advertising explicitly for domestic servants. men, Canada only wanted certain classes of They encouraged women, both in the more women-those who could further the goals of general brochures and in documents created the government for western development. solely for distribution to women, by explaining Finally, these promotional works empha­ the advantages of domestic work in Canada. sized the gender imbalance in the Canadian According to these documents, Canadians were W est. Many of these documents encouraged kinder employers than their European coun­ young, unskilled women to immigrate on the terparts, emphasizing class less and providing hope that they could marry quickly. The other better working conditions. The government point of view was that women who came to 122 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2004

Canada as domestic servants should work for tion, "the settler of today has no longer the as long as possible before marriage. Explain­ pioneer's fear of untoward conditions" (33). ing this argument, one government publica­ Overall, agriculture was not the primary focus tion stated that anymore; it was instead a means to obtaining a better life, the real goal of immigration to girls have a better chance of having homes Canada. The picnic lunch that dominates in of their own in Canada than they have in the foreground is a symbol of the prosperous, England, but she must remember than in leisurely life that the Canadian government many cases where a farmer on a homestead promised to immigrants. Picnics were a com­ wants a wife it means that she is to have all mon theme in the Canadian immigration litera­ the drudgery and worry of a farm house in ture because they were an extreme demonstration embryo and get no wages for her efforts. of the leisure that officials wanted farmers to The longer a girl works in Canada at a good count on. As the authors said in the 1923 wage the more particular she becomes in British edition of Canada West, "throughout the selection of a life partner.35 the country districts there are the parties, the picnics, and the gatherings of people, just as The author of this pamphlet went on to say in the 'old home back east'" (1). In order to that "there are Jacks for every Jill in Canada, create this scene a farmer would have to have but every Jack is not possessed of sufficient several things: a wife or housekeeper to pre­ money to keep a wife."36 pare the meal, the money to buy the picnic . The woman on the 1921 cover did not seem baskets and the dishes, and the time to enjoy to be suffering on the prairies. The whole scene the meal. This would mean that this farm, and has a pleasant sense to it. She dresses fashion­ by extension the region, was well past the pio­ ably, lives in a new house, and has access, at neer stage (CW 1923, 24). least through catalogs, to c.ommercial goods. Immigration Branch officials were aware of MATERIAL GOODS AND THE DEVELOP­ the growing importance of consumerism, and MENT OF THE PRAIRIES they frequently referred to the availability of goods for purchase in the West. They acknowl­ The cover produced in 1923 reinforced the edged that the farmer "likes to have his house idea that the prairies were highly developed. well furnished and his boys and girls well In the background is an apparently prosperous dressed" (CW British ed. 1911,33). Certainly farm with many modern conveniences; in the this appeal to the consumer side of life was not foreground, a relatively new and neatly main­ lost on women either. In this 1921 edition the tained house. The house appears to have been authors said that built with many purchased materials, and it is landscaped. The barn also contains manufac­ the guiding hand of woman and her refin­ tured construction items. Through this em­ ing influence is seen in all sections of the phasis on the availability of dimensional country. The clap-board shack or mud hut lumber and other building products, Canadian have given place to the comfortable home Immigration Branch officials wanted to dispel with its wide open fireplace, its wal1s the idea that the West was in the pioneer stage adorned with beautiful pictures; with flower and convince people that they would not have gardens and vegetable plots which bear tes­ to live in log cabins or sod houses. As early as timony to the presence of women. (9) the 1914 edition of Canada West, the govern­ ment made a point that new houses in the These were major points that the Canadian West were being built with concrete founda­ advertisers made in their literature aimed at tions, emphasizing their permanence and com­ women. As they said in the 1911 British edi- paring these houses with the ones settlers left IMMIGRANTS AND IMAGES IN CANADA WEST MAGAZINE 123 behind (CW 1914, 3). They directly addressed fact, the later editions of Canada West included the subject of homebuilding in the 1925 edi­ pictures of cars full of teenage girls out for an tion of Canada West: afternoon's entertainment (CW 1921, 3). The Canadian government even encouraged farm­ [Olne of the first essentials to a farm is a ers from the United States to travel to Canada warm comfortable house. All kinds of build­ by automobile when they immigrated, saying, ing materials can be had in each of the "the excellent roads throughout all parts of Provinces of Canada. Advice as to the best the country lend themselves wonderfully to plans and equipment for a house in Canada this means of transportation. Crossing the may be obtained from the Supervising ar­ boundary line that divides the United States chitect of the Department of Health, Ot­ from Canada is easily negotiated, the owner of tawa, or from the Department of Agriculture the car having satisfied the boundary officials in the capital of each Province. Plans and that he has met all the requirements" (CW specifications concerning equipment are 1921,3). As with other equipment, the Cana­ supplied free. (Inside back cover) dian officials hoped that prosperous Ameri­ can farmers would bring their cars with them Houses themselves were part of the commer­ to the Canadian West. Furthering the sense of cial development of the West, and Canadian community are the two houses that you can officials recognized that no amount of con­ see in the background. One very nearby and sumer goods would be of interest to farm fami­ the other in the distance, these houses suggest lies if they did not have nice houses to display that this is a community; you could visit your them in. neighbors with little difficulty, especially if Another sign that this region is highly de­ you had a car. veloped is the power lines in front of the house. Roads were also valuable for another rea­ Electricity was one of the signs of develop­ son: they allowed children to get to schools. ment that potential immigrants were looking From nearly the beginning of this campaign, for in the West, and Canadian officials made a the authors emphasized that schools were point of mentioning the existence of exten­ readily available; they were initially established sive power networks. The 1922 Canada West in five-square-mile districts with at least four noted that "there is in Manitoba a power com­ residents and at least twelve children between mission, vested with very wide power in ex­ the ages of five and sixteen, but eventually tending the system throughout the rural these were consolidated into much larger dis­ districts of the Province. The farmers along tricts (CW 1922, 22). By the 1920s Canadian the power lines will avail themselves of this officials started to acknowledge that many excellent and cheap means of getting light, children went to school by bus. This was a heat, and power"(CW 1922, 16). These au­ necessity not just because of the distances trav­ thors knew that farmers and their families had eled, but also because of the weather. The 1924 the option of moving to the city if rural condi­ edition of Canada West addressed this by say­ tions were not livable, and so they emphasized ing that "the vehicles used in transporting the the ease of farm life. children [to schooll afford proper protection In front of the house is a maintained road from inclement weather either summer or win­ and on that road is a car. These things allowed ter, and the establishment of consolidated farmers to travel more easily and therefore schools has shown a pronounced increased in contributed to the sense of community in the attendance."37 Even though farmers in many prairies. Automobiles were common subjects cases wanted their children to remain farmers in the immigration propaganda and all of these as adults, they were also concerned for their documents suggest that farmers could expect education because of the impact of scientific to afford cars themselves (CW 1922, 16). In farming. Roads and school buses made it pos- 124 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2004 sible for children living in rural areas to get a at the front porch of the house in the fore­ better education and the automobile allowed ground, there is a woman sitting in a swing, families to interact with their neighbors. This reading a book. There is also a child sitting on was exactly how Canadian officials had envi­ the front steps. The woman demonstrates an sioned the development of this region. Mrs. J. important point. Canada repeatedly asserted O. Smith, a settler in the prairies, said in the that women who immigrated to the West 1918 edition of Canada West, "We have good would not live lonely lives of drudgery; they roads, which mean much to the farmer, and would have social and intellectual stimula­ with automobiles at hand, distance is disap­ tion. For this woman, she could obtain social pearing. We have rural mail service and tele­ interaction through visiting her neighbors. The phones and there is no feeling of isolation" book on her lap demonstrates that she also (CW 1918,16). The Canadian advertisements had access to intellectual pursuits. These ad­ frequently emphasized that life in the West vertisements included a great deal of informa­ was not the lonely, drab existence that many tion on the sorts of intellectual and cultural potential immigrants might have imagined. outlets that women would find on the prairies, including gardening, reading, and music. As SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PURSUITS the Immigration Branch stated in the 1921 Canada West, "there are traveling libraries, These advertisements went into great de­ traveling motion picture outlets, boys' and tail about the pastimes and social interactions girls' clubs and women's institutes. Agricul­ that women could expect in the prairies. As tural fairs are held in all the principal commu­ they said, "the farmer and the farmer's wife in nities. In addition to their educational value central Canada cannot complain of isolation" they have a distinct social side" (CW 1921, (CW 1918 16). According to' Canadian offi­ 16). Immigration officials pointed out how cials, she also could not complain about the easily women could recreate their former work she had. lifestyles. For example, they said "the piano trade in central Canada is reported as exceed­ [Mlodern labour-saving devices, modern ingly active, and the £80 or £100 required for heating, lighting, water, and sanitary sys­ purchase weights very lightly" (CW British tems are being adapted more and more on ed. 1911,33). To attract women immigrants, the farms, lessening the women's work and officials felt that they had to assure them of making the home more congenial. The op­ their happiness. portunities for social intercourse with friends and neighbours are made more fre­ AGRICULTURE IN THE WEST quent, with the automobile banishing the old handicaps of distance. (CW 1923) Giving further evidence that this is a fam­ ily farm, the farmer depicted was engaged in If all the promises came true, women who im­ mixed agriculture. Two men are cutting hay migrated to the Canadian West could look in a large field, and the family has a herd of forward to lives of leisure, spending a small cattle grazing in the field behind the hay. In portion of their day on housework and the the foreground are at least eight horses, not majority of their time socializing and relax­ including the four being used in the field. The ing. other animals in the scene include chickens This farm is a great example of the society and a dog near the house. Mixed farming was that Canada wanted to create in the West. a typical strategy for a family farm, and it was We can guess from this picture that it is a one that the Canadian government encour­ family farm. To begin with, if we look closely aged in the early years of the immigration push. IMMIGRANTS AND IMAGES IN CANADA WEST MAGAZINE 125

It was also a way of including women in agri­ cultural production. In many of the brochures, women were told that they could raise veg­ etable gardens and small animals in the Cana­ dian prairies, and that this activity would bring them both money and pleasure (CW 1924, 21). Another aspect of Canada's campaign that we can see in this image is the presence of farm equipment. The two men in the hay field were using mechanical equipment to cut the hay. The 1927 edition of Canada West de­ picted a man riding a tractor pulling a disc plow, with a caption reading, "The general purpose tractor supplements horse power on many Manitoba farms" (8). One of the rea­ sons why Canadian officials preferred Ameri­ can immigrants was their hope that these farmers would own equipment and bring it with them.

CANADA IN THE EMPIRE

One feature that appears on some of the FIG. 2. Cover of Canada West in 1930. covers is a large Union Jack. It appears to have Photograph courtesy of the Bruce Peel Special been added later in 1923 or in 1924 and it is Collections Library, University of Alberta. out of scale to the rest of the scene. In fact, it is nearly as large as the house it stands next to. This flag seems to have been added as an after­ a lecherous, grotesque Uncle Sam. Some car­ thought and a way to reinforce to the viewer toonists went to the extreme of showing Uncle the importance of imperial institutions in Sam in various attempts to molest or rape Miss Canada. Without the flag there is nothing in Canada. She was also a mini-Britannia, a rep­ the image to distinguish the scene as particu­ resentative of how British institutions were larly Canadian; it could be a landscape in the adapted, yet maintained, in the colonial envi­ United States as easily as Canada. Immigra­ ronment. In the case of this particular image, tion officials did tailor their recruitment ef­ Miss Canada was pulling back a curtain made forts to either the United States or Britain, of grain to show the potential immigrant what and in these documents they sometimes ac­ would await them in the Canadian West. She knowledged one country or the other. Most of symbolized the Canadian government in the these texts were not specific on this subject. sense that she was welcoming people to this The dominant feature of this cover is an­ new land. Miss Canada was a sort of ambassa­ other icon that separated Canada from the dor, demonstrating the potential of a modern United States. As with the flag, this out-of­ country with a rich British heritage. scale woman was Miss Canada, the traditional A similar cover appeared on the Canada representative of the country. Often in late­ West magazine published in 1930. Many of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Ca­ the aspects of the scene depicted on this cover nadian political cartoons, Miss Canada was are the same as the 1923 -24 cover. There was depicted as the beautiful, graceful contrast to a modern farmhouse, barn, and outbuildings, 126 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2004 which appear to have been built from manu­ FARM FAMILIES AND CHILDREN factured materials. Above the house we can see power lines. The image also suggested The previously discussed Canada West cov­ mixed farming through the representation of ers focused heavily on women and their place both livestock and grain production. in western Canadian society, but women were The most striking feature of this image was not the only subjects of the immigration cam­ the woman with the child. Similar to the paign. Children were another, and we can see woman and child in the 1923 image, she rep­ this represented in the 1928 coverfeaturing a resented the importance of women to the farm­ young boy. He was hidden under a haystack, ing system that Canadian officials wanted for giving the appearance that he was at play. the prairies. In order to achieve a society based Canadian authorities felt that this was an im­ on family farms, Canada needed to ensure that portant message. Just as they tried to reassure the male-female ratio in the region was bal­ potential immigrants of enough development anced. To achieve this, the Immigration to give women a sense of security, they also Branch actively recruited single women to the wanted families to know that they could make prairies. As mentioned previously, one of the happy lives for their children in the Canadian ways in which the Canadian government tried West. The boy was not engaged in farm work; to appeal to women was to assure them that he obviously had the leisure to just play. This they would not have to give up all the niceties suggests that the family was prosperous enough of life in an urban, industrial setting. They to be able to afford to hire labor for the farm­ wanted women to feel that they were not leav­ and that there was labor to hire. As Cecilia ing behind civilization by coming to the West. Danysk suggests, this was not always the case, In this particular case, the woman's fashion­ and the Canadian government addressed this able dress was meant to send this message. It in their propaganda by attempting to recruit may have been store-bought, but if not, it still young men who could work as hired hands, as demonstrates that the woman at least had ac­ well as by reassuring older, more established cess to information about fashionable cloth­ farmers that they would have help in their ing. The message to women was that they work.38 This does not mean that all children would not be held hostage in a man's country, were free from work on the farm. Some cer­ with no outlets of their own. tainly did have to do chores, but according to Many of these themes reappear in the 1928 the propaganda, it was easy work that would cover of Canada West. In this image we can be beneficial in teaching children about run­ see a modern farmhouse, barn, and other out­ ning a farm. In the 1921 Canada West the bUildings, all of which appear to have been government said that farm work for children constructed from purchased materials. Addi­ "creates an important interest and builds for tionally, the house is in a fashionable style for splendid citizenship," as well as providing the late 1920s, demonstrating that farmers in young people with a means of earning money the Canadian West had access to new archi­ (6). tectural plans. We can also see power lines These documents emphasized the benefits above the house, which, as mentioned earlier, of the Canadian West for raising children, suggest that the West was highly developed. making statements like "the country is an ideal Finally, upon close examination one can see a place for children to grow to strong young tiny figure of a woman on the front porch of manhood and womanhood, with healthy, the house, and she is wearing the short hem­ strong bodies, clean, pure lives, souls with a line popular in the 1920s. All these elements broad clear outlook, and a vision of things are repeated from earlier covers, but the 1928 that counts for more than wealth" (CW 1918, Canada West also featured new themes. 17). Although this statement contained a tacit IMMIGRANTS AND IMAGES IN CANADA WEST MAGAZINE 127 admission that farming might not be the most profitable line of work, the officials hoped that families would have ideological reasons for wanting their children to remain on the farm. The boy on the cover could also refer to a project that many in Canada and Great Brit­ ain were advocating at the time. This was a plan to resettle poor, orphaned boys from the British Isles on farms in western Canada. Ad­ vocates of this program, known as boy settle­ ment, hoped that it would not only relieve the pressure on the British government to take better care of these children but also provide a labor source for farmers in western Canada. The idea was that these boys would be settled on special farms in the prairies where they would learn farming techniques. This would prepare them for lives as either farm laborers or preferably independent farmers with their own homesteads in the future. Many Canadi­ ans expressed interest in this scheme because it provided for a reliable stream of immigrants from a desirable ethnic group who could be FIG. 3. Cover of Canada West in 1928. trained in the latest techniques of scientific Photograph courtesy of the Bruce Peel Special agriculture. One problem the plan might have Collections Library, University of Alberta. created was a gender imbalance; the West al­ ready had an overwhelmingly male popula­ prise we can see in this image is the farmer tion, and there seems to have been no similar using the team of four horses to pull a har­ plan to recruit girls. vester in the field. It is not surprising that this Another new theme in the 1928 cover was image, produced relatively late in the Cana­ the emphasis on a different type of farming. In dian immigration campaign, should de-empha­ much of the previous immigration literature size mixed farming. In the late 1920s Canadian the government had emphasized that farmers farmers engaged in commercial monoculture. could engage in mixed farming. They encour­ The largest single crop was wheat, and farmers aged this system for several reasons. First, it were producing it on a huge scale. Canadian reduced the risk of failure; if there were a blight farmers produced enough wheat for the na­ that killed all of one crop, you would have tion to not only be self-sufficient, but to actu­ other things to sell at the end of the season. ally be an exporter. From almost the beginning Similarly, it also protected farmers against low of their advertising campaign, Canada had market values. For immigrants who were new made note of the large amounts of money that to farming, it gave them a chance to see what farmers could make producing these kinds of crops their homesteads were best suited to and commercial crops. The ultimate goal of the what they had a knack for raising. Finally, if a campaign was to populate the prairies with family needed to subsist from their produce, farmers engaged in commercial monoculture. mixed farming allowed for better nutrition and One final element of this 1928 cover was multiseasonal harvests. the prominent maple leaf. It was during this This 1928 cover makes no reference to period that the government seems to have mixed farming. The only agricultural enter- adopted the maple leaf as a symbol of Canada. 128 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2004

Its appearance in this image signifies this new selves questions such as, "Can I take my wife use as a symbol. and family with me, with assurance that social As we have seen, the Canadian govern­ conditions will be congenial, that the ment campaigned actively for immigrants be­ children's education will not be neglected, and ginning with the election of the Liberal Party that when they grow up they will find them­ in 1896. This campaign lasted into the early selves surrounded by opportunities such as are 1930s, when the combination of the Great not to be expected in my present circum­ Depression and the threat of war on the hori­ stances? No man, certainly no head of a fam­ zon gradually drew the government's atten­ ily, can ask himself more important questions tion to other topics. This is not to say that than these" (CW 1924, 1). These documents Canada completely abandoned attempts to demonstrate that the bureaucrats who ran the recruit new immigrants after the early 1930s. Immigration Branch were intent on recruiting As late as the 1960s Canada maintained their a specific type of immigrants and that these recruitment office on Trafalgar Square in Lon­ immigrants can be seen on the cover of Canada don, and agents in Britain continued to give West. presentations to potential immigrants, al­ though by that time they were no longer in­ terested in farmers but instead concentrated NOTES on women who could work in industry. The efficacy of this immigration campaign 1. Canada Department of the Interior, Immi­ gration Branch, Canada West pamphlet ("Last Best is still up for debate. In reality, there were West") (copies), record group 76, vol. 390, file many eastern European immigrants, especially 541601, National Archives of Canada, Ottawa. from the western part of what is today the Material from this collection is hereafter cited by Ukraine, and these people helped to shape volume and file number. Unless otherwise speci­ western Canadian society. In the context of fied, all the primary sources for this paper are housed in the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library, Univer­ this work, it does not really matter whether or sity of Alberta, Edmonton. Further citations to Canada not the ads were effective. In fact, there is no West issues are given in parentheses in the text. real consensus on this issue; much of the evi­ 2. Jean Colson, "Analyzing Images as Evidence dence suggests that they were not particularly or Using Them as 'Sources'" (unpublished paper, 82nd helpful. What we can see from these adver­ Annual Meeting of the Canadian Historical Associa­ tion, Dalhousie University, Halifax, May 2003). tisements is that Canadian government offi­ 3. John Oldland, "How the (Canadian) West cials had a very specific image of the society Was Won" (unpublished paper, Division of Busi­ they wanted to create in the prairies. Cana­ ness Administration, Bishop's University, Lennox­ dian officials did not want immigration to be ville, Quebec, 1989), 10. determined solely by push and pull factors. 4. Ibid.,8. 5. Ibid. They wanted immigrants who either were Brit­ 6. Richard S. Tedlow, New and Improved: The ish or would be amenable to maintaining Brit­ Story of Mass Marketing in America (N ew York: Basic ish institutions. Canadian officials saw the Books, 1976), 5. West as a place that should be populated by 7. Ibid. prosperous, white, Anglo-Saxon or at least 8. Quoted in Roland Marchand, Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920- Germanic, family farmers who would then 1940 (Berkeley: University of California Press, contribute to building a modern society with 1985), xv. all of the developments and conveniences to 9. Ibid., xix. be found in eastern Canada. In order to estab­ 10. T. J. Jackson Lears, Fables of Abundance: A lish their envisioned society, Canadian offi­ Cultural History of Advertising in America (New York: Basic Books, 1994),87. cials knew that they would have to allay the 11. Ibid., 103. fears of the families to whom they advertised, 12. Cecilia Danysk, "'A Bachelor's Paradise': and they acknowledged that men asked them- Homesteaders, Hired Hands, and the Construction IMMIGRANTS AND IMAGES IN CANADA WEST MAGAZINE 129 of Masculinity, 1880-1930," in Making Western 27. For more information on the reception of Canada: Essays on European Colonization and Settle­ African American immigrants in Canada, see ment, ed. Catherine Cavanaugh and Jeremy Mouat Troper, Only Farmers Need Apply; R. Bruce Shepard, (Toronto: Garamond Press, 1996), 156. "Diplomatic Racism: Canadian Government and 13. Cecilia Danysk, Hired Hands: Labour and the Black Migration from Oklahoma, 1905-1912," Development of Prairie Agriculture, 1880-1930 Great Plains Quarterly 3, no. 1 (1983): 5-16; andR. (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995), 17. Bruce Shepard, "Plain Racism: The Reaction 14. Harold M. Troper, Only Farmers Need Apply: against Oklahoma Black Immigration to the Cana­ Official Canadian Government Encouragement of Im­ dian Plains," Prairie Forum 10, no. 2 (1985): 365- migration from the United States, 1986-1911 (Toronto: 382. Griffin House, 1972), 7. 28. Canada Department of the Interior, Immi­ 15. Irving Abella and Harold Troper, None Is Too gration Branch Annual Report, vol. 403, file 583759, Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948 National Archives of Canada. (New York: Random House, 1982), vi. 29. Canada Department of the Interior, L'Ouest 16. Ibid. Canadien: Province du Manitoba et Territores du 17. Danysk, Hired Hands, 9. Nord-Ouest, Assiniboine, Alberta, Saskatchewan: 18. Abella and Troper, None Is Too Many, vi. Resources Naturelles et Climat de des R€giouns, 19. Ibid. Renseignements Pour les Colons, cultivateurs, 20. Troper, Only Farmers Need Apply, l. €leveurs, etc., 1900, 10. 21. Ibid., 22. 30. Danysk, Hired Hands, 41. 22. Valerie Knowles, Strangers at Our Gates: Ca­ 31. Ibid., 53. nadian Immigration Policy, 1540-1997 (Toronto: 32. Alexander Begg quoted in Danysk, Hired Dundurn Press, 1997), 69. Hands, 31. 23. Abella and Troper, None Is Too Many, vii. 33. Canada, The Opportunities Offered in the Do­ 24. Jean R. Burnet and Howard Palmer, "Coming minion for Domestic Servants, vol. 358, file 411788, Canadians": An Introduction to a History of Canada's National Archives of Canada. Peoples (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988), 27. 34. Ibid. 25. W. Peter Ward, White Canada Forever: Popular 35. Ibid. Attitudes and Public Policy toward Orientals in British 36. Ibid. Columbia (Montreal: McGill-Queens University 37. Canada Department of the Interior, Immi­ Press, 1978), ix. gration Branch, Western Canada: Free 160 Acres 26. Harold M. Troper, "The Creek-Negroes of Farm Lands; Where and How and All AboutIt: Infor­ Oklahoma and Canadian Immigration, 1909-11," Ca­ mation and Facts for the Prospective Settler, 1903, 2. nadian Historical Review 53, no. 3. (1972): 276. 38. Danysk, Hired Hands, 16.