Thomas Alexander McEwen (February 11, 1891 – May 11, 1988) was a Canadian labour organizer and Communist politician.

Early life

McEwen was born in Stonehaven, Scotland, south of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, to Agnes and Alex McEwen. His father fought and died in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

, several years after his mother died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. McEwen was raised by a guardian, Annie Wishart, until he was nine when he went to live with his aunt and uncle in the fishing village of

Catterline Catterline is a coastal village on the North Sea in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated about south of Stonehaven; nearby to the north are Dunnottar Castle and Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve. Other noted architectural or historic features in the ...

. When he was 13, he left the village for Aberdeen to find work, first as a baggageman on the

Great North of Scotland Railway The Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating in the north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers the fr ...

, then working with horses as a

hostler A hostler or ostler is a groom or stableman, who is employed in a stable to take care of horses, usually at an inn. In the twentieth century the word came to be used in railroad industry for a type of train driver. Etymology The word is spelled ...

and variously as a farmhand before apprenticing as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

. At 19, McEwen married Isobel Taylor and, following the birth of their first child, emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in May 1912 where he began his career as a blacksmith in Moren, Manitoba. The family moved to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

the next year where McEwen joined the Blacksmiths and Horseshoers union and then to

Swift Current, Saskatchewan Swift Current is the fifth largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is situated along the Saskatchewan provincial highway 1, Trans Canada Highway west of Moose Jaw, and east of Medicine Hat ...

in 1914. The family grew to include two daughters and two sons by 1920 when Isabel died in the

Spanish Flu epidemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

Career in left politics

McEwen joined the

Socialist Party of Canada The Socialist Party of Canada (SPC) was a political party that existed from 1904 to 1925, led by E. T. Kingsley. It published the socialist newspaper ''Western Clarion''. History Establishment The founding of the Socialist Party of Canada bega ...

in 1920. In the fall of that year the family moved to

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as t ...

where McEwen joined the Saskatoon Workers Party which subsequently became a branch of the newly formed

Communist Party of Canada The Communist Party of Canada (french: Parti communiste du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality. Although it does not currently have any parliamentary representation, the party's can ...

. McEwen was branch secretary and leader until 1927 when he moved to Winnipeg to work full-time as the party's organizer for Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In 1929, he moved to Toronto to become the party's industrial director. He helped form the

Workers' Unity League The Workers' Unity League (WUL) was established in January 1930 as a militant industrial union labour central closely related to the Communist Party of Canada on the instructions of the Communist International. This was reflective of the shift in ...

and became its

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

. The WUL was the Communist Party's "red union" centre and focussed on organizing and building revolutionary

industrial unions Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...

. At its height the WUL consisted of 40,000 workers organized in the mining, lumber, fishery, textile and hotel industries amongst others. In 1930, McEwen led a WUL delegation to Ottawa where he met Prime Minister

R.B. Bennett Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, (July 3, 1870 – June 26, 1947), was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935. Bennett was born in ...

to demand the institution of a system of

Unemployment Insurance Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...

. Bennett refused, saying "Never will I or any government which I am a part, put a premium on idleness or put our people on the dole." In 1935, McEwen was a lead organizer of the

On-to-Ottawa Trek The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a mass protest movement in Canada in 1935 sparked by unrest among unemployed single men in federal relief camps principally in Western Canada. Federal relief camps were brought in under Prime Minister R. B. Bennett’s ...

of unemployed people which was violently broken up in Regina, Saskatchewan. In 1931, McEwen and seven other leading Communists were arrested following a raid of the national offices of the Communist Party of Canada and the WUL were raided. The eight, including Communist Party leader

Tim Buck Timothy Buck (January 6, 1891 – March 11, 1973) was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada (known as the Labor-Progressive Party from 1943 to 1959) from 1929 until 1962. Together with Ernst Thälmann of Germany, Maurice Tho ...

were sentenced to five years in

Kingston Penitentiary Kingston Penitentiary (known locally as KP and Kingston Pen) is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario. History Constructed from 1833 to 1834, and opened on June 1, 1 ...

for being members of an organization declared illegal under Section 98 of the Criminal Code. They were freed in 1934 following a campaign for their release. McEwen was chosen by the Communist Party in 1938 to go to Moscow and work for the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

for a two-year term. Upon his return to Canada in 1940 he was arrested under the

Defence of Canada Regulations The ''Defence of Canada Regulations'' were a set of emergency measures implemented under the ''War Measures Act'' on 3 September 1939, a week before Canada's entry into World War II. The extreme security measures permitted by the regulations ...

and charged for “continuing to be a member of the Communist Party", which had again been declared illegal as a result of

World War II 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 ...

. He was sentenced to two years less a day of hard labour in the Manitoba provincial jail at Headley, Manitoba. He was ordered released in 1941 but was then detained under the orders of the federal government and interned with other Communists at a detention camp in

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadia ...

. Internments ended by 1943 after the Soviet Union became an ally as a result of Germany's invasion of the USSR. The banned Communist Party was permitted to reorganize itself as the

Labor-Progressive Party The Labor-Progressive Party (french: Parti ouvrier-progressiste) was the legal Front organization, front of the Communist Party of Canada from 1943 to 1959. Origins and initial success In the 1940 Canadian federal election, 1940 federal elect ...

. For the 1945 federal election, the party sent McEwen to the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

to be its candidate. The

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

riding association An electoral district association (french: association de circonscription enregistrée), commonly known as a riding association (french: association de comté) or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the ...

was concerned that McEwen could win and opted not to run a candidate in Yukon riding and instead supported

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

George Black. The local unions supported McEwen and the LPP's platform of support for

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

, family allowance, old age pensions, workers’ compensation and equality for “Indians and Eskimos.” McEwen won 32% of the vote, coming within 162 votes of being elected.History of Federal Ridings – YUKON (1945/06/11)
/ref> Subsequently, McEwen moved to

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

where he was appointed editor of the party's west coast newspaper, the '' Pacific Tribune'', which he edited until his retirement in 1970. In 1974, he published his autobiography, ''The Forge Glows Red''.

Electoral record

References