Candy bar protest facts for kids

Montreal children protesting the 1947 candy bar price increase outside a Laura Secord candy store.

The candy bar protest, also known as the 5 cent chocolate war, the 5 cent war and the chocolate candy bar strike, was a short-lived 1947 protest by Canadian children over the increase in price of chocolate bars from five to eight cents. The strike began in Ladysmith, British Columbia, and spread across the country to include protests in Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto and the Maritimes. The strike ended when the Toronto Evening Telegram published an editorial suggesting that one of the organizations allied with the children, the National Federation of Labour Youth, was backed by communists.