December 6, 1921 – First Labour MPs elected to Parliament

We often hear that unions should not be involved in politics. What is really being said is “workers” should not be involved in the political life of their communities. Leave governing to “their better” would be the Victorian way of looking at the world. At every step in our history, change has only come about when citizens were able to stand up using their voice and their vote to improve our society.

The first federal election held after the First World War was in December 1921. The labour movement, farmers and the women’s movement, known as “suffragettes,” had struggled though hard years and suffered a major defeat in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike at the hands of business and the government. Now was their time to use the vote to secure social change.

After years of campaigning, lobbying, and protests, this election was the first in which a majority of Canadian women were allowed to vote thanks to amendments to the Elections Act. Five women ran for office as members of Parliament. Agnes Macphail, running for the Progressive Party, was elected as the first woman MP in Canada. Also running were a number of labour advocates from western Canada. James Shaver Woodsworth, a Methodist pastor and a leader of the Winnipeg general strike, was elected. In Calgary, the Dominion Labour Party saw two of its supported candidates elected: William Irvine, a Unitarian Minister, and Joseph Shaw, a lawyer. The election of these individuals meant workers had a voice in Parliament. They made demands for universal pensions and health care, and other forms of social justice.

When in 1924, the election resulted in a minority government led by Liberal Prime Minister Mackenzie King, the Labour MPs held the balance of power. To get their support, Woodsworth told King the price for labour’s political support was a demand that the government introducing old age pension legislation. The Old Age Security cheques that workers now get at age 65 are a direct result of the political involvement of workers in the 1920s. After the 1924 election, the labour MPs worked together with MPs from the United Farmers movement in what became known as the parliamentary “Ginger Group.” Through them, workers had a strong voice in the Parliament of the nation.

Union supported and elected politicians have been, active from the 1920s to the present, focused on championing social justice, healthcare, equality for women, and the rights of the disadvantaged. Yes, unions need to be involved in politics, it is one more way to secure benefits and rights beyond the collective agreements.