On June 3, 1935 more than 1200 single unemployed men, members of the Relief Camp Workers' Union, "hopped freights" in Vancouver determined to take their demands for "Work and Wages" to the federal government in Ottawa. On July 1 police violently dispersed the men in Regina arresting the leaders and hospitalizing many more. Nevertheless the trek was a seminal event in Canadian labour history that led directly to unemployment insurance and other social programs.
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