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4th Session, 41st Legislature

This HTML version is provided for ease of use and is based on the bilingual version that was distributed in the Legislature after First Reading.

Bill 238

THE WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE (BLOODY SATURDAY) ACT


  Bilingual version (PDF) Explanatory Note

(Assented to                                         )

WHEREAS, following World War I, labour organizers and unions sought to negotiate for collective bargaining rights and better wages and working conditions;

AND WHEREAS, when negotiations broke down, the labour organizers and unions called for a general strike;

AND WHEREAS, on May 15, 1919, approximately 30,000 workers in Winnipeg took to the streets, halting the operations of factories, businesses and institutions and began what is now known as the Winnipeg General Strike;

AND WHEREAS on June 21, 1919, the Royal Northwest Mounted Police and special constables, armed with guns and clubs, charged into a group of strikers on horseback;

AND WHEREAS two workers, Mike Sokolowski and Steve Szczerbanowicz, were shot and killed and many others were injured, resulting in June 21 becoming known as Bloody Saturday;

AND WHEREAS 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike;

AND WHEREAS observing Bloody Saturday serves to promote awareness of the important Canadian labour reforms which the Winnipeg General Strike helped make possible;

THEREFORE, HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:

Bloody Saturday

1

In each year, the third Saturday of June is to be known throughout Manitoba as Bloody Saturday.

C.C.S.M. reference

2

This Act may be referred to as chapter W158 of the Continuing Consolidation of the Statutes of Manitoba.

Coming into force

3

This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.

Explanatory Note

This Bill proclaims the third Saturday of June in each year as Bloody Saturday.