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The story of the ON-To-Ottawa Trek During the Great Depression, the Canadian Government established the Unemployment Relief Scheme. It was a nationwide system of camps for single, unemployed men. The beneficiaries of the program worked on road construction and other physically demanding projects, in exchange for room and board and 20 cents a day. In 1935, about 1,500 men from various British Columbia camps went on strike in demand for better working conditions. After a few weeks of protests, and encouraged by many expressions of support from the community, they decided to go to Ottawa to lay their demands before the Prime Minister. It was the beginning of the On-To-Ottawa Trek, a journey that has been a source of inspiration to the workers’ movement in Canada for more than eight decades. -
"Fifty years ago, the leaders of many different, often competing, associations came together at a convention to formally establish a union for federal government workers. This represented the culmination of years of struggle to achieve what other workers outside the federal public sector had enjoyed for decades. It was the first step to bringing about real change in our members’ workplaces. It helped families and built communities. In 50 years, our membership has grown to include public sector workers in the north, university teaching and research assistants, workers in Indigenous communities and more. From the beginning, PSAC recognized the need to reach out to the broader labour movement, working in Canada and internationally to build solidarity with the struggles of working people around the world. As we celebrate our first 50 years, the work of building our union goes on." -
This 100-minute video, 50 years of the Union of Taxation Employees, is a celebration of the achievements of a labour organization and their members on their 50th anniversary. The organization began as the Dominion Income Tax Staff Association in the 1940s. It became the Taxation Component of the Public Service Alliance in 1966 and was then renamed the Union of Taxation Employees in 1987. Over the years, the union became known for its militancy and effectiveness, but also, for establishing good relations at every level with their employer, the Canada Revenue Agency. Definitely something to celebrate. -
"On a snowy December night in 1942 in the town of Almonte, Ontario’s Christmas celebrations were cut short when a train transporting Canadian troops rear-ended an Ottawa-bound passenger train that was waiting at the station platform. It is considered one of the worst train wrecks in Canadian history. Ottawa Storytellers Donna Stewart and Ruth Stewart-Verger tell stories of the people and events surrounding the Almonte Train Wreck. Johnny Spinks, a local Almonte singer accompanied by Bradley Scott, sang Mac Beattie’s song “Train Wreck at Almonte” courtesy of the Beattie family and his own song “Rust on the Rails”. This is a story celebrating the people who rode and worked on the trains of the Ottawa Valley and, specifically, those who came to the aid of No. 550 Pembroke Local, during the foul weather of December 27, 1942. The 50-minute video is in English only."
