as self-supporting missionaries. Western Canadian Union Conference In 1907 A. G. Daniells, President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, visited the western Canadian provinces and announced the need to organize these provinces into a "western Canadian Union Conference". "This will give them courage, good cheer, and strength," he wrote. He further noted that, "for a time it will need assistance from the States, but now is the time to give it. Let us remember western Canada in our prayers and gifts." Canadian Union Conference The Great Depression affected the church as well as society at large. Several steps were taken to manage the church's finances during this time. The 1931 General Conference's annual council recommended that the two Canadian union conferences be merged into one for all of Canada and Newfoundland. Delegates representing these two organizations met on May 24, 1932, in Winnipeg and decided to merge the two unions. The president of the General Conference, C. H. Watson, and the president of the North American division, J. L. McEIhaney, were present. At this same session it was recommended that the Manitoba and Saskatchewan conferences be merged into one and that the Ontario and St. Lawrence conferences also be merged. Winnipeg became the location for this newly formed Canada-wide conference. Sunday closing legislation Early in January 1906, the Lord's Day Alliance (LDA) met with Canadian Prime Minister Laurier and his minister of Justice. They asked that a Sunday-observance bill be enacted during the next session of parliament. As the cabinet of the government discussed the issue, the LDA solicited petition signatures favoring the proposed bill. W. H. Thurston wrote to Laurier asking for a meeting. In his letter he explains that the proposed Sunday legislation attempts to legislate in God's domain rather than as civil matters. He quotes Matthew 22:21, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." On this basis the Seventh-day Adventist Church opposed the bill. The interview with Laurier and his minister of Justice took place January 18, 1906. Thurston, along with H. E. Rickard, A. O. Burrill, and Eugene Leland appeared before Laurier and his minister of Justice in Ottawa. They explained their principles on the issue and gave a brief history of Adventism and its worldwide work. Each of the group presented statements addressing the proposed bill. According to Thurston, "this meeting was reported to