The Dominion Communist–Labor Total War Committee was a front organization of the then-banned

Communist Party of Canada The Communist Party of Canada is a federal political party in Canada. Founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality, it is the second oldest active political party in Canada, after the Liberal Party of Canada. Although it does not currentl ...

. The Committee originated as the "

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 ...

Plebiscite Committees" which were organized by the party in 1942 to campaign for a "yes" vote in the 1942 referendum on

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

(see

Conscription Crisis of 1944 The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service for men in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but not as politically damaging. ...

). The Communist Party in Canada was under the control of

(1891-1973), who was loyal to the Kremlin. Buck came to prominence as a supporter of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, and became

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the Communist Party of Canada in 1929 after the old party leadership had been purged for supporting

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

and others had been removed for supporting

Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (; rus, Николай Иванович Бухарин, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ bʊˈxarʲɪn; – 15 March 1938) was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and Marxist theorist. A prominent Bolshevik ...

. Buck remained General Secretary of the Canadian party until 1962, and was an unquestioning supporter of the Soviet line throughout his tenure. The Party was banned in May 1940 soon after the outset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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. Overview The extreme security measures permitted by the regul ...

of the

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could thereby be taken. The Act was brough ...

. This was due to the party's

antiwar An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during co ...

policy. However, with the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Communists reversed their line on the war and became hypersupportive of the Canadian war effort. The party backed

total war Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all (including civilian-associated) resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilises all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare ov ...

mobilization and created the Tim Buck Plebiscite Committees as both a way for the still banned party to organize legally and as a reflection of the party's support for conscription in the 1942 national plebiscite. Following the vote, the committee renamed itself the Dominion Communist–Labor Total War Committee and, through numerous local committees, urged a "no strike" pledge for the duration of the war and "all-out" industrial production to help the war effort. The Committee also urged the creation of labour-management committees in all war plants in order to co-ordinate production. Manitoba MLA

Bill Kardash William Arthur Kardash (June 10, 1912 – January 17, 1997) was a politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1941 until 1958. He served as Winnipeg MLA from 1941 to 1958, as Worker's Candidate at first, then as a repres ...

was elected president at a conference of 1,500 members. The Committee organized pro-war rallies, including a 2 to 3,000 strong assembly in Montreal, to support the war effort and encourage trade unionists and progressives to enlist in the military. The campaigning in support of the war helped change public opinion towards the Communists and resulted in the government's release of Communist leaders being held in detention. In 1943,

even appeared on the same stage as Prime Minister

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...

and Ontario Premier

Mitchell Hepburn Mitchell Frederick Hepburn (August 12, 1896 – January 5, 1953) was the 11th premier of Ontario, from 1934 to 1942. He was the youngest premier in Ontario history, becoming premier at age 37. He was the only Ontario Liberal Party leader in the ...

during a rally celebrating the success of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

's offensive. However, while the government became tolerant of Communist activity the ban on the party itself was not lifted though it was allowed to organize the

Labor-Progressive Party The Labor-Progressive Party (LPP; ) was the legal Front organization, front of the Communist Party of Canada and its provincial wings from 1943 to 1959. It was established amid World War II after a number of prominent Communist Party members w ...

as a legal public face.

Notes

Sources

The Left in Canada during World War II
dead link {{DEFAULTSORT:Dominion Communist - Labor Total War Committee Labour history of Canada Communist Party of Canada mass organizations 1942 establishments in Canada Organizations established in 1942