Throughout Canadian history, there have been many times when conscription seemed like a necessary evil. Throughout these events, conscription has proven to have a negative influence on a country. Canada has repeatedly failed to implement conscription in a way that would benefit the nation. During World War I and World War II, conscription caused political uproar, ethnic separatism, and military weakness due to reluctant conscripts. Over the years, Canada has become known for its aspect of military combat. Its soldiers undoubtedly proved their strong will and the prowess of the Canadians was illustrated on the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars. However, the brilliance of the Canadian Forces was not without its flaws. During the First World War alone, 100,000 men were conscripted into the armed forces, increasing this figure to the number that Robert Borden, the Prime Minister at the time, had promised of 500,000 d 'by 1917. A simple calculation shows that more than 20 percent of the men who then made up the Canadian armed forces were conscripts and the men were not willing to fight. Among the French, 93% of those enlisted had requested an exemption. The lack of discipline among French Canadian soldiers even led to riots in Quebec. The savagery of the riots shocked conscripts and volunteers alike, and lowered the morale of both. Conversely, the majority of soldiers who requested the military exemption did not obtain their objective. Nonetheless, these men still found other ways to avoid the front lines, taking on non-combatant roles with cleaning duties and other work. Even though these militiamen were frowned upon, and even harassed by other soldiers, this did not prevent the conscript population from ...... middle of paper ...... violence and this leaves the consequences of 'a country divided into In the final analysis, the era when Canada instituted conscription brought nothing other than unrest between political parties, particularly in Quebec, and agreement between French Canadians and the The rest of Canada was left in ruins after prolonged riots. Conscription may have helped the war, but what resulted on the home front left scars. Soldiers who had their rights stripped due to forced military service didn't even have much of a choice, because if they didn't fight, they would be ostracized and harassed. Conscription went poorly and, despite some achievements, did not benefit Canada as a whole. Indeed, Canada would not be what it would be today if the events of history did not occur, but Canada had the opportunity to be much more.