Prairie Fire: The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919
On May 15, 1919, the largest labour uprising in Canadian history, saw 25,000 people, virtually every working man and woman in Canada’s third largest city walk off their jobs. Winnipeg was paralyzed. The country was in shock and in fear.
Prairie Fire describes in-depth the social conditions in the city at the turn of the century: the dichotomy between rich and poor, war industries and their workers. We also explore the historical significance of the Strike - coming in the wake of World War One and the Russian Revolution, when the fear of Communism prevailed in North America.
The film combines eyewitness accounts with archival images to tell the story. Historians and labour leaders give their perspective on the impact of the strike then and how it has influenced Canada’s labour movement to this day.