Angus MacInnis (September 2, 1884 – March 3, 1964) was a
Canadian socialist politician and
parliamentarian.
MacInnis, a
trade unionist who had served for five years as a
Vancouver Alderman, was first 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 ...
in the
1930 election as an Independent Labour
Member of Parliament. He joined the
Ginger Group
The Ginger Group was not a formal political party in Canada, but a faction of radical Progressive and Labour Members of Parliament who advocated socialism. The term ginger group also refers to a small group with new, radical ideas trying to act ...
of socialist MPs led by
J.S. Woodsworth
James Shaver Woodsworth (July 29, 1874 – March 21, 1942) was a pre–First World War pioneer of the Canadian Social Gospel, a Christian religious movement with social democratic values and links to organized labour. He was a long-time leader an ...
. He helped form 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) in 1932 and thereafter sat as a CCF MP.
MacInnis retained his status as an MP through five subsequent elections until his retirement in 1957, but sat in three different ridings. From 1930 to 1935 he represented
Vancouver South. From 1935 to 1953, he was elected three times in
Vancouver East. He finished his political career as MP from
Vancouver Kingsway. He was an outspoken advocate of
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
and spoke against the discrimination against Japanese Canadians that was widespread in
British Columbia in the 1930s and 1940s, and was an early advocate of extending the right to vote to Japanese Canadians, a right that was not won until 1949.
In 1943, he and his wife
Grace MacInnis
Winona Grace MacInnis (née Woodsworth; July 25, 1905 – July 10, 1991) was a socialist Canadian politician. She was the first woman from British Columbia elected to the House of Commons of Canada, as well as the first wife of a former ...
published ''Oriental Canadians—Outcasts or Citizens?'' which, while a call for humane treatment of Japanese-Canadians, acquiesced to the prevailing mood at the time that favoured "evacuating" Japanese Canadians from the
Pacific coast of British Columbia for reasons of wartime security.
When
F. R. Scott stepped-down as the National Chairman, just before the CCF's biennial convention in Vancouver in July 1950, there was a rift between the farmer and labour wings.
Percy Wright
Percy Ellis Wright (1 November 1892 – 30 September 1980) was a democratic socialist politician. He was a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), and served over 13 years as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Common ...
a Saskatchewan farmer and Member of Parliament, represented the farmer-wing, while MacInnis, represented the labour-wing.
Wright defeated MacInnis in the election to be the CCF's National Chairman.
See also
*
Labour Party (Canada)
References
Inline citations
General references
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macinnis, Angus
1884 births
1964 deaths
Canadian trade unionists
Canadian socialists
Labour MPs in Canada
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia