Clarence Gillis
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Clarence (Clarie) Gillis, MP (October 3, 1895 – December 17, 1960) was a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...
politician and
trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
from
Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...
,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
. He was born on Nova Scotia's mainland, but grew up in Cape Breton. He worked in the island's underground coal mines operated by the
British Empire Steel and Coal Company The Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (also DOSCO) was a Canadian coal mining and steel manufacturing company. Incorporated in 1928 and operational by 1930, DOSCO was predated by the British Empire Steel Corporation (BESCO), which was a merger o ...
(BESCO). He also served as a member of the infantry in the
Canadian Corps The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December ...
in
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. After the war he returned to the coal mines and became an official with the mine's
United Mine Workers of America The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing worke ...
(UMW) union. In 1938, he helped bring UMW Local 26 into the
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 ...
(CCF), becoming the first labour local to affiliate with the party.Smith, pp. 79–80 In 1940, he became the first CCF member 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 ...
, east of
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.
Agnes Macphail Agnes Campbell MacPhail (March 24, 1890 – February 13, 1954) was a Canadian politician and the first woman elected to Canada's House of Commons. She served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1921 to 1940; from 1943 to 1945 and again from 1948 ...
, though a supporter of the CCF, was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the
United Farmers of Ontario The United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) was an agrarian and populist provincial political party in Ontario, Canada. It was the Ontario provincial branch of the United Farmers movement of the early part of the 20th century. History Foundation and r ...
(UFO)-Labour party, not the CCF. Although, she did sit with the CCF caucus during her final years in parliament.
While serving in the House, he was known as its leading voice championing labour issues. He was also a main voice for social rights during his 17-years in Parliament. His most notable achievement was securing the funding that allowed the building of a fixed-link between Nova Scotia's mainland and Cape Breton Island at the Strait of Canso: the
Canso Causeway The Canso Causeway (''Cabhsair Chanso'' in Gaelic) is a rock-fill causeway crossing the Strait of Canso, connecting Cape Breton Island by road to the Nova Scotia peninsula. Its crest thickness is , carrying the two vehicle traffic lanes of th ...
. After winning four straight elections, he was defeated in 1957 and died three years later in
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia Glace Bay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Glasbaidh'') is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton. Formerly an incorporated t ...
.


Early life and World War I service

He was born on the Nova Scotia mainland, in the town of Londonderry, in 1895. His father, J.H. Gillis, moved the family to the
Industrial Cape Breton Industrial Cape Breton is a geographic region in the Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It refers to the eastern portion of Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton County fronting the Atlantic Ocean on the southeastern part of Cape Bre ...
area in 1904.Harrop, p. 17 J.H. Gillis worked in the coal mines and was an associate of union leader
J. B. McLachlan James Bryson (J.B.) McLachlan (9 February 1869 - 3 November 1937) was a prominent Scottish-Canadian trade unionist, journalist, revolutionary and political activist. McLachlan was a notable leader of the Canadian Labour Revolt. Early life: 1869– ...
. Clarie, as Clarence Gillis was known, started working in the region's coal mines in 1913.Harrop, p. 18 The next year, he joined the Canadian Corps and rose from private to acting lieutenant.Harrop, p.15-16 He suffered a head wound from shrapnel in Flanders. He would recover enough to go back to the mines after the war.


Trade Unionist and Federal MP

The period between 1920–1940 was the time that Gillis rose through the ranks of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) Local 26. He represented the federal riding of Cape Breton South, which included the city of
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, the towns of
Glace Bay Glace Bay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Glasbaidh'') is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton. Formerly an incorporated t ...
, New Waterford,
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and surrounding areas from
1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...
until his defeat in the 1957 election. Gillis was known as a defender of the working-man, and is credited with popularizing the Mouseland political parable. In 1943,
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had an editorial that attacked Cape Breton miners for asking for more butter during wartime rationing. As Gillis pointed out in the House of Commons, Cape Breton miners had amongst the highest enlistment rates in Canada, and their families were needy, not just for butter, but just about every kind of basic food-stuff. His constant support for workers did eventually bring about changes in the latter part of World War II. When labour unions were being attacked in Parliament, Gillis was usually the one called upon to defend them. In 1942, during the speech from the throne debate,
H. A. Bruce Herbert Alexander Bruce (September 28, 1868 – June 23, 1963), served as the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1932 to 1937. Biography Born in Blackstock, Ontario near Port Perry, Bruce was educated as a surgeon at the University ...
, the Conservative Party member from Toronto's Parkdale electoral district, was a typical critic of the Canadian Congress of Labor (CCL). Parliamentarians started attacking the American
Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
(CIO), which the CCL was affiliated with, and claiming that its union members were hurting the war-effort. Gillis stood up in Parliament and actively defended the unions, reminding the Commons, that he had been a unionist for over 25-years. Scenes like this were common for Gillis during this period. He was one of the few MPs that attacked the Canadian government's racist policies towards Japanese Canadians in the period between 1942–45. In 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 stated the following:
While we know that the war with Japan is a serious matter and that many atrocities have been committed by the people of that country, there is no reason why we should try to duplicate the performances of that country.
His defence of Japanese-Canadians arose out of the July 1944 debate on whether to allow them to vote. After questioning from prime minister
William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...
, Gillis pointed out that the CCF's official position is that all Canadians, especially those born in Canada, should have the full rights of that citizenship and have the franchise to vote. In the end, Liberal government ignored the CCF's pleas, and passed a law to racially restrict voting for Japanese-Canadians. One of his most notable achievements while in Parliament, was getting federal government funding to build the
Canso Causeway The Canso Causeway (''Cabhsair Chanso'' in Gaelic) is a rock-fill causeway crossing the Strait of Canso, connecting Cape Breton Island by road to the Nova Scotia peninsula. Its crest thickness is , carrying the two vehicle traffic lanes of th ...
to bridge mainland-Nova Scotia to Cape Breton Island.Harrop, pp. 42–49 The causeway was opened on August 13, 1955, and Gillis was part of the opening ceremonies, though his part was downplayed in the media at the time, as recently deceased former Nova Scotia premier
Angus L. MacDonald Angus Lewis Macdonald (August 10, 1890 – April 13, 1954), popularly known as 'Angus L.', was a Canadian lawyer, law professor and politician from Nova Scotia. He served as the Liberal premier of Nova Scotia from 1933 to 1940, when he became ...
was given most of the credit.


Personal life and death

He failed to get re-elected in the general election of 1957. He ran for parliament for the last time in 1958, the year of the Diefenbaker-Sweep, and lost the election. He retired from politics after this defeat. His first wife, Maime Gillis, née Stewart, died in 1953.Harrop, p.59 He married his second wife, Theresa Sargeant in 1958.Harrop, p.61 He died of
pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...
, in the Glace Bay Hospital, on December 17, 1960, in Cape Breton.


Election results


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillis, Clarence Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MPs 20th-century Canadian politicians Canadian socialists 1895 births 1960 deaths Canadian military personnel of World War I