Summer 1917

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The summer of 1917 brought both sorrow and steadfastness to Pontiac County, as the weight of three long years of war pressed ever more heavily upon the community. The pages of The Equity reflected a population both hardened by loss and sustained by duty. Editorials spoke with solemn pride of Canada’s progress in the war, while acknowledging that the dream of a swift victory had long vanished. Instead, they called for continued endurance and sacrifice, promising that through trial and discipline the country would emerge into a “higher and better life.” The war had ceased to be a moment of crisis — it was now a condition of existence, defining every family, every business, and every act of civic life.

The cost of that existence was counted in names and faces. Letters from Europe and telegrams from Ottawa brought the war home with relentless regularity. Memorial services filled the churches of the Pontiac — among them a service in Shawville honoring Lance Corporal J. J. Howard of Green Lake, who fell at Vimy Ridge. His loss, like so many others, linked the great victory of April to the grief of small towns half a world away. Notices of the wounded appeared side by side with obituaries: Private Ben F. Smith and Private John Elliott returned home bearing the marks of battle; Lance Corporal Crawford Dolan of Portage du Fort was reported injured, while Private Roy M. Knox of Campbell’s Bay was said to be recovering in hospital overseas. Each story carried a mix of pride and pain — proof that even triumph came at an impossible price.

At home, patriotism took the form of unending labor and generosity. Homemakers’ Clubs across the county organized socials and fundraising events, with groups like the Murrells H.M. Club devoting their proceeds entirely to “soldiers’ needs.” Even schoolchildren joined the cause — pupils in Clarendon pooled their pennies to send aid to war victims in Belgium. Everyday life became part of the national campaign of thrift and conservation. Under the new federal Food Controller’s regulations, hotels and restaurants were ordered to observe “meatless days,” limiting servings of beef and bacon to preserve supplies for the front. Editorials urged families to plant more gardens, to can fruit and vegetables, to waste nothing. Rising prices — particularly for staples like potatoes — drove home the necessity of self-reliance. The household economy had become a front line of its own.

The region’s farmers continued to shoulder an enormous share of the burden. Labor was scarce and the work relentless, but agriculture was now recognized as a patriotic enterprise. Government policies rewarded farmers who stayed home to work the land, allowing service on farms to count toward homesteading duties for returning soldiers.

Machinery dealers warned farmers to buy immediately or face steep price hikes next year, while the local telephone company began charging penalty fees for overdue rentals — small signs of how even rural systems strained under the pressure of wartime economics. And even your choice in breakfast cereal had to be patriotic.

Yet it was politics — not prices — that defined the tone of that summer. The debate over the Compulsory Service Bill reached fever pitch, tearing open divisions that had long been simmering beneath Canada’s patriotic surface. English-speaking editorials, echoing Ottawa’s rhetoric, accused Quebec of failing to “flock to the colors,” and condemned Sir Wilfrid Laurier for “truckling to French-Canadian sentiment.”

An article in The Equity, published in July 1917, framed the conscription debate less as a clash of political parties and more as a profound linguistic and cultural divide.

The Conscription Bill

SECOND READING CARRIED BY A MAJORITY OF SIXTY-THREE.

Ottawa, July 6.—The second reading of the Compulsory Service Bill was passed at five minutes after five o’clock this morning by a majority of 63.

The vote stood 118 to 55.

Twenty-five English-speaking Liberals and one French-speaking Liberal, on the final division, cast their votes with the Government, and only twelve English-speaking Liberals voted against the measure. Half of these were from Quebec.

In the Pontiac, this friction was felt with particular intensity. While the region’s Conservative MP, Gerald Hugh Brabazon, remained loyal to the Borden government and cast his vote in favor of the Bill, he found himself increasingly isolated from his own constituents.

The bitterness of the Conscription debate was inflamed by acts of violence, including the dynamiting of Lord Atholstan’s Montreal residence, an act widely blamed on anti-conscription radicals. For many in Pontiac — a region straddling both linguistic traditions — the conflict was deeply personal. Families, businesses, and councils with both English and French names tried to navigate loyalties that were increasingly at odds, even as both sides shared the same losses and anxieties.

Amid the tension, new voices began to emerge. The government’s announcement of a limited war franchise for women — particularly those who were mothers, sisters, or wives of soldiers — was celebrated as both a recognition of service and a political strategy to bolster support for the war. It marked the first significant expansion of the vote in the region’s history, and for many local women already leading Red Cross and Homemakers’ work, it felt like a long-overdue acknowledgment of their indispensable role.

By the close of the summer, the Pontiac — like Canada itself — stood on uncertain ground. The war’s purpose remained clear, but the unity that had once defined it was beginning to fray. Even so, The Equity continued to insist on perseverance: that service, savings, and sacrifice were the pillars on which victory rested. As autumn approached, the war showed no sign of ending, and the first drafts of conscription loomed ahead. The months to come would test not only the Empire’s endurance abroad, but the country’s fragile sense of solidarity at home.

Soldiers Mentioned in The Equity

These names have been extracted from copies of The Equity by AI and may have mistakes. Please let us know if you catch any at jon@theequity.ca.

Mentioned	Soldier / Personnel	Status / Details
Jul 5, 1917	L-Cpl. J. J. Howard	Killed in action on April 9, 1917, during the attack on Vimy Ridge.
Jul 5, 1917	Graham Hennessey	Eldest son of the late O. M. Hennessey; reported en route for overseas service.
Jul 12, 1917	Corp. John McNally	Described the Canadian breakthrough in a letter; hit on April 11 while serving in France.
Jul 12, 1917	Pte. T. D. Fournier	Portage du Fort soldier; listed in Canadian casualties as wounded.
Jul 12, 1917	Pte. W. A. Roy Onegl	Portage du Fort soldier; listed as wounded and missing.
Jul 19, 1917	Pte. John Elliott	Local soldier who arrived back home after crossing the ocean a few weeks prior.
Jul 19, 1917	Pte. O'Connor	From Litchfield; arrived home after being wounded in France.
Jul 26, 1917	Sapper Lawrence Grant	Enlisted from Fort William; died of wounds on July 5 while being transported in an ambulance.
Jul 26, 1917	Cyril Dale	Severely wounded in the left hand by a rifle bullet on the Somme front.
Aug 9, 1917	C. H. C. Greentree	Resigned as bank manager to enlist in an overseas Railway Construction battalion.
Aug 9, 1917	Pte. Roy M. Knox	Wounded in France; recuperating in a hospital at Leith, Scotland.
Aug 16/23, 1917	Pte. Ben F. Smith	Served overseas with the 77th Battalion; returned to Quebec after being invalided to England.
Aug 16, 1917	Corpl. F. Onion	Sent a card from France thanking the Tobacco Fund for a local donation.
Aug 16/30, 1917	L-Cpl. J. W. Thomas	Reported dangerously ill after nine months of active service in France.
Aug 16, 1917	L-Cpl. Clifford Dolan	Portage du Fort soldier; seriously wounded in heavy fighting in France.
Aug 23, 1917	Sandford Leitch	Reported to have fallen in action on Easter Monday, April 9.
Aug 23, 1917	Robert McKinnon	Reported killed in action on the morning of June 3.
Aug 23, 1917	Pte. H. C. Oliver	Described casualties and conditions after surviving Vimy Ridge.
Aug 23, 1917	W. Biscoe & R. Woollven	Soldiers expected to join Pte. Oliver's brigade shortly.
Aug 23, 1917	Capt. Arthur Gillies	Forwarded weapons captured at Vimy Ridge back to his father in Carleton Place.
Aug 30, 1917	Corp. L. H. Thomas	Reported wounded in France a short time prior.
Aug 30, 1917	Arthur Thomas	Wounded soldier reported to be getting along well.
Aug 30, 1917	Rev. Capt. J. A. Macfarlane	Visited by his brother while serving in his current position.
Aug 30, 1917	Capt. Dave Macfarlane	M.D. who returned from France for a two-week visit before redeploying.
Aug 30, 1917	Bdr. E. W. Paul	Sent a thank-you letter to a local Girls' Club for sending socks to his unit.
Sep 6, 1917	Sergt. McNally	Name appeared in official casualty lists as having been wounded.
Sep 13, 1917	Pte. Clifton Woodley	Wounded and captured at Ypres in 1916; sent a photo home showing him as a POW in Germany.
Sep 13, 1917	Robin (Family Member)	Formerly of North Clarendon; believed to be a fellow prisoner pictured in Pte. Woodley's photo.
Sep 20, 1917	Pte. John McCorriston	Reported wounded in action for a second time.
Sep 20, 1917	George Madore	Portage du Fort man; appeared in casualty list as wounded.
Sep 20, 1917	Willie Brownlee	Serving with an Edmonton unit; reported wounded in action.
Sep 20, 1917	Pte. J. A. McCuaig	Shawville resident; listed as dangerously ill in official casualty reports.
Sep 20, 1917	Pte. C. R. McArthur	Son of a former Shawville resident; reported killed in action.
Sep 27, 1917	Gnr. A. G. Hodgins	Attached to the 77th Battery; preparing to leave shortly for overseas service.
Sep 27, 1917	L-Cpl. John N. Landry	Killed at Vimy Ridge in April; memorial service scheduled at St. Paul's Church.
Sep 27, 1917	Gerald Eades	Granted rest leave for a duration of a few months.
Sep 27, 1917	Pte. Macfarlane	Reported missing since Aug 15, but later confirmed as safe.
Sep 27, 1917	Pte. Jack McDonald	Returned to Petawawa for further training after a neighborhood visit.
Sep 27, 1917	Pte. James Raymond	Remembered in an "In Memoriam" poem; killed at Vimy Ridge, April 10, 1917.