Reports indicated that by comparison to other parts of Canada, particularly Toronto, German Canadians in Waterloo County were treated well. A German man who had lived in Canada for two thirds of his life was driven out of business in Toronto by a boycott due to his heritage. He contrasted Toronto with Berlin “where the great bulk of people are of German descent, and loyal to Britain and British institutions” and where “race distinctions are practically non-existent.”
Some with anti-German sentiments In Toronto even targeted the infiltration of the German language into English. Trustee Dr. John Noble of the Toronto School Board wished to remove the word “kindergarten” from the Toronto school system.
Although claims that anti-German feeling was “practically non-existent” were exaggerated, Waterloo County was seen as a kind of comparative haven for Germans because of their high representation in the population.
(“Persecution of German Canadians,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, 1 March 1915.; “To Wipe out ‘Kindergarten’,” Waterloo Chronicle, 18 March 1915.)
