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The Township of East York was unable to meet relief costs before the Great Depression began. The building boom and need to provide necessary services such as sewers, roads and schools, had put great pressure on the budget. In February 1935, approximately 45 per cent of the population of East York was on relief, creating an impossible financial burden for the community.6
Many proposals for reducing the Township's expenditures were debated. Families were sent north as part of a "back to the land" movement, while single men were sent north to work on construction sites or as farm labourers. |
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