, 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...

 – 1946) was a 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...

 politician, and the second parliamentary leader of that province's Independent Labour Party

Independent Labour Party (in Manitoba) (II)

Prior to 1920, there were a number of groups in Winnipeg which called themselves the "Independent Labour Party". For information on these groups, see Independent Labour Party ....

. He also served as the 33rd Mayor of Winnipeg on two occasions.

A cooper by trade, Queen arrived in 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 1906 with his younger brother William, moving into a rooming house at 259 Dorothy St., a stone's throw from the massive Canadian Pacific Railway yards where many working-class Scottish and English immigrants were then employed. On June 25, 1908, Queen married Katherine Ross, who had herself emigrated from Scotland in 1907. By 1911 the family, which by then included a son John and a daughter Gloria (later Gloria Queen-Hughes, a prominent feminist and mayoral candidate), were living in the working-class neighbourhood of Weston. Queen soon became involved in the radical politics of Winnipeg. He joined the Social Democratic Party of Canada

Social Democratic Party of Canada (in Manitoba)

When the Social Democratic Party of Canada broke away from the Socialist Party of Canada in 1911, many Winnipeg SPC members joined the new organization...

 in 1908, as the group was breaking away from the more doctrinaire Socialist Party of Canada

Socialist Party of Canada

There have been two different but related political parties in Canada that called themselves the Socialist Party of Canada . The current Socialist Party is an electorally inactive and unregistered federal political party in Canada...

. Queen's own variety of socialism was undogmatic, and was strongly influenced by the reform liberalism of John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...

.

Queen was elected to the Winnipeg City Council in 1916, and continued to serve on this body until 1921. In this capacity, he argued for a more progressive tax system, and defended the rights of returning soldiers. He had intended to run for federal office in 1917, but stood aside in the interest of labour unity.

Queen was a leading figure in the Winnipeg General Strike, and received a one-year jail sentence for "seditious conspiracy" in 1920. This did not hurt his popularity among the city's workers, and he was elected to the Manitoba legislature later in the year. After taking his seat in 1921, he supported a motion to allow "peaceful picketing" within the province; this motion was defeated.

The SDPC ceased to exist in 1920. Queen was re-elected in 1922 as an "Independent Workers" candidate, and subsequently joined the Independent Labour Party

Independent Labour Party (in Manitoba) (II)

Prior to 1920, there were a number of groups in Winnipeg which called themselves the "Independent Labour Party". For information on these groups, see Independent Labour Party ....

. When Fred Dixon

Fred Dixon

Fred Dixon was a Manitoba politician, and was for several years the dominant figure in the province's mainstream labour movement.Born in Englefield, England, Dixon was not a socialist...

 resigned in 1923, Queen became the ILP's parliamentary leader.

Canada's labour movement experienced several setbacks in the late 1920s, and the ILP was not an especially strong electoral force during Queen's time as leader. Only three party members were elected in 1927, all from Winnipeg -- Queen, William Ivens

William Ivens

William Ivens was a religious and political figure in Manitoba, Canada. He was a leading figure in the Winnipeg General Strike, and subsequently served as a Labour member of the Manitoba legislature from 1920 to 1936....

 and Seymour J. Farmer

Seymour J. Farmer

Seymour James Farmer was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as the 30th mayor of Winnipeg from 1923 to 1924, and was later the leader of the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1935 to 1947. In the latter capacity, he became the first socialist politician in Canada to...

. The party fared slightly better in 1932, winning four seats in Winnipeg and taking St. Boniface from veteran Conservative MLA Joseph Bernier

Joseph Bernier

Joseph Bernier was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba on four occasions between 1900 and 1932. Bernier was a member of the Conservative Party, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Rodmond P. Roblin. His father, Thomas A. Bernier,...

. The party made little headway beyond urban areas, however, and remained a relatively small opposition group to the Progressive

Progressive Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba, an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I...

 government of John Bracken

John Bracken

John Bracken, PC was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ....

.

After failed attempts in 1932 and 1933, Queen was elected mayor of Winnipeg in 1934 (defeating John McKerchar, the candidate of the city's business interests). Queen again campaigned in favour of progressive taxation, and spoke out against a proposed tax reduction for various businesses within the city. Following his election, he passed a tax reform bill that provided for a significant increase in the city's revenues.

Queen served as mayor from 1935 to 1936, and again from 1937 to 1942. He did not endorse many explicitly socialist policies during his period in office, instead favouring more general programs of civic improvement. Queen's housing reforms were upheld as a model for the rest of the nation, and he held leading positions in the Canadian Federation of Mayors and Municipalities.

Queen continued to serve in the provincial legislature during his tenure as mayor, though he turned over the leadership of the party to Seymour J. Farmer

Seymour J. Farmer

Seymour James Farmer was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as the 30th mayor of Winnipeg from 1923 to 1924, and was later the leader of the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1935 to 1947. In the latter capacity, he became the first socialist politician in Canada to...

 in 1935. Along with the rest of the ILP caucus, he became affiliated with the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in 1933. His defeat in the provincial election of 1941 seems to have been unexpected.

Queen was also defeated as Winnipeg's mayor in 1942, and lost another bid in 1944. Strong opposition from Winnipeg's Communists

Communist Party of Canada (in Manitoba)

The Communist Party of Canada was founded in 1921. It was an illegal organization for several years, and its meetings were conducted with great secrecy. Until 1924, the "Workers Party" functioned as its public, legal face...

 was undoubtedly a contributing factor in both cases.

External links

• Manitoba Historical Society bio