[1] In 1912, Canada experienced an economic depression, leading to mass unemployment, a decrease in the unionized workforce, and reduced wages for remaining workers.

[2] Wartime inflation caused real incomes to drop, particularly in 1917, and Vancouver shipbuilders experienced a labour shortage due to conscription.

[6] By the outbreak of World War I, the pacifist movement, which had initially been supported by various religious groups—including the Quakers, Mennonites, Hutterites, and Doukhobors—had become an important part of Canadian radical ideology.

French Canadians strongly opposed the act due to economic concerns and ascendant nationalism, leading to riots in Quebec City.

[8] Among the conscientious objectors was Albert "Ginger" Goodwin, a coal miner and labour activist active in Cumberland, British Columbia.

The press was critical of the strikers, with the Vancouver Sun claiming that "every man who lays off, in obedience to the infamous recommendation of extremists without honor or conscience, will stain himself with something that can hardly be distinguished from deliberate treason".

[5] The confrontation ended when Vancouver mayor Robert Henry Otley Gale convinced the veterans to form a committee to negotiate with the longshoremen.

Those leaders—including Ernie Winch, Jack Kavanah, George Thomas, William Pritchard, Joe Naylor, and Victor Midgely—contested this claim by pointing to the vote by VTLC delegates that supported the strike 117 to 1.