Rodney Young (March 21, 1910 − January 1, 1978) was a lawyer and Canadian Member of Parliament. Young was born in Liverpool and emigrated to Canada in 1926 at the age of 16 setting in Vancouver. He was a socialist activist during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and did political work in the unemployment relief camps that were set up during the

Great Depression in Canada The worldwide Great Depression of the early 1930s was a social and economic shock that left millions of Canadians unemployed, hungry and often homeless. Few countries were affected as severely as Canada during what became known as the "Dirty Thirt ...

. Young was a member of the Socialist Party of Canada's British Columbia section and was one of the party's two candidates in the dual member constituency of Vancouver Centre for the 1933 provincial election garnering 64 votes. In 1934, the Socialist Party in BC joined the fledgling

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

and Young joined the youth wing of the fledgling democratic socialist political party. He joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals during World War II, serving in the Canadian Army from 1940 until 1946. Following

demobilization Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

, he enrolled in the University of British Columbia's

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

. While still a law student in 1948, he contested a by-election in Vancouver Centre on behalf of the CCF and was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

. He only served for a year before being defeated in his attempt to retain his

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

in the 1949 federal election. His attempt to regain the seat in the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

resulted in a third-place finish. Young was a socialist and on the left-wing of the CCF. His involvement with Marxist activists resulted in his expulsion from the British Columbia wing of the CCF by the party's executive in 1954 in what was called the "Rod Young Affair".

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Rodney 1910 births 1978 deaths Military personnel from Liverpool Canadian Army personnel of World War II Royal Canadian Corps of Signals soldiers Canadian socialists Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MPs 20th-century Canadian politicians Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Canadian people of English descent