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Temperance and the war effort

Broadcast Date: Dec. 16, 1942

With sons and husbands fighting a war overseas and factories working overtime at home, it's little surprise many Canadians have turned to the bottle for a bit of comfort during the Second World War. But drinking, says Prime Minister Mackenzie King, engenders resentment and undermines the war efforts of others. In December 1942 he asks Canadians to contribute to the war effort by giving up alcohol. In this radio address broadcast by CBC, King announces new restrictions on sales of wine, beer and spirits.

Temperance and the war effort

• According to historian Craig Heron's 2004 book Booze: A Distilled History, the provincial governments balked at King's temperance proposals. They had not been consulted in advance and protested the loss of revenue, and the bureaucratic measures they would have to take on.

• Advertising bans brought in during the war were still in force in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island in the mid-1950s.

• Workers were also displeased at the prospect of restrictions on drink, and some took to wearing badges with the slogan "No Beer–No Bonds." Seeing no downturn in beer sales, the government lifted the restrictions in March 1944.

• King's plea and restrictions apparently had little effect. A March 1944 editorial in the Globe and Mail despaired of the news that sales of liquor reached $250 million in 1943, an increase of 63 per cent over prewar figures. "In this war millions of Canadians have refused to impose any self-restraint upon their appetite for liquor," it said. "This widespread attitude argues a weakness in moral stamina which is strangely out of keeping with the valiant physical stamina of our youth."

Temperance and the war effort

Medium: Radio

Program: CBC Radio Special

Broadcast Date: Dec. 16, 1942

Speaker: William Lyon Mackenzie King

Duration: 28:44

Photo: National Archives of Canada

Last updated:
Oct. 17, 2008