Clarence Gillis
Encyclopedia
Clarence Gillis, MP (October 3, 1895–December 17, 1960) was a Canadian
social democratic politician and trade unionist from Cape Breton Island
, Nova Scotia
. He was born on Nova Scotia's mainland, but grew-up in Cape Breton. He worked in the island's underground coal mines operated by the British Empire Steel and Coal Company
(BESCO). He also served as a member of the infantry in the Canadian Corps
in Flanders during the First World War
. After the war he returned to the coal mines and became an official with the mine's United Mine Workers of America
(UMW) union. In 1938, he helped bring UMW Local 26 into the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
(CCF), becoming the first labour local to affiliate with the party. In 1940, he became the first CCF member elected to the Canadian House of Commons, east of Manitoba
. While serving in the House, he was known as its leading voice championing labour issues. He was also a main voice for social rights during his 17-years in Parliament. His most notable achievement was securing the funding that allowed the building of a fixed-link between Nova Scotia's mainland and Cape Breton Island at the Strait of Canso: the Canso Causeway
. After winning four-straight elections, he was defeated in 1957 and died three-years later in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
.
, in 1895. His father, J.H. Gillis, moved the family to the Industrial Cape Breton
area in 1904. J.H. Gillis worked in the coal mines and was an associate of union leader J.B. McLachlan. Clarie, as Clarence Gillis was known, started working in the region's coal mines in 1913. The next year, he joined the Canadian Corps and rose from private to acting lieutenant. He suffered a head wound from shrapnel in Flanders. He would recover enough to go back to the mines after the war.
, which mostly included the city of Sydney
, from 1940
until his defeat in the 1957 election
.
Gillis was known as a defender of the working-man, when in 1943, as an example, The Ottawa Citizen had an editorial that attacked Cape Breton miners for asking for more butter during wartime rationing. As Gillis pointed out in the House of Commons, Cape Breton miners had amongst the highest enlistment rates in Canada, and their families were needy, not just for butter, but just about every kind of basic food-stuff. His constant support for workers did eventually bring about changes in the latter part of WWII.
When labour unions were being attacked in Parliament, Gillis was usually the one called upon to defend them. In 1942, during the speech from the throne debate, H. A. Bruce
, the Conservative Party member from Toronto's Parkdale
electoral district, was a typical critic of the Canadian Congress of Labor
(CCL). Parliamentarians started attacking the Amercian Congress of Industrial Organizations
(CIO), which the CCL was affiliated with, and claiming that its union members were hurting the war-effort. Gillis stood up in Parliament and actively defended the unions, reminding the Commons, that he had been a unionist for over 25-years. Scenes like this were common for Gillis during this period.
He was one of the few MPs that attacked the Canadian government's racist policies towards Japanese Canadians in the period between 1942-45. In the Canadian House of Commons
, he stated the following:
His defence of Japanese-Canadians arose out of the July 1944 debate on whether to allow them to vote. After questioning from prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King
, Gillis pointed out that the CCF's official position is that all Canadians, especially those born in Canada, should have the full rights of that citizenship and have the franchise to vote. In the end, Liberal government ignored the CCF's pleas, and passed a law to racially restrict voting for Japanese-Canadians.
One of his most notable achievements while in Parliament, was getting federal government funding to build the Canso Causeway
to bridge mainland-Nova Scotia to Cape Breton Island. The causeway was opened on August 13, 1955, and Gillis was part of the opening ceremonies, though his part was downplayed in the media at the time, as recently deceased former Nova Scotia premier Angus L. MacDonald was given most of the credit.
He died of pleurisy
, in the Glace Bay Hospital, on December 17, 1960, in Cape Breton.
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|11,582
|HARTIGAN, David James ||align=right|11,364
|-
|NUNN, Joseph Clyde ||align=right|9,719
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|16,575
|-
|HARTIGAN, David James ||align=right|10,529
|-
|BUCKLEY, Donald Joseph ||align=right|7,343
|-
|MADDEN, James ||align=right|917
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|15,057
|-
|SLAVEN, George Benjamin ||align=right|12,608
|-
|CADEGAN, Perry Lewis ||align=right|5,618
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|14,971
|-
|MCINTYRE, Leo ||align=right|10,151
|-
|FERGUSSON, Layton ||align=right|4,726
|-
|MACEACHERN, Ronald George ||align=right|794
|-
|MACINNIS, Donald ||align=right|14,894
|-
|MCINTYRE, Leo ||align=right|11,539
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|10,447
|-
|MACINNIS, Donald ||align=right|17,636
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|13,044
|-
|DUBINSKY, J. Louis ||align=right|7,754
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
social democratic politician and trade unionist from Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. He was born on Nova Scotia's mainland, but grew-up in Cape Breton. He worked in the island's underground coal mines operated by the British Empire Steel and Coal Company
Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation
The Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation was a Canadian coal mining and steel manufacturing company.Incorporated in 1928 and operational in 1930, DOSCO was predated by the British Empire Steel Corporation which was a merger of the Dominion Coal Company, the Dominion Iron and Steel Company and the...
(BESCO). He also served as a member of the infantry in the Canadian Corps
Canadian Corps
The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December 1915 and the 4th Canadian Division in August 1916...
in Flanders during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. After the war he returned to the coal mines and became an official with the mine's United Mine Workers of America
United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners and coal technicians. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada...
(UMW) union. In 1938, he helped bring UMW Local 26 into 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), becoming the first labour local to affiliate with the party. In 1940, he became the first CCF member elected to the Canadian House of Commons, east of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. While serving in the House, he was known as its leading voice championing labour issues. He was also a main voice for social rights during his 17-years in Parliament. His most notable achievement was securing the funding that allowed the building of a fixed-link between Nova Scotia's mainland and Cape Breton Island at the Strait of Canso: the Canso Causeway
Canso Causeway
The Canso Causeway is a rock-fill causeway in Nova Scotia, Canada.The causeway crosses the Strait of Canso, connecting Cape Breton Island by road to the Nova Scotia peninsula...
. After winning four-straight elections, he was defeated in 1957 and died three-years later in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
Glace Bay is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton....
.
Early life and World War I service
He was born on the Nova Scotia mainland, in the town of LondonderryLondonderry, Nova Scotia
Londonderry is an unincorporated community located in Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada, formerly called Acadia Mines. A bustling iron ore mining and steel making town of some 5,000 in the late 19th century, the present population stands at around 200.-History:Londonderry saw the pouring of...
, in 1895. His father, J.H. Gillis, moved the family to the Industrial Cape Breton
Industrial Cape Breton
Industrial Cape Breton is a geographic region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It refers to the eastern portion of Cape Breton County fronting the Atlantic Ocean on the southeastern part of Cape Breton Island.-Geography:...
area in 1904. J.H. Gillis worked in the coal mines and was an associate of union leader J.B. McLachlan. Clarie, as Clarence Gillis was known, started working in the region's coal mines in 1913. The next year, he joined the Canadian Corps and rose from private to acting lieutenant. He suffered a head wound from shrapnel in Flanders. He would recover enough to go back to the mines after the war.
Trade Unionist and Federal MP
The period between 1920-1940 was the time that Gillis rose through the ranks of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) Local 26.He represented the federal riding of Cape Breton SouthCape Breton South (federal electoral district)
Cape Breton South was a federal electoral district in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1911 and from 1925 to 1968.-History:This riding was created in 1903 from Cape Breton riding...
, which mostly included the city of Sydney
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
, from 1940
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...
until his defeat in the 1957 election
Canadian federal election, 1957
The Canadian federal election of 1957 was held June 10, 1957, to select the 265 members of the House of Commons of Canada. In one of the great upsets in Canadian political history, the Progressive Conservative Party , led by John Diefenbaker, brought an end to 22 years of Liberal rule, as the...
.
Gillis was known as a defender of the working-man, when in 1943, as an example, The Ottawa Citizen had an editorial that attacked Cape Breton miners for asking for more butter during wartime rationing. As Gillis pointed out in the House of Commons, Cape Breton miners had amongst the highest enlistment rates in Canada, and their families were needy, not just for butter, but just about every kind of basic food-stuff. His constant support for workers did eventually bring about changes in the latter part of WWII.
When labour unions were being attacked in Parliament, Gillis was usually the one called upon to defend them. In 1942, during the speech from the throne debate, H. A. Bruce
Herbert Alexander Bruce
Herbert Alexander Bruce , served as the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada, from 1932 to 1937....
, the Conservative Party member from Toronto's Parkdale
Parkdale (electoral district)
Parkdale was a Canadian federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1979. It included the community of Parkdale in the western part of Toronto...
electoral district, was a typical critic of the Canadian Congress of Labor
Canadian Congress of Labour
The Canadian Congress of Labour was founded in 1940 and merged with Trades and Labour Congress of Canada to form the Canadian Labour Congress in 1956.-Founding:...
(CCL). Parliamentarians started attacking the Amercian Congress of Industrial Organizations
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
(CIO), which the CCL was affiliated with, and claiming that its union members were hurting the war-effort. Gillis stood up in Parliament and actively defended the unions, reminding the Commons, that he had been a unionist for over 25-years. Scenes like this were common for Gillis during this period.
He was one of the few MPs that attacked the Canadian government's racist policies towards Japanese Canadians in the period between 1942-45. In 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...
, he stated the following:
While we know that the war with Japan is a serious matter and that many atrocities have been committed by the people of that country, there is no reason why we should try to duplicate the performances of that country.
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
, Gillis pointed out that the CCF's official position is that all Canadians, especially those born in Canada, should have the full rights of that citizenship and have the franchise to vote. In the end, Liberal government ignored the CCF's pleas, and passed a law to racially restrict voting for Japanese-Canadians.
One of his most notable achievements while in Parliament, was getting federal government funding to build the Canso Causeway
Canso Causeway
The Canso Causeway is a rock-fill causeway in Nova Scotia, Canada.The causeway crosses the Strait of Canso, connecting Cape Breton Island by road to the Nova Scotia peninsula...
to bridge mainland-Nova Scotia to Cape Breton Island. The causeway was opened on August 13, 1955, and Gillis was part of the opening ceremonies, though his part was downplayed in the media at the time, as recently deceased former Nova Scotia premier Angus L. MacDonald was given most of the credit.
Personal life and death
He failed to get re-elected in the general election of 1957. He ran for parliament for the last time in 1958, the year of the Diefenbaker-Sweep, and lost the election. He retired from politics after this defeat. His first wife, Maime Gillis, née Stewart, died in 1953. He married his second wife, Theresa Sargeant in 1958.He died of pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
, in the Glace Bay Hospital, on December 17, 1960, in Cape Breton.
Election results
|-|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|11,582
|HARTIGAN, David James ||align=right|11,364
|-
|NUNN, Joseph Clyde ||align=right|9,719
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|16,575
|-
|HARTIGAN, David James ||align=right|10,529
|-
|BUCKLEY, Donald Joseph ||align=right|7,343
|-
|MADDEN, James ||align=right|917
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|15,057
|-
|SLAVEN, George Benjamin ||align=right|12,608
|-
|CADEGAN, Perry Lewis ||align=right|5,618
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|14,971
|-
|MCINTYRE, Leo ||align=right|10,151
|-
|FERGUSSON, Layton ||align=right|4,726
|-
|MACEACHERN, Ronald George ||align=right|794
|-
|MACINNIS, Donald ||align=right|14,894
|-
|MCINTYRE, Leo ||align=right|11,539
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|10,447
|-
|MACINNIS, Donald ||align=right|17,636
|-
|GILLIS, Clarence ||align=right|13,044
|-
|DUBINSKY, J. Louis ||align=right|7,754