March 3: Port Arthur
A cheque for $600 ($7,847.06 in today’s dollars) is issued to the Soldiers’ Aid Commission, taken out of their 1919 grant money. The Commission offered financial support to veterans and their families.
March 3: Port Arthur
The City of Port Arthur is in the process of having a memorial monument made for the fallen soldiers. The Council has chosen the design of F. Leake, a stone mason, and he is to be paid $210 ($2,746.47 in today’s dollars) for his work. It is to include wording chosen by Father Grenier and they recommend a wreath of Fleur de Lis be incorporated.
March 10: Port Arthur
The Council has been given the go-ahead to write off the taxes incurred by Keefer Home while it was being used as a Convalescent Home for the military. They had been investigating this issue since January. The Council passes By-law No. 1556, which states the Treasurer is to write off the taxes.
March 11: Fort William
Port Arthur’s Civic Reception Committee has invited Fort William City Council and its citizens to the welcome reception of the 52nd Battalion on their return home. The Council accepts the invitation.
March 11: Fort William
The Finance Committee suggests the Council grant $3,500 ($45,774.51 in today’s dollars) to the Special Fuel Committee so they can purchase fuel for the dependants of soldiers in need. During the war, there was a fuel shortage in Canada due to the fact that fuel sources were being used at home and overseas, so many families could not afford fuel as the prices increased.
March 11: Fort William
$500 ($6,539.22 in today’s dollars) is granted to the Salvation Army Red Shield Campaign as the City of Fort William’s contribution.
March 11: Fort William
The Returned Soldiers’ Entertainment Committee of the City is given $2000 ($26,156.86 in today’s dollars) by Fort William City Council to use for the reception of the 52nd Battalion and other returned soldiers.
March 24: Port Arthur
William Paul is issued his $50 war grant ($653.92 in today’s dollars) for enlisting in active service during the war. This was the amount given to single men who had been City employees when they enlisted.
March 29: Fort William
The Dominion Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Traffic was established in 1877. The Alliance wanted to prohibit all alcohol, which was done nationally during the war. The City of Fort William received a letter from the secretary of the Dominion Alliance with a petition for the continued permanent prohibition of alcohol. We are not aware of Council’s response, but prohibition was not made permanent after the war.
March 29: Fort William
Captain J. Harvey Ellis requests Fort William City Council that he be refunded the interest incurred on his arrears of taxes. Due to the fact that he was fighting overseas and made a prisoner in a German war camp for over two years, he could not attend to his affairs back home. The matter is referred to the Finance Committee. In February, Port Arthur voted to not charge interest on taxes to returning soldiers, so it is likely that Fort William will also agree to do the same.
March 29: Fort William
The Committee of the 96th Lake Superior Regiment asks the Council to endorse a petition being sent to the Minister of Militia. The petition explains the hardships in connection with the work of the regiment since the outbreak of the war. The City Clerk is asked to write to Dr. R. J. Manion, M.P. requesting he investigate the conditions of the 96th Regiment. Manion was a Unionist (Conservative) Member of Parliament and a doctor who served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in the war. He was the first elected House of Commons member from the Fort William and Rainy River electoral district. In 1921 he was made Minister of Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment.
World War One Thunder Bay Centennial Project 