Richard Bedford Bennett was born on July 3, 1870, and was prime minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935. Before moving to Calgary in 1897 he practiced law in New Brunswick. There he built a huge legal firm. Bennett became one of Calgary’s Parliament members in 1911. He then later became the conservative party leader in 1927. Three years later in 1930, Bennett became Prime Minister. Bennett tried to overcome the problems of the Great Depression. Two of the things he did was establishing the Bank of Canada and establishing a radio broadcasting system. In 1935 his government was defeated and he was the leader of the Conservative party until 1938. Later he retired to England and spent the rest of his life there. Richard Bedford Bennett died on June 27, 1947.

Richard Bedford Bennett helped shaped Canada because he was one of the Prime Ministers who helped Canada during the Depression. He was able to give the people of Canada hope so that they could hold onto their belief that they would get out of the Depression. He was able to use his leadership to lead the public though the fog of the Depression.