Ray Stevenson
Encyclopedia
Raymond Leslie "Ray" Stevenson (December 17, 1919 – August 24, 2004) was a writer and political activist in Canada
. He was an executive member of the International Council for Friendship and Solidarity with Soviet People and Associate Editor of Northstar Compass - the organization's organ publication. Stevenson wrote articles for and worked on Northstar Compass for over 13 years. Stevenson was an executive member of the World Peace Congress which aimed to promote peaceful coexistence and nuclear disarmament. He was also a trade union
organizer, activist and leader in Canada.
Stevenson was a member of the Communist Party of Canada
from 1940 to 1998, and served for many years on its Central Committee
and many of its Commissions.
. He began working in the gold mines of north-eastern Manitoba
in 1938 but moved to Kirkland Lake, Ontario
after being fired for being an "undesirable element". In Ontario, he worked for Upper Canada Mines and joined Local 240 of the militant Mine, Mill, and Smelters Union and participated in its 1941-1942 recognition strike
.
He served in the Canadian Army from 1942 to 1946 serving as a 1st lieutenant but was not allowed to serve overseas during World War II
due to his Communist affiliations. "There was a long delay in sending us through [officer training] while HQ was making up its mind what to do with some of us," recalled Stevenson. Ultimately, he assigned to develop a curriculum for soldiers about to be sent overseas which educated them on the nature of fascism
. While warned not to teach the party line
he was allowed to choose fellow Communist Sam Walsh
as an aide and was eventually promoted to the rank of captain.
Stevenson requested that he be sent overseas several times but his requests were denied. He learned through "a clandestine source in army intelligence," that he "would not be shipped overseas for political reasons."
He was active in the Communist Party's Dominion Communist-Labor Total War Committee
which organized for a "yes" vote in the 1942 referendum on conscription
(see Conscription Crisis of 1944
).
He was a candidate for the Communist Party of Ontario
(known as the Labour-Progressive Party
) in the 1945 Ontario provincial election
.
Following the war, Stevenson became the educational director for the Workers Co-op in northern Ontario and was also a political organizer for the Labour-Progressive Party and ran for the party in Timmins
in the 1949 federal election
.
Soon after joining Inco he was, in 1951, elected to the executive of Local 598 in Sudbury. He served on the Canadian executive board of Mine, Mill until 1961 when he became editor of the Mine Mill Herald. In 1967, Mine Mill was taken over by the United Steel Workers of America and Stevenson served as editor of the USWA's Information until 1972. From 1972 until 1978 he was the public relations director for USWA Canada.
Stevenson left the USWA in 1978 when he accepted a position as the Canadian Secretary for the World Peace Council in Finland, he subsequently served as the WPC's Trade Union Secretary and helped establish the International Union Committee for Peace and Disarmament in 1980. He was also active with the Canadian Peace Congress
.
Stevenson opposed what he viewed as the Communist Party of Canada
's tendency towards revisionism. After concluding that the CPC was no longer a Marxist party, he resigned from it after more than 60 years of membership. He was a founding editor of the anti-revisionist magazine Northstar Compass in 1991. In his final years he was an executive member of the International Council for Friendship and Solidarity with Soviet People.
Stevenson died on August 24, 2004 at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto
after a long illness. His ashes were scattered in his native Manitoba at the site of his first school. He was survived by his wife Lil Greene.
Stevenson left $5,000 to Northstar Compass. The publication used it to start the "Ray Stevenson Sustaining Fund" to receive donations to help keep Northstar Compass in publication.
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...
. He was an executive member of the International Council for Friendship and Solidarity with Soviet People and Associate Editor of Northstar Compass - the organization's organ publication. Stevenson wrote articles for and worked on Northstar Compass for over 13 years. Stevenson was an executive member of the World Peace Congress which aimed to promote peaceful coexistence and nuclear disarmament. He was also a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
organizer, activist and leader in Canada.
Stevenson was a 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...
from 1940 to 1998, and served for many years on its 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...
and many of its Commissions.
Biography
Stevenson was born near Virden, ManitobaVirden, Manitoba
Virden, Manitoba is a town in southwestern Manitoba. Oil was first discovered in 1951, and Virden has since come to be known as the "Oil Capital of Manitoba"....
. He began working in the gold mines of north-eastern 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...
in 1938 but moved to Kirkland Lake, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
after being fired for being an "undesirable element". In Ontario, he worked for Upper Canada Mines and joined Local 240 of the militant Mine, Mill, and Smelters Union and participated in its 1941-1942 recognition strike
Recognition strike
A recognition strike is an industrial strike implemented in order to force a particular employer or industry to recognize a trade union as the legitimate collective bargaining agent for a company's workers...
.
He served in the Canadian Army from 1942 to 1946 serving as a 1st lieutenant but was not allowed to serve overseas during 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...
due to his Communist affiliations. "There was a long delay in sending us through [officer training] while HQ was making up its mind what to do with some of us," recalled Stevenson. Ultimately, he assigned to develop a curriculum for soldiers about to be sent overseas which educated them on the nature of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
. While warned not to teach the party line
Party line (politics)
In politics, the line or the party line is an idiom for a political party or social movement's canon agenda, as well as specific ideological elements specific to the organization's partisanship. The common phrase toeing the party line describes a person who speaks in a manner that conforms to his...
he was allowed to choose fellow Communist Sam Walsh
Sam Walsh
Sam Walsh was leader of the Communist Party of Quebec for 28 years, from 1962 to 1990, and was a leader in the Communist Party of Canada and Labour-Progressive Party since the 1940s....
as an aide and was eventually promoted to the rank of captain.
Stevenson requested that he be sent overseas several times but his requests were denied. He learned through "a clandestine source in army intelligence," that he "would not be shipped overseas for political reasons."
He was active in the Communist Party's Dominion Communist-Labor Total War Committee
Dominion Communist-Labor Total War Committee
The Dominion Communist-Labor Total War Committee was a front organization of the then-banned Communist Party of Canada. The Committees originated as the "Tim Buck Plebiscite Committees" which were organized by the party in 1942 to campaign for a "yes" vote in the 1942 referendum on conscription...
which organized for a "yes" vote in the 1942 referendum on conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
(see Conscription Crisis of 1944
Conscription Crisis of 1944
The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but was not as politically damaging....
).
He was a candidate for 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...
(known as the Labour-Progressive Party
Labour-Progressive Party
For the Labour-Progressive Coalition Government in New Zealand see the Fifth Labour Government of New ZealandThe Labor-Progressive Party was the legal political organization of the Communist Party of Canada between 1943 and 1959....
) in the 1945 Ontario provincial election
Ontario general election, 1945
The Ontario general election of 1945 was held on June 4, 1945, to elect the 90 members of the 22nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
.
Following the war, Stevenson became the educational director for the Workers Co-op in northern Ontario and was also a political organizer for the Labour-Progressive Party and ran for the party in Timmins
Timmins (electoral district)
Timmins was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1949 to 1979. It was located around the city of Timmins in the northeastern part of the province of Ontario...
in the 1949 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1949
The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...
.
Soon after joining Inco he was, in 1951, elected to the executive of Local 598 in Sudbury. He served on the Canadian executive board of Mine, Mill until 1961 when he became editor of the Mine Mill Herald. In 1967, Mine Mill was taken over by the United Steel Workers of America and Stevenson served as editor of the USWA's Information until 1972. From 1972 until 1978 he was the public relations director for USWA Canada.
Stevenson left the USWA in 1978 when he accepted a position as the Canadian Secretary for the World Peace Council in Finland, he subsequently served as the WPC's Trade Union Secretary and helped establish the International Union Committee for Peace and Disarmament in 1980. He was also active with the Canadian Peace Congress
Canadian Peace Congress
The Canadian Peace Congress is an anti-imperialist group founded in 1949 by Canadian minister James Gareth Endicott in response to the new dangers to peace posed because of the Cold War. It described itself as "a place were people of different views and faiths can meet and discuss world affairs.....
.
Stevenson opposed what he viewed as 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...
's tendency towards revisionism. After concluding that the CPC was no longer a Marxist party, he resigned from it after more than 60 years of membership. He was a founding editor of the anti-revisionist magazine Northstar Compass in 1991. In his final years he was an executive member of the International Council for Friendship and Solidarity with Soviet People.
Stevenson died on August 24, 2004 at St. Michael’s Hospital in 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...
after a long illness. His ashes were scattered in his native Manitoba at the site of his first school. He was survived by his wife Lil Greene.
Stevenson left $5,000 to Northstar Compass. The publication used it to start the "Ray Stevenson Sustaining Fund" to receive donations to help keep Northstar Compass in publication.
External links
- Northstar Compass Obituary
- York University: The Ray Stevenson fonds biographical note by Ken Hernden of York University Archives and Special Collections