Claude Jodoin (May 25, 1913 – March 1, 1975) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

trade unionist and politician. He served as the first president of the

Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC ( or ), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian trade union, labour unions are affiliated. History Formation The CLC was founded on April 23, 1956, thro ...

from 1956 to 1966.

Background

Born in the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

suburb of

Westmount Westmount () is a city on the Island of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal, with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public li ...

, Jodoin was educated at Brebeuf College. In 1937 he became an organizer for the

International Ladies Garment Workers Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) was a labor union for employees in the women's clothing industry in the United States. It was one of the largest unions in the country, one of the first to have a primarily female membersh ...

serving as a Canadian manager of the union from 1947 to 1951.

Political career

From 1940 to 1942 and again from 1947 to 1954 he served as an alderman on Montreal City Council. He was elected in the 23 March 1942 by-election to the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

, as a member of the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...

, representing the

Montréal–Saint-Jacques Montréal–Saint-Jacques was a former provincial electoral district in the Montreal region of Quebec, Canada that elected members to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. It was created for the 1912 election from part of Montréal division no. 2 ...

electoral district. He lost his seat in 1944 and was defeated in an attempt to regain a seat in the Legislature as an independent candidate in 1948. He had been leader of the

Young Liberals of Canada The Young Liberals of Canada (YLC) (French: ''Jeunes libéraux du Canada'') is the national youth wing of the Liberal Party of Canada. All members of the Liberal Party aged 14 to 25 are automatically members of the YLC. The Young Liberals of Canad ...

in 1939. He was offered a seat in the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

by Prime Minister

Louis St. Laurent Louis Stephen St. Laurent (; February 1, 1882 – July 25, 1973) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th prime minister of Canada from 1948 to 1957. Born and raised in southeastern Quebec, St. Laurent was a leading la ...

in 1956 but turned it down. Despite his earlier involvement with the Liberal Party, Jodoin supported the decision by the Canadian Labour Congress to work with the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...

to found the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

in 1961. Speaking in 1960, he said "The Congress, and I as its president, believe that the need for a new party is greater today than it was even a year and a half ago. Speaking to the NDP's founding convention, Jodoin said "A labour movement that is without interest in political matters is a labour movement that is evading one of the most fundamental responsibilities."

Union activism

From 1944, Jodoin served as the first chair of the Trade and Labour Council of Canada's National Standing Committee on Racial Discrimination.Ross Lambertson,
"The Dresden Story": Racism, Human Rights, and the Jewish Labour Committee of Canada
, ''Labour/Le Travail'', No. 47 (Spring 2001) (accessed 3 November 2006). Jodoin had served as president of the Montreal Trades and Labour Council and became president of 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 ...

in 1954. He led the TLC in unity talks with the

Canadian Congress of Labour The Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL; ) was a trade union federation in Canada. Affiliated with the United States–based Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). It was founded in 1940 and merged with Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC ...

that lead to their merger, creating the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). In 1956, the year the CLC formally came into existence, he became its founding president. He won election five times as the Labour Congress' president, the last in 1966. In May 1967, he suffered a debilitating stroke, that forced him to step-down from day-to-day duties as the president. He would never recover from the stroke, and spent the rest of his years in an Ottawa hospital. Despite his disability, and as a sign of respect, he remained as president, though in title only, until his term was over. Donald MacDonald became the acting president until he was elected to the position at the CLC's 1968 convention.

Honours

Near the end of his life, Jodoin received many awards in recognition for his union and political work. Most of the major honours came in 1967, when he was appointed to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in its inaugural year, and the Centennial Medal that marked Canada's 100th birthday. That same year, he received an honorary doctorate of law from the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

. In 1972, he was named to the Labor Hall of Honor. On 1 March 1975, Jodoin finally succumbed to the medical complications brought on by his stroke. He was buried in Montreal three days later in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jodoin, Claude 1913 births 1975 deaths Trade unionists from Quebec Montreal city councillors Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Presidents of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada Presidents of the Canadian Labour Congress Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec