James Litterick
Encyclopedia
James Litterick was a politician in Manitoba
, Canada
, and was the first member of the Communist Party of Canada
to be elected to that province's legislature.
Litterick was born in Glasgow
, Scotland
. He received an education at Clydebrooke and Glasgow, and became a member of the British Socialist Party
at age sixteen (his father was also a lifelong socialist). He was jailed for his role in a rent riot at Clydebank
in 1920, and joined the newly formed Communist Party of Great Britain
the same year.
Litterick moved to Canada
in 1925 and initially worked as a miner in Alberta
and British Columbia
. In 1926, he became the district secretary of the Communist Party of British Columbia
. He moved to Montreal
in 1930, and became an organizer for the Workers Unity League, a Communist trade union umbrella designed to build a revolutionary trade union movement in Canada. When Communist Party leader Tim Buck
was arrested in 1931, Litterick moved to Toronto
to take over some of his responsibilities.
In 1934, Litterick was selected as Provincial Secretary of the Communist Party of Manitoba. He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1936
, during a period of increased popularity for the party. His campaign focused on eliminating the province's 2% wage tax.
Litterick placed second on first-preference votes in the riding of Winnipeg, which elected ten members via preferential balloting. He was declared elected on the second count, after receiving numerous transfer votes from first-place candidate Lewis St. George Stubbs
. Litterick regarded himself as an ally of Stubbs, a popular left-wing judge and Independent candidate. Litterick's primary support base was in Winnipeg's working-class north end, and he received considerable support from the city's Jewish community (his wife, Molly, was Jewish).
Litterick was not a major figure in the national Communist Party. He delivered a speech entitled "Whither Manitoba" in 1937, which was subsequently issued as a pamphlet; beyond this, he did not play a significant public role in the party's national activities.
Because of his loyalty to Moscow
, Litterick expressed contradictory views on Canada's involvement in World War II
in late 1939. On September 9, he urged both Premier
John Bracken
and Prime Minister
William Lyon Mackenzie King
to give full support to Poland
against Nazi Germany
's invasion. After Joseph Stalin
and Adolf Hitler
signed a non-aggression pact
on October 7, Litterick was required to retract this position, and oppose the war as an imperialist venture.
He was expelled from the Manitoba legislature in 1940, after the Communist Party was declared an illegal organization. He had already gone into hiding, apparently the subject of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police
manhunt.
Litterick's whereabouts after 1940 are a mystery. He appears in a photograph of Canada's wartime Communist Party leaders, apparently taken in Montreal in 1942. Beyond this, there are no definitive reports of his activities after going into hiding.
Rumours have long circulated that he was killed as a traitor by other Communist Party members, and his body left in British Columbia's Fraser River
. In the 1980s, longtime New Democratic Party
MP
David Orlikow
concluded that Litterick was actually a spy for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
. These reports have never been verified.
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...
, Canada
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...
, and was the first member of 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...
to be elected to that province's legislature.
Litterick was born in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He received an education at Clydebrooke and Glasgow, and became a member of the British Socialist Party
British Socialist Party
The British Socialist Party was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw the defection of its pro-war Right Wing...
at age sixteen (his father was also a lifelong socialist). He was jailed for his role in a rent riot at Clydebank
Clydebank
Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...
in 1920, and joined the newly formed Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
the same year.
Litterick moved to Canada
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...
in 1925 and initially worked as a miner in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
and 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...
. In 1926, he became the district secretary of the Communist Party of British Columbia
Communist Party of British Columbia
The Communist Party of British Columbia is the British Columbia branch of the Communist Party of Canada. Its leader is Sam Hammond.From the 1945 British Columbia election to the 1956 election, it was known as the Labour Progressive Party....
. He moved to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
in 1930, and became an organizer for the Workers Unity League, a Communist trade union umbrella designed to build a revolutionary trade union movement in Canada. When Communist Party leader Tim Buck
Tim Buck
Timothy "Tim" Buck was a long-time leader of the Communist Party of Canada...
was arrested in 1931, Litterick moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to take over some of his responsibilities.
In 1934, Litterick was selected as Provincial Secretary of the Communist Party of Manitoba. He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1936
Manitoba general election, 1936
Manitoba's general election of July 27, 1936 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The was the second election in Manitoba after the formation of a Liberal-Progressive alliance in 1932...
, during a period of increased popularity for the party. His campaign focused on eliminating the province's 2% wage tax.
Litterick placed second on first-preference votes in the riding of Winnipeg, which elected ten members via preferential balloting. He was declared elected on the second count, after receiving numerous transfer votes from first-place candidate Lewis St. George Stubbs
Lewis St. George Stubbs
Lewis St. George Stubbs was a prominent judge and politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1936 to 1949 as an Independent, and was known for promoting left-wing and socially progressive causes.Stubbs was born on the island of Cockburn Harbour in the...
. Litterick regarded himself as an ally of Stubbs, a popular left-wing judge and Independent candidate. Litterick's primary support base was in Winnipeg's working-class north end, and he received considerable support from the city's Jewish community (his wife, Molly, was Jewish).
Litterick was not a major figure in the national Communist Party. He delivered a speech entitled "Whither Manitoba" in 1937, which was subsequently issued as a pamphlet; beyond this, he did not play a significant public role in the party's national activities.
Because of his loyalty to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Litterick expressed contradictory views on Canada's involvement in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in late 1939. On September 9, he urged both Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
John Bracken
John Bracken
John Bracken, PC was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ....
and Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
William Lyon Mackenzie King
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...
to give full support to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's invasion. After Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
signed a non-aggression pact
Non-aggression pact
A non-aggression pact is an international treaty between two or more states/countries agreeing to avoid war or armed conflict between them and resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations...
on October 7, Litterick was required to retract this position, and oppose the war as an imperialist venture.
He was expelled from the Manitoba legislature in 1940, after the Communist Party was declared an illegal organization. He had already gone into hiding, apparently the subject of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
manhunt.
Litterick's whereabouts after 1940 are a mystery. He appears in a photograph of Canada's wartime Communist Party leaders, apparently taken in Montreal in 1942. Beyond this, there are no definitive reports of his activities after going into hiding.
Rumours have long circulated that he was killed as a traitor by other Communist Party members, and his body left in British Columbia's Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
. In the 1980s, longtime New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The 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...
MP
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,...
David Orlikow
David Orlikow
David Orlikow was a Canadian politician, and a long-serving member of the Canadian House of Commons. He represented the riding of Winnipeg North from 1962 to 1988 as a member of the New Democratic Party.-Family:...
concluded that Litterick was actually a spy for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
. These reports have never been verified.