Prohibition in Canada was a ban on alcoholic beverages, which emerged at different stages, from local municipal bans in the late 19th century, to provincial bans in the early 20th century, to a national ban (a temporary wartime measure) from 1918 to 1920. The relatively large and powerful beer and liquor sector, as well as the huge working class that bought their products, could not convince any government to change its stance on prohibition. Most provinces repealed their bans in the 1920s, although alcohol was banned in Prince Edward Island from 1901 to 1948. By comparison, Ontario’s abstinence law was in effect from 1916 to 1927.
As a law, alcohol prohibition was repealed, it was usually replaced by an ordinance imposing restrictions on the sale of alcohol to minors and an excise tax on alcoholic beverages.
Local option.
Some legislative steps toward prohibition were taken in the 19th century. The passage of the Canadian Abstinence Act of 1864, also called the “Dunkin Act,” in the provinces of Canada , allowed any county or city to prohibit the sale of liquor by majority vote. . After the Canadian Confederation, local choice was extended to the rest of Canada through the Canadian Abstinence Act of 1878. It was often known as the Scott Act after its sponsor Sir Richard William Scott . It also allowed any county or city to participate in the prohibition scheme if there was a bare majority on the local ballot. Under the CTA, the sale of alcohol for sacramental or medical purposes remained legal.
As a result of the local option vote, more than 240 seats in Ontario were under local option prohibition by 1912.
Cardston, Alberta’s licensing district, which included the city and its environs, voted to ban local options in 1902.
The failure of the referendum.
An official, but non-binding, federal referendum on prohibition was held in 1898. Fifty-one percent voted for the ban and 49 percent voted against it. Voter turnout was low at 44 per cent. Prohibition had a majority in all the provinces except Quebec, where 80 per cent of the population voted against it. The main factor was religion. Protestant Pietists, such as Methodists, Presbyterians, and Scandinavian Lutherans, were strongly supported. Liturgical or high church Protestants, such as Anglicans and German Lutherans, were in opposition; Catholic populations, both French and Irish, were strongly opposed. The urban areas were more opposed than the rural ones, but economic well-being did not matter much. Despite the prohibitionist majority, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier’s government chose not to introduce a federal prohibition law because of strong opposition in Quebec and low voter turnout. As a result, prohibition in Canada would only be enforced through separate sets of laws passed at the provincial level during the first twenty years of the 20th century.
Provincial and Federal Prohibition
Between 1900 and 1919, one province after another “dried up.” In March 1918, the federal government banned the production of “hopped” beverages as a military measure. Most provinces instituted the ban during World War I and decided to extend the alcohol ban after the war ended. Between 1878 and 1928, about 75% of Canadian breweries closed. Notable extremes were Prince Edward Island, which instituted the ban as early as 1901, and Quebec, which instituted the ban in 1919, but quickly repealed it after intense public pressure.
World War I was an important factor in the success of prohibition efforts in Canada in the early 20th century. Many believed that prohibition would create a Canadian society worthy of the sacrifice of soldiers abroad. It was also argued that prohibition would benefit the war effort by preventing waste and inefficiency. Some also saw the bar hall as a place where “foreigners” gathered and “conspired” against the British Empire and, therefore, against the war effort. When former opponents of the ban were silenced lest they be deemed unpatriotic, the provinces began to enforce the ban.
After the elections of 1917 the federal government imposed a national prohibition by means of the Council Order, which came into force on April 1, 1918. It prohibited the importation of alcohol over 2.5 per cent into Canada, interprovincial trade in alcohol, including a ban on production. The wartime prohibition expired one year after the end of the war. It was the first and last time Canada had a national ban on the manufacture, distribution and consumption of alcohol.
First Nations.
Canada’s indigenous peoples were subject to laws prohibiting the use of alcohol. under the Indian Act of 1876. This was an attempt on the part of the Canadian government to ease assimilation because in order for an indigenous person to own alcohol, he or she had to become a Canadian citizen through suffrage and be entitled to Grant voting rights to aboriginal peoples it was necessary to demonstrate sobriety. The laws also reflected a widespread false belief among North Americans that Native people were more prone to alcohol addiction, known as the “firewater myth. Sections of the Indian liquor law were not repealed for more than a hundred years, until 1985.
Alcohol production in Ontario
Despite prohibition from 1916 to 1927 in Ontario, the government allowed many exceptions. Wineries were exempted from closure, and various breweries and distilleries remained open to the export market. In Hamilton, Ontario , Rocco Perry specialized in exporting spirits from old Canadian distilleries such as Seagram and Gooderham and Worts in the States, and helped these companies gain a large share of the American market. In London, Ontario, Harry Lowe and his group of rum merchants bought Carling Brewery, while the Labatt family turned over operations to manager Edmund Burke. The fact that “exports” could be made by small boat from Windsor across the river to Detroit only helped the provincial economy. The Roma flight was also taking place in other provinces.