Episode 5: The slave pact

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Muddied Water

Miscellaneous


May 30th, 1919, Winnipeg police officers were asked to sign a document. In it they pledge allegiance to the Police Commissioners and promise not to join 30,000 other workers in a city-wide strike. It was called "the slave pact" by many of the 252 members who refused to sign it, and it led to them being replaced by a group of citizen constables called the "Specials." Some remember them as a formidable force, others, a band of fools. Either way you look at it, it's law and disorder in Winnipeg as we head toward the end of the strike. Produced by Kim Kaschor and Marcy Makusa.