The Maritime Rights Movement arose in the 1920s in response to perceived unfair economic policies in Canada that were affecting the economies of the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. At a time of rural protest in Canada from Ontario to the Prairies, the Movement was a broad-based protest demanding better treatment of The Maritimes from the federal government. It was centered in Saint John, New Brunswick, where the city's business leaders politicized the economic crisis and solidified their economic and political leadership.