The view is of Cedar Street, looking west. By this time, the population was about 7,000, and the downtown area looked much like that of any smaller Ontario town. The streets had been paved and electric streetcars were running to Copper Cliff.
The parade shown symbolized the patriotic fervor of the dominant portion of the population which was of British origin, a feeling not shared by those of French-Canadian origin, for the conscription issue sharply divided the population along ethnic lines in the election of 1917. The patriotism of the majority particularly came to the fore with the news that Sudbury nickel, refined in the neutral United States, was being sent to Germany. After a great deal of agitation, lNCO finally built a refinery at Port Colborne in Southern Ontario.
