English Canadians
During the final chapters of World War I, Canada was facing a great number of fatalities on the front line. Worse yet, not enough men were volunteering to take their place, meaning that wounded soldiers were being sent back to the firing-front lines of war, again and again. This lead the brave to the grave, or too badly injured to be able to live a healthy life, such a life we take for granted today. When Prime Minister Robert Borden recognized this cycle, he knew that action must be taken, and establishing conscription (mandatory military service) in Canada would add numbers to the forces.
Hi my name is William Smith and Borden has established conscription, which means I should be fighting in the War soon. Canada was not in settlement on the issue of conscription. Most English Canadians agreed with Borden, believing that it was Canada's duty to support Britain, since Britain and France would always stand by Canada in times of need, and Canada would undoubtedly suffer if Britain were defeated. English Canadians also believed it would be cowardly to desert their allies, and since there were not enough volunteers, conscription was thought to be the only solution to this problem.
Borden and his Conservative party were in favor of conscription. Due to the disagreement, an election had to be called. Borden knew that for the federal election of December 1917, referred to as the "Khaki Election", most voters would side with whichever political party share their views on conscription. To ensure that he was re-elected, Borden founded the Military War Measures Act, which gave all Canadian soldiers the right to vote, regardless of age or citizenship. He also created the War Times Elections Act, which gave the right to vote to widows, mothers and daughters of Canadian soldiers over the age of 21.By taking these steps, Borden was re-elected, and the Military Service Act was passed in August 1917
A total of 45,000 Canadian soldiers were conscripted and sent to fight during this time, and a great many more who were conscripted never saw service. Half of which ultimately served at the front. More than 50,000 more conscripts remained in Canada. These would have been required had the war continued into 1919