Charles Grant MacNeil (known as Grant MacNeil) was an organizer and Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...

 (CCF).

A salesman by profession, MacNeill was elected to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 as the MP for Vancouver North

Vancouver North

Vancouver North was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 1949.This riding was created in 1924 from parts of Burrard and Comox—Alberni ridings....

 in the 1935 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1935

The Canadian federal election of 1935 was held on October 14, 1935 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 18th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government, defeating Prime Minister R.B. Bennett's Conservative Party.The central...

. He was defeated in the 1940 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1940

The Canadian federal election of 1940 was the 19th general election in Canadian history. It was held March 26, 1940 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 19th Parliament of Canada...

 and moved to provincial politics where he was elected as the CCF MLA

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....

 for Vancouver-Burrard in the British Columbia general election, 1941

British Columbia general election, 1941

The British Columbia general election, 1941 was the twentieth general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on September 9, 1941, and held on October 21, 1941.After the election, a...

. He was defeated in his 1945 re-election bid. MacNeil served as president of the British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 section of the party in the 1950s. He was also active with the International Woodworkers of America

International Woodworkers of America

International Woodworkers of America was an industrial union of lumbermen, sawmill workers, timber transportation workers and others formed in 1937....

 in British Columbia, working as editor of the IWA's Lumber Worker newspaper into the 1970s.

MacNeil was appointed Executive Secretary of the British Colombia Security Council (BCSC) board and only accepted the position in attempt to try and assure the fair treatment for Japanese Canadians being uprooted from their homes on the West Coast after the Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

attack during World War II.