late 1930. Thousands of men were hired to construct highways in remote areas of the province from temporary camps, named Bennett Camps after then-Prime Minister R. B. Bennett. This provided the necessary labour to open road links through vast expanses of wilderness in a relatively short period of time. Beginning in 1931, certain routes were designated as the Trans-Canada Highway, including the route between Sault Ste. Marie and the Quebec boundary as well as the planned connection to Thunder Bay and Winnipeg. By June 1931, planning for the route of the highway was complete, and work underway on the new link between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg that would roughly parallel the Canadian Pacific Railway. The first section to open was between the Manitoba town of Whitemouth and Kenora. On Dominion Day (July 1) 1932, an inter-provincial ceremony was held in Kenora to dedicate the new route. The next link would connect the road through the Kenora with the rough road connecting Vermilion Bay, Dryden and Dyment. This section opened in early 1933. From the east, construction proceeded at a similar pace, although through much more barren expanses of forests and lakes. By the end of 1932, construction had proceeded from Thunder Bay through Upsala to English River. A gap was all that remained, between Dyment and English River. On June 4, 1934, crews cleared the last section of forest separating Thunder Bay from Winnipeg. However, it would require another year of rock blasting and construction to make the route navigable by vehicles. On July 1, 1935, a multi-day motorcade celebration was held to officially open the new highway. A convoy of vehicles travelled from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg along the route, resting overnight in Kenora before completing the two-day journey. By the end of 1935, numerous factors combined which resulted in the termination of the highway camps. The federal government of R. B. Bennett used Section 98 of the Criminal Code in 1931 to arrest several leaders of the Communist Party of Canada. However, the lack of evidence and protests would eventually lead to the early release of the men, much to the embarrassment of the government. The men, with public support behind them, headed north to highway camps, where mounting tensions due to low wages, poor conditions, lacklustre food, isolation, and military-like discipline resulted in organized labour strikes. Funding was pulled from the Trans-Canada Highway in 1936. On April