John "Jan" Lakeman (April 6, 1887 – November 7, 1956) was a mid-20th century labour rights activist, perennial election candidate and leader of the provincial Communist Party in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada.

Political career

Born in the Netherlands, he came to Canada in 1905, eventually finding work in Edmonton with the Canadian National Railway. He became active in his railway workers union, the One Big Union, the

Canadian Labour Party The Canadian Labour Party (CLP) was an early, unsuccessful attempt at creating a national labour party in Canada. Although it ran candidates in the federal elections of 1917, 1921, 1925, and 1926, it never succeeded in its goal of providing a na ...

and the

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 ...

. He was the first leader of the Alberta Communist Party after its founding in 1921/1922. Communists were accepted in the Labour Party in the early 1920s and Lakeman was elected president of the Edmonton association for the

Alberta branch. He ran as a CLP candidate in 1926.Monto, Tom. Protest and Progress, Three Labour Radicals in Early Edmonton, Crang Publishing/Alhambra Books, Edmonton, p. 93 After a visit to Moscow in 1929, he was expelled from his union and from the Labour Party and lost his job. He then led fights by unemployed for improved treatment. Lakeman ran in numerous provincial and federal elections. He ran as a Communist in elections in the 1930s and during World War II after the CPC was renamed 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 ...

References

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Independent candidates in Alberta provincial elections Communist Party – Alberta candidates in Alberta provincial elections Dominion Labor Party (Alberta) candidates in Alberta provincial elections Labor-Progressive Party candidates in the 1945 Canadian federal election Candidates in the 1930 Canadian federal election Candidates in the 1926 Canadian federal election 1887 births 1956 deaths One Big Union (Canada) members Dutch emigrants to Canada {{Alberta-politician-stub