Citation

Waiser B. Gt. Plains Q. 2009; 29(3): 203-218.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Bill Waiser, specialist in western and northern Canadian history, describes how Canada's ill-planned depression relief policies forced business people Ted and Rose Bates make a botched suicide attempt, eventually leading to the death of their son Jackie. After failing in business in Glidden, Saskatchewan, due to Great Depression of the 1930s, they applied for relief assistance. They were denied assistance, first in Vancouver and then in Saskatoon, as they failed to meet local residency requirements. Ashamed to return home to Glidden, they decided to end their lives. Jackie got killed, leading to the duo's murder trial in 1934. The author Pierre Berton's research of the trial's outcome revealed that the Bates were acquitted. Ted Bates died of cancer in Rosetwon on December 9, 1954, while Rose returned to England shortly thereafter to his native village. Some recent documents however reveal that the Bates were an unhappy couple and eventually murdered their child after losing all hope of conciliation.

Language: en

Keywords

Canada; North America; suicide; policy implementation; prairie; historical perspective; biography; Saskatchewan; Great Depression; Great depression; Relief policy; Urder-suicide