Howard Brown Chase,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(19 May 1884 – 19 February 1973) was a British-born Canadian trade union leader and public official. He was chairman of the Board of Governors of the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

from 1944 to 1945.

Life and career

Chase was born in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England on 19 May 1884, the son of an American father and an English mother who were visiting at the time. He began his career working on the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

at Fargo, working his way from the bottom to become a locomotive engineer. He came to Canada in July 1907 and worked as an engineer on the Canadian Northern Railway at Port Arthur, then for

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

and

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

, transitioning from freight trains to passenger trains. Having joined the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in 1908, he was elected Assistant Grand Chief Engineer of the union, with responsibility for Canada, in 1933, a post he held until 1948 when he was appointed to the

Board of Transport Commissioners The Canadian Transport Commission (CTC) was Canada's first fully converged, multi-modal regulator. The body was created by Canada's Parliament on September 19, 1967, to assume the responsibilities of two bodies: the Board of Transport Commissioner ...

. He served as technical adviser to the Canadian government's delegation to the

International Labour Conference The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

in 1938. In the run-up to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Chase was appointed to the Defence Purchasing Board (later the War Supply Board) in July 1939. When the Board was taken over by the

Department of Munitions and Supply The Department of Munitions and Supply was the Canadian federal government ministry responsible for co-ordinating domestic industry during World War II. It was created by the ''Department of Munitions and Supply Act'' with C.D. Howe as its Ministe ...

in 1940, Chase became its director general of labour relations, negotiating settlements in numerous strikes. In August 1941, he was appointed government controller of the National Steel Car Corporation in Hamilton, Ontario after a second strike, where he settled the strike and raised production by a third. In March 1943, Chase was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a representative for labour. In July 1944, he became chairman of the Board, succeeding

René Morin Louis-Simon-René Morin (July 27, 1883 – July 16, 1955) was head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during World War II from 1940 to 1944, and was the first francophone and native-born Canadian to head the CBC. Born in Saint-Hyacint ...

. He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for his wartime work in 1946. In 1948, Chase was appointed a member of the

, retiring in 1959. He died in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1973, survived by three sons; his wife, Muriel Chase, ''née'' Jones, predeceased him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Howard B. 1973 deaths Presidents of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 20th-century Canadian civil servants Canadian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British emigrants to Canada 1884 births Canadian trade unionists