Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver, 2010
280 pp., illus., $27.95 hardcover
The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 decisively shaped Canadian society and remains without parallel in our history. It deeply influenced the shape of modern industrial relations, the alignment and structure of political parties, and the adoption of progressive social policies.
Echoes of the general strike were heard for years across Manitoba and the West. In the 1970s, for example, Manitoba deputy minister of labour N.D. Cochrane, with the support of prominent Progressive Conservative and NDP provincial MLAs, promoted a book about strike leader and long-time activist Bob Russell. In the book’s foreword Cochrane praised Russell as an example of the “dedication, a revolutionary spirit with missionary zeal, on the part of labour leaders of that time.”
Issues and intrigues in the strike remain a rich source for books, articles, and even one national museum exhibition. Scholars still revisit the strike and reassess it through current perspectives. This is the purpose of the latest book by Daniel Francis, a Vancouver author who has published widely on issues of identity, history, and culture.
Francis sets out a clear account of the Winnipeg General Strike, placing it in the context of simmering economic and immigrant tensions. He describes union conflicts in the years before the First World War and the intensity of community and political strife as casualties grew in that bloody conflict. The federal government of Robert Borden adopted unprecedented legal measures to suppress domestic wartime opposition. Francis shows how these instruments continued to be used after the war to control the new militancy of industrial unions and their socialist allies.
Conditions for working people had deteriorated seriously during the war. Returning veterans added to the pressures, competing for jobs in a low-wage economy. Industrial conflicts across Canada combined with reports on the Russian revolution to feed hopes and fears. Francis describes these escalating tensions, the outbreak of Winnipeg’s city-wide conflict, and the final courtroom spectacle of strike leaders charged with sedition and conspiracy.
In reality, there was no Bolshevik revolution waiting to seize power. The “red scare” was a fearful dream of the leading employers, aided by a gullible media, a nervous government, and some citizen supporters. The heroes in this historic confrontation were the thousands of general strike participants — notable for their peaceful conduct, their cohesion, and their support for a small group of leaders who had eloquently voiced popular grievances.
The author’s sympathies lie with the strikers, but his wider goal is to express a contemporary political message. In his last chapter, following a rapid survey of domestic conflicts, Francis concludes: “When faced with perceived threats to security ... the Canadian government, with the support of the press and much of the public, has responded time after time with [a] stern hand of repression ... regardless of our commitment to freedom of expression and the rule of law.”
Francis’s wrap-up is breathtaking. He links events such as the wartime internment of Japanese-Canadians, Cold War fears of espionage, FLQ bombing campaigns, and today’s anti-terrorism efforts. What is the point of his sweeping generalization? We certainly know that Canadian authorities traditionally affirm the centrality of “peace, order, and good government.” It is a defining feature of this country’s political values. Yet Francis seems uneasy about this, even as he recognizes that governments do amend their rules and are also subject to independent court reviews.
The Winnipeg General Strike did not win wage concessions in 1919, but it transformed political expectations. Within a few years, this led to major reforms in economic welfare, industrial relations, and social behaviour — a revolution in how Canada governed itself.
— Victor Rabinovitch (Read bio)
Victor Rabinovitch former president of the Canadian Museum of Civilization (now the Canadian Museum of History), chair of Ottawa's Opera Lyra company, and an adjunct professor at Queen's University.