Gordon Massie
Encyclopedia
Gordon F. Massie was a Canadian
politician and political activist.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland and raised in the Gorbals
district there, he was a machinist by trade. Massie become active with the trade union movement at age seventeen, becoming a member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union. He immigrated to Canada and becamean active member of the United Auto Workers
while working with De Havilland
on aircraft construction.
Massie joined the Communist Party of Canada
and became a full time employee for the party in Toronto in the early 1970s, serving as circulation manager for the Canadian Tribune and sitting on the party's Central Committee
.
In 1979, he moved west and led the Communist Party of Saskatchewan
for three years before returning to Ontario and becoming leader of the Communist Party of Ontario
in the mid-1980s, during the provincial elections of 1985
and 1987
. Massie stepped down as leader in 1988.
He campaigned as a Communist candidate for the Canadian House of Commons
many times but never came close to being elected. In different electoral cycles, he listed his occupation as "political organizer", "functionary" and "publishers representative". Massie resigned from the Communist Party after its 1988 convention due to his opposition to the leadership of George Hewison
. Following the split in the party in which the Hewison-led majority liquidated the organization and a minority faction took the Communist Party name, Massie briefly joined the reconstituted party but left soon after to become a hospital worker and ultimately a chief steward
in the Service Employees International Union
.
Massie retired in 2008 and died two years later after a brief battle with cancer
. He was in his late 60s. In lieu of burial, he donated his body to science. He was survived by a brother in Scotland.
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...
politician and political activist.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland and raised in the Gorbals
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area on the south bank of the River Clyde in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. By the late 19th century, it had become over-populated and adversely affected by local industrialisation. Many people lived here because their jobs provided this home and they could not afford their own...
district there, he was a machinist by trade. Massie become active with the trade union movement at age seventeen, becoming a member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union. He immigrated to Canada and becamean active member of the United Auto Workers
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
while working with De Havilland
De Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
on aircraft construction.
Massie joined the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
and became a full time employee for the party in Toronto in the early 1970s, serving as circulation manager for the Canadian Tribune and sitting on the party's Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
.
In 1979, he moved west and led the Communist Party of Saskatchewan
Communist Party of Canada (Saskatchewan)
The Communist Party of Canada was a communist political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was the Saskatchewan section of the Communist Party of Canada...
for three years before returning to Ontario and becoming leader of the Communist Party of Ontario
Communist Party of Ontario
The Communist Party of Canada is the Ontario, Canada provincial wing of the Communist Party of Canada. In the 1940s and 1950s under the name Labour-Progressive Party, the group won two seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario: A.A. MacLeod and J.B...
in the mid-1980s, during the provincial elections of 1985
Ontario general election, 1985
The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
and 1987
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
. Massie stepped down as leader in 1988.
He campaigned as a Communist candidate for 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...
many times but never came close to being elected. In different electoral cycles, he listed his occupation as "political organizer", "functionary" and "publishers representative". Massie resigned from the Communist Party after its 1988 convention due to his opposition to the leadership of George Hewison
George Hewison
George Hewison is a former long-time member of the Communist Party of Canada and trade unionist. A second-generation member of the party, Hewison grew up selling the party press and joined the party at the age of 17...
. Following the split in the party in which the Hewison-led majority liquidated the organization and a minority faction took the Communist Party name, Massie briefly joined the reconstituted party but left soon after to become a hospital worker and ultimately a chief steward
Union steward
A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company, who represents and defends the interests of her/his fellow employees but who is also a labor union official...
in the Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
.
Massie retired in 2008 and died two years later after a brief battle with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He was in his late 60s. In lieu of burial, he donated his body to science. He was survived by a brother in Scotland.
Electoral Record
- Canadian federal election, 1972Canadian federal election, 1972The Canadian federal election of 1972 was held on October 30, 1972 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive...
, Toronto—Lakeshore, 124 votes, fourth out of five candidates (winner: Terry GrierTerry GrierTerence Wyly Grier is a former Canadian politician, lecturer and university administrator.Grier graduated from the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto in 1958...
, New Democratic PartyNew Democratic PartyThe New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
). Massie appeared on the ballot as an independent candidate, as the Communist Party was not formally recognized at the time. - Canadian federal election, 1974Canadian federal election, 1974The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...
, Peel—Dufferin—SimcoePeel—Dufferin—SimcoePeel—Dufferin—Simcoe was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1979. It was located in the province of Ontario...
, 81 votes, fifth out of six candidates (winner: Ross Milne, LiberalLiberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
) - Ontario general election, 1975Ontario general election, 1975The Ontario general election of 1975 was held on September 18, 1975, to elect the 125 members of the 30th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, Sault Ste. MarieSault Ste. Marie (electoral district)Sault Ste. Marie is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968.In 2004, due to population changes in boundary distribution, the riding expanded significantly to include a significant portion of the Algoma District, from...
, 232 votes, fourth out of four candidates (winner: John RhodesJohn Reginald RhodesJohn Reginald Rhodes was a broadcaster and politician from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.He was born in Sault Ste. Marie, the son of John Francis Rhodes, and educated there. In 1955, he married Vivian Louise Shook. Rhodes was a popular radio and television personality on CJIC in the 1960s. Rhodes...
, Progressive ConservativeProgressive Conservative Party of OntarioThe Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
) - Ontario general election, 1977Ontario general election, 1977The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, Riverdale, 214 votes, fourth out of six candidates (winner: Jim Renwick, New Democratic PartyOntario New Democratic PartyThe Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
) - Canadian federal election, 1979Canadian federal election, 1979The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
, Regina EastRegina EastRegina East was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1988.This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Humboldt—Melfort, Melville, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre, QuAppelle, Regina City and Yorkton ridings.It was abolished...
, 65 votes, fifth out of six candidates (winner: Simon de JongSimon De JongSimon Leendert De Jong was a Canadian parliamentarian. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1979 federal election as an New Democratic Party Member of Parliament from Saskatchewan...
, NDP) - Canadian federal election, 1980Canadian federal election, 1980The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
, Regina East, 39 votes, seventh out of seven candidates (winner: Simon de Jong, NDP) - Saskatchewan general election, 1982Saskatchewan general election, 1982The Saskatchewan general election of 1982 was the twentieth provincial election held in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was held on April 26, 1982, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan....
, Regina CentreRegina CentreRegina Centre is a former provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is now part of Regina Elphinstone-Centre. It was the riding of premier Allan Blakeney....
, 66 votes, fifth out of five candidates (winner: Edward Shillington, New Democratic Party) - Canadian federal election, 1984Canadian federal election, 1984The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
, DavenportDavenport (electoral district)Davenport is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1935. Its population in 2001 was 111,705.-Geography:...
, 165 votes, sixth out of six candidates (winner: Charles CacciaCharles CacciaCharles L. Caccia, PC was a Canadian politician.Caccia was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons. He represented the Toronto riding of Davenport between 1968 and 2004.Caccia was born in 1930 in Milan, Italy...
, Liberal) - Ontario general election, 1985Ontario general election, 1985The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
, DovercourtDovercourtFor the neighbourhood in Toronto see Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson-JunctionDovercourt is a small seaside town in Essex, England. It is older than its smaller but better-known neighbour, the port of Harwich, and appears in the Domesday Book of 1086...
, 298 votes, fourth out of four candidates (winner: Tony LupusellaTony LupusellaAntonio Lupusella is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1990...
, NDP) - Ontario general election, 1987Ontario general election, 1987The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
, ParkdaleParkdale- Communities :Australia* Parkdale, VictoriaCanada* Parkdale No. 498, Saskatchewan, a rural municipality in Saskatchewan* Parkdale, Toronto, a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto* Parkdale, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in Lunenburg County...
, 184 votes, sixth out of eight candidates (winner: Tony RuprechtTony RuprechtTony Ruprecht is a former Canadian politician. His first elected position was as an alderman in the old Toronto City Council, in the late 1970s. He became a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1981, and served in premier David Peterson's cabinet as minister without portfolio from...
, Liberal)