Canadian Militia
The colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island did not require its residents to enrol with a sedentary militia unit, although locally raised "volunteer corps" were established.
[5] Local militia captains were appointed by the intendant, and typically assisted the civil administration with road-building, and periodic censuses.
[5] In 1669, King Louis XIV, concerned about the colony's inability to defend itself adequately against raids, ordered the creation of a compulsory militia that would include every fit male between 16 and 60 years of age.
This consisted generally of a capote, a breechcloth, leggings, a blanket, moccasins, a knife and two shirts, The clothing did not constitute a military uniform but was simply Canadian-style civilian wear.
The men were noted as excellent shots (most came with their own rifle, powder and bullets), and in better physical condition than regulars, because of their tough life, farming, fishing and hunting.
Volunteer militiamen were used to support the regulars and their First Nation allies on lengthy raids, where they absorbed the skirmishing tactics of the latter.
Members of the militia of the Province of Quebec first saw service with the British during Pontiac's War, when a battalion of three hundred Canadien volunteers took part in Brigadier-General John Bradstreet's expedition to Detroit.
[13] Early in his tenure as Lieutenant Governor, Brock passed legislation that allowed for him to train 2,000 volunteers, or men chosen by ballot, to serve as the flank companies for the Upper Canadian militia.
[17] The resulting act led to the creation of the Active Militia, in an effort to bolster the colony's defences.
[20] The Active Militias were mobilized on a number of occasions in the latter half of the 19th century, including the Fenian raids of 1870–71, the Wolseley expedition, the North-West Rebellion, and the Second Boer War.
The Second Boer War saw more than 8,000 volunteers raised for service in South Africa, from 82 different militia units.
[24] As World War I drew to a close and the CEF expected to disband, the Otter Commission was launched in an effort to reorganize the Canadian militia.
[27] In 1938, Ian Alistair Mackenzie, the Minister of National Defence, began to encourage General Harry Crerar, Chief of Defence Staff, to plan contingencies for the militia to prepare for expeditionary action, in the event of a war between Germany and the British Empire, without the consent of William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister of Canada.
[28] However, the Canadian Militia was not prepared to undertake an overseas campaign at the outbreak of World War II.
Colonel Charles Perry Stacey, a military historian for the Canadian Army from 1940 to 1959, on the readiness of the Canadian Militia at the eve of the Second World War, The tiny Permanent Force did not constitute a striking force capable either of counter attack against a major raid or of expeditionary action.
The Non-Permanent Active Militia, with its limited strength, obsolescent equipment, and rudimentary training, was incapable of immediate effective action of any sort against a formidable enemy.
They offered, however, no means for rapid intervention in an overseas theatre of operations.Following the suggestion of General Harry Crerar, on 19 November 1940, the military land forces of Canada were renamed as the Canadian Army through an Order in Council.
