Nelson Clarke (1914 – 1982) 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 ...

politician. Clarke was born in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

in 1914.Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations.
Nelson Clarke Memorial - 1982
' Clarke studied at the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

. During his student days he edited ''

The Sheaf ''The Sheaf'' is a student-run newspaper serving the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan since 1912. A new issue comes out every Thursday with approximately 3,000 copies per issue. ''The Sheaf'' is a student-run non-profit or ...

'', the university newspaper, as well as working for the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

. He joined 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 ...

and became a party organizer in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

. With the popular front policy in place, Clarke and other communists joined 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 ...

. Clarke was elected to the CCF Saskatchewan Provincial Council at the 1936 provincial convention. Within the CCF he was part of the 'Saskatoon group' along with Minerva Cooper and Harold Miller. He became the youngest person to be elected to the

Saskatoon City Council Saskatoon City Council is the governing body of Saskatoon, the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, ...

. Clarke was later expelled from the CCF due to his Communist Party membership. As the Communist Party was banned after Canada's entry into World War II (specifically due to the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

), Clarke became a leader of its new front organization, 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 ...

. He contested the

1944 Saskatchewan general election The 1944 Saskatchewan general election, the tenth in the history of the province, was held on June 15, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, under the leadership of Tommy Do ...

as a LPP candidate in the Saskatoon City riding. He headed the LPP Saskatchewan provincial organization during 1945–1947. He contested the

1953 Canadian federal election The 1953 Canadian federal election was held on August 10, 1953, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 22nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent led his Liberal Party of Canada to its second consecutive majo ...

from the

Moose Jaw—Lake Centre Moose Jaw—Lake Centre was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1953 to 1968 and from 1988 to 1997. This riding was created in 1953 from parts of Lake Centre, Moose J ...

riding. At the 1956 National Convention of the LPP, he was elected to the National Executive Committee of the party. In the internal wrangles of the LPP, he belonged to 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 ...

-led majority wing. Clarke shifted to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in the late 1950s, on instruction from the Communist Party. He served as the editor of the '' Canadian Tribune'', the weekly party organ. In 1972 he contested the Toronto mayoral election. In his later years, Clarke became a prominent leader of the Toronto west-end tenants' rights struggles. During the 1970s, Clarke and his wife Phyllis became leaders of a current in the CPC influenced by

Eurocommunism Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties, which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more relevant for Western Europe. During the Cold War, they sough ...

, advocating for a more pluralist approach to socialism and criticizing what they saw as the party's sectarianism towards mass movements. By 1979, increasingly skeptical that the CPC would be able to make the necessary changes, Clarke circulated a document influenced by socialist feminist ideas, raising the possibility of forming a new organization out of existing popular movements. Clarke died in 1982.Ryerson University.
Phyllis Clarke Memorial Lecture
' His funeral was attended by some one thousand people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Nelson 1914 births 1982 deaths Labor-Progressive Party candidates in the 1953 Canadian federal election