Military Service Act
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Military Service Acts were introduced in the United Kingdom and Canada during World War I to enact conscription:
[edit] UK Military Service Act
In January 1916, Prime Minister David Lloyd George introduced the Military Service Act for the UK. Previous to this Act, the British Government had been relying on voluntary registration called the Derby Scheme.
[edit] Canadian Military Service Act
On May 18, 1917, Prime Minister Robert Borden made an announcement in the Canadian House of Commons that aggravated the already tense relationship between the French-speaking and English-speaking people of Canada and would cost the lives of many Canadians. Borden explained that Canada would begin registering and conscripting men for the Great War. In the House, every French-Canadian Member of Parliament voted against conscription and virtually every English-Canadian voted for it. The majority won and the Military Service Act became law on August 29, 1917.
When it was first passed, The Military Service Act placed some exemptions on who could be conscripted. Farmers and farm labourers, who were needed to continue providing food in a time of shortage, were among those exempted. When news of the high casualties was reported in Canada, it deterred many from volunteering for service. The war effort needed more soldiers, so on April 20, 1918, an order-in-council was passed that removed exemptions from the Military Service Act. This left farming operations across Canada short of much-needed labour.
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