Was conscription necessary in 1917?
J.L. Granatstein – Yes! Conscription was militarily necessary to support the operations of the Canadian Corps during a crucial period of fighting.
Jack Granatstein is an award-winning historian and author. His latest work, The Greatest Victory: Canada’s One Hundred Days, 1918, is published by Oxford University Press.
Serge Durflinger – No! Conscription was the result of chaotic recruiting policies and reckless promises.
Serge Durflinger is an Associate Professor in the History Department at the University of Ottawa. He is the author of Fighting from Home: The Second World War in Verdun, Quebec and Veterans with a Vision: Canada’s War Blinded in Peace and War. His research interests include the Canadian home front during both world wars and veterans’ civil re-establishment.
Debate moderated by Paul Kennedy, host of CBC Radio One IDEAS.
Part of the Canadian’s War Museum’s World at War: International Speaker Series.
The World at War – International Speaker Series is an annual series of academic events, presented by the Canadian War Museum, to mark the centenary of the First World War. The events, presented in a variety of formats, provide an opportunity for the public to learn from leading Canadian and international expertsabout the war’s national and global reach, its cost and its legacies.
Official Partners of the Centenary of the First World War: John and Pattie Cleghorn and Family; H.Col (Ret’d) John C. Eaton, O.Ont., K.St.J., D.Com. and H.Col Sally Horsfall Eaton, S.S.St.J., C.D., R.N., LL.D.; The Friends of the Canadian War Museum; TD Bank Group; VISITFLANDERS and the R. Howard Webster Foundation.