Daniel John O'Donoghue (August 1, 1844 – January 16, 1907) was a

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, labour leader and political figure in

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. O'Donoghue is recognized as one of the original founders of organized labour in Canada and in 1874 he became the first labour candidate elected to a Canadian legislature.Clavette, Ken. "The 'Rag, Tag, and Bobnail:' The rise and fall of Ottawa's early working class." ''Ottawa: Making A Capital.'' Ottawa: Ottawa University Press, 2001. p. 151

Labour activism

He was born near

Killarney Killarney ( ; , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Killar ...

in County Kerry, Ireland on August 1, 1844, and came to

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with his parents in 1852. Required to support his family after the death of his father, he became an apprentice to a printer in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

at 13. He later spent time learning his trade as a printer while working in various places in the

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. In 1866, he returned to work in Ottawa, where he helped form Ottawa Typographical Union, later part of the

International Typographical Union The International Typographical Union (ITU) was a North American trade union for the printing trade of newspapers and other media. It was founded on May 3, 1852, in the United States as the National Typographical Union. It changed its name to the ...

. In 1872, with Donald Robertson, he convinced Sir

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...

to introduce legislation legalizing

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s. Later that year, O'Donoghue and Robertson helped found the Ottawa Trades Council; O'Donoghue became president in 1873. Later that year, he led an unsuccessful strike for a nine-hour day for printers. Also during that year, he helped found the

Canadian Labour Union The Canadian Labour Union (1872 – 1878) was the short-lived first attempt at a national central organization to represent labour unions in Canada. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario on September 23, 1873, by 46 local unions. It could not be consid ...

and became its first vice-president.

Election to the legislature

He was elected to the sole seat representing the City of Ottawa in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

in an 1874 by-election. The City of Ottawa at the time was heavily populated by labourers brought in to help erect the Parliament Buildings on

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

and other structures for the new capital. The working class community was sharply divided between the Irish and French Canadian workers, but O'Donoghue helped personally bridge this gap through his marriage to Marie Cloutier. O'Donoghue's candidacy was made possible by the recent decision by

Oliver Mowat Sir Oliver Mowat (July 22, 1820 – April 19, 1903) was a Canadians, Canadian lawyer, politician, and Ontario Liberal Party leader. He served for nearly 24 years as the third premier of Ontario. He was the eighth lieutenant governor of Ontario ...

's government to remove the

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s on running for office. O'Donoghue triumphed winning 59.2% of the vote, aided by the decision by the

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to drop out on the day of the election. During his time in office, he lobbied for extending the vote to more people in the province, although he opposed extending the vote to women. He was reelected in 1875. Facing concerted opposition from both the Liberals and Conservatives, he lost in most of the city, but won a massive majority in the working-class neighbourhoods of Lowertown. By the next election things had changed, as a deep recession had deeply wounded the labour movement in Ottawa, O'Donoghue finished third.

Later career

After his defeat he moved to

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, Ontario, where he edited a labour paper, then to

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. In 1880, he began work at the ''World'' and became a member of the Toronto Typographical Union. He became the editor of the ''Labour Record'' in 1886. He was a lifelong active member of the

Knights of Labor The Knights of Labor (K of L), officially the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was the largest American labor movement of the 19th century, claiming for a time nearly one million members. It operated in the United States as well in ...

and was a paid organized for them. He helped found the Toronto Trades and Labour Council in 1881. In 1883, he helped form the

Trades and Labour Congress of Canada The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada was a Canada-wide central federation of trade unions from 1886 to 1956. It was founded at the initiative of the Toronto Trades and Labour Council and the Knights of Labor. It was the third attempt at a n ...

. He also helped convince the leaders of the

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in Canada to accept rather than oppose a new international labour organization, the

. O'Donoghue served ten years on the board of the Toronto Technical School, which helped train workers. He worked at the Ontario Bureau of Industries, a provincial statistical agency that collected information on labour and industry. In 1900, he became the first fair-wage officer for Canada, working first at the Department of Public Works and then the

Department of Labour A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...

. He became ill in 1906 while working in

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as part of his functions in that post, and died at his home in Toronto on January 16, 1907.

Electoral history

References

Bibliography

*Clavette, Ken. "The 'Rag, Tag, and Bobnail:' The rise and fall of Ottawa's early working class." ''Ottawa: Making A Capital.'' Ottawa: Ottawa University Press, 2001. *Forsey, Eugene, "Trade Unions in Canada 1812-1902", Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1982. *French, Doris, "Faith, Sweat, and Politics: The Early Trade Union Years in Canada" (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Ltd 1962) *Parsons, Vic, "Daniel O'Donoghue: 'Grand Old Man' of Canada's Labour Movement", The Beaver, December 1998/January 1999, Vol. 78, No.6, pp26–29 *O’Donoghue, John G., "Daniel John O’Donoghue Father of the Canadian Labour Movement", The Canadian Catholic Historical Association Report 1942–43, pp87–96

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''Member's parliamentary history for the Legislative Assembly of OntarioOttawa and District Labour Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonoghue, Daniel John 1844 births 1907 deaths Trade unionists from Ontario Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs People from Killarney Politicians from Ottawa Politicians from Toronto Immigrants to the Province of Canada Trades and Labor Congress of Canada people International Typographical Union people Politicians from County Kerry 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario