696:. This group came to be known as the "Forward Group" after the name of its newspaper. The group grew initially, but soon declined. By 1989, it had been reduced to a small group of friends around Dowson when he suffered a devastating stroke that left him unable to speak or write for the rest of his life.
232:
in 1942 and rose to the rank of second lieutenant. He recruited two other soldiers to the
Trotskyist movement and organized a successful strike for better pay by soldiers who had been assigned to lay and tamp train tracks in southern Ontario. Dowson was discharged from the army in December 1944.
760:
Professionally, Dowson was a machinist as a youth and later a lithographer and printer by training, but spent almost his entire working life as a full-time paid staffer (at times the only one) for the organization, for many years living in the organization's bookstore. For the new generation of
708:, which labelled Dowson a "subversive" and monitored and attempted to interfere with his activities. As part of a 1972 action code named "Operation Checkmate", the RCMP engaged in an attempt to disrupt and break-up the LSA and destroy the credibility of Dowson and another LSA leader,
31:
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rejected the offer saying, "In the unlikely event of Mr. Dowson winning the by-election he would certainly find no welcome from the CCF and no opportunity of aligning himself with us." Running under the "Labour" label, Dowson received only 266 votes in a two-way race against
190:
that Dowson "got his politics from the hungry thirties, seeing working-class people share what they had while the upper class kept what they had to themselves... "He believed in the social ownership and democratic control of the wealth of society."
221:, dropped out to focus on being a poet and because he disagreed with the Trotskyist position on the war. The movement suffered a further blow when the Socialist Workers League (as the Workers party was now called) was declared illegal under the
177:
and brought Ross along to meetings. The pair set up the York
Memorial High School Spartacus Club. The younger Dowson joined the party and declared to his mother at the age of 17 that he intended to spend his life as a
405:
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recruits in the 1960s and early 1970s, he was the major link to the older generation of class-struggle militants and
Marxists who had built the labour and socialist movements in previous decades. He suffered a
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nine times in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He campaigned openly as a
Trotskyist under the slogan “Vote Dowson, Vote for a Labor Mayor, Vote for the Trotskyist Candidate” and garnered 11% of the vote in the
723:
called a "secret war" against Dowson and the LSA since 1960 and that these actions involved what the OPP described as "at least the apparent commission of crime ... by the RCMP security service."
616:(NDP) at its founding. In that year, the Trotskyist movement relaunched itself as the "League for Socialist Action" (LSA), with branches in Toronto and Vancouver and Dowson as national secretary.
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intervened to quash attempts by Dowson and
Riddell to lay charges against the RCMP on the basis that such a prosecution was not in the public interest and had no chance of success. The
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movement in the NDP. Dowson moved towards a position that held that
Canadian nationalism was progressive against American imperialism, a view that put him in the minority in the LSA.
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284:, run by Dowson, where they would also hold meetings and organize their activities. In order to save money, Dowson lived in the bookstore and lived a spartan lifestyle.
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Last-Minute Entry: Smith's
Acclamation Thwarted by Dowson The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Oct 22, 1957; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 1
493:
913:
Palmer, Bryan D. (Spring 2015). "A Tate
Gallery for the New Left: Portraits, Landscapes, and Abstracts in the Revolutionary Activism of the 1950s and 1960s".
651:
1160:
Results in
Ontario Ridings Can Decide Federal Vote The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Mar 31, 1958; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 1
300:
627:. The LSA grew during the student radicalization of the late 1960s, bringing youth into the movement. He helped shape the national movement in Canada
339:, in which the CCF decided not to run a candidate. After Dowson said that he would be willing to join the CCF caucus should he be elected, CCF leader
1151:
Smith Is Winner In By-Election By Big Margin The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Nov 5, 1957; ProQuest
Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 1
486:
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overturned McMurtry's decision in 1983 allowing Dowson to commence a private prosecution but in 1985, the charges were dismissed by lower courts.
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Dowson Finds No Welcome To CCF Ranks The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Oct 28, 1957; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 2
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in 1953 had ramifications in the RWP and in Dowson's own family. Ross Dowson and the majority of the group sided with the faction led by
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The Price of Democracy The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Oct 23, 1957; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 6
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minority, and split from the RWP in 1954 to form a Trotskyist tendency within the CCF. It disappeared by the end of the decade.
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Dowson's faction was defeated at the LSA's 1973 convention and, in early 1974, he and about 20 supporters left the LSA and the
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Dowson was born on September 4, 1917, the third of what was eventually a family of seven children in a working-class family in
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Dowson was elected secretary of the Socialist Workers League in October 1944, and reorganized the movement, founding the
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Ross Dowson v. RCMP : a vivid episode in the ongoing struggle for freedom of thought and social justice in Canada
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by-election but withdrew when Elwood Smith entered the race as an independent candidate with informal NDP backing.
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and his sisters Joyce (Dowson) Rosenthal and Lois (Dowson) BĂ©dard were also active in the Trotskyist movement.
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Dowson also filed his nomination papers as a "Labour" candidate against new Progressive Conservative leader
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had already left due to factional disputes and disagreements and the leader at the time the war broke out,
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362:. He placed fourth with 477 votes. This time he ran as a "Socialist" candidate, despite the fact that the
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158:. His father was a printer, an atheist and an anarchist sympathizer and his mother was a stenographer.
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Revolutionary Activism in the 1950s & 60s - Ernie Tate, A Memoir, Volume 1, Canada 1955-1965
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Revolutionary Activism in the 1950s & 60s - Ernie Tate, A Memoir, Volume 1, Canada 1955-1965
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Revolutionary Activism in the 1950s & 60s - Ernie Tate, A Memoir, Volume 1, Canada 1955-1965
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Revolutionary Activism in the 1950s & 60s - Ernie Tate, A Memoir, Volume 1, Canada 1955-1965
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Revolutionary Activism in the 1950s & 60s - Ernie Tate, A Memoir, Volume 1, Canada 1955-1965
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Dowson and his followers subsequently spent 13 years attempting to prosecute the RCMP. In 1980,
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faction known internally as "The Club" but continued to operate the Toronto Labor Bookstore on
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Gladstone, Bill (March 18, 2002). "Life's work was 'labour of love' (Ross Dowson obituary)".
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in 1989 which left him paralyzed and almost unable to communicate for the rest of his life.
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to help negotiate a settlement between the American and Canadian groups on one side and the
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In the late 1960s, Canadian Marxist academics, under the influence of the then-predominant
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Ross and Murray Dowson remained with the group as it went underground. Dowson joined the
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was illegal and not accepted socially and concealed his sexual orientation through a
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1337:, pamphlet published in 1980 on Dowson's legal fight against the RCMP.
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Dowson was also editor of the LSA's newspaper, which was first called
1292:"Journalist Anne Lagacé Dowson turns activist to save public schools"
132:
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Walkom, Thomas (March 3, 2002). "We just don't learn from history".
240:(RWP) with Dowson as national secretary and editor of its newspaper
878:"A Biographical Sketch of Ross Dowson, by his comrade Harry Kopyto"
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676:. Dowson was influenced by this analysis, which also influenced
202:, in 1938 and but was expelled due to his political activities.
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Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP
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The Canadian Trotskyist movement collapsed at the beginning of
30:
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By 1961, Dowson and his Trotskyist group had returned to an
740:
However, Dowson testified and provided evidence before two
772:
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Revolutionary Workers Party, League for Socialist Action
358:, Dowson was again a candidate in the Toronto riding of
186:, a long-time friend and follower of Dowson, told the
1026:"The Trotskyist Movement in Canada, 1929-1939 (1976)"
672:, tended to view Canada as an economic colony of the
661:
In 1964, the LSA developed a Quebec counterpart, the
658:
following the ouster of Pablo earlier in the decade.
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International Secretariat of the Fourth International
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The RWP declined however due to the pressures of the
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Dowson and his organization became a target for the
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Canadian federal by-election, November 4, 1957:
131:(September 4, 1917 – February 17, 2002) was a
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International Committee of the Fourth International
719:determined that RCMP officers engaged in what the
272:and ended its activities. Its members joined the
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173:, a Trotskyist organization, while a student at
327:on two occasions. He was a candidate in a 1957
1223:"Canada-U.S. Relations: A socialist Viewpoint"
979:. London: Resistance Books. pp. 229–232.
797:, is a broadcaster and politician who was the
744:investigating RCMP wrongdoings, including the
690:United Secretariat of the Fourth International
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1331:documentary about the Dowson v RCMP case.
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1269:. London: Resistance Books. p. 14.
1171:"LSA Campaign Wins as LSA Forced to Run"
1104:. London: Resistance Books. p. 27.
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1054:. London: Resistance Books. p. 18.
1004:. London: Resistance Books. p. 18.
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638:In 1963, Dowson played a role in the
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712:. The LSA split the following year.
274:Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
200:Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
107:Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
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1290:Block, Irwin (November 18, 2014).
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175:York Memorial Collegiate Institute
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1177:. No. 136. October 30, 1967
951:"Ross Dowson: A short biography"
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1197:"By-Election(s) (1957-11-04)"
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665:(Workers' Socialist League).
223:Defence of Canada Regulations
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366:CCF also stood a candidate.
256:and over 20% of the vote in
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728:Attorney-General of Ontario
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238:Revolutionary Workers Party
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1381:Canadian newspaper editors
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325:House of Commons of Canada
299:, this faction formed the
180:professional revolutionary
165:, Dowson's older brother,
1245:Socialist History Project
1030:Socialist History Project
955:Marxists Internet Archive
882:Marxists Internet Archive
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663:Ligue Socialiste Ouvriere
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346:External Affairs minister
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1241:"Ross Dowson, 1917-2002"
786:Dowson's brothers Hugh,
715:An investigation by the
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535:Progressive Conservative
443:Progressive Conservative
323:Ross Dowson ran for the
171:Workers' Party of Canada
1203:. Library of Parliament
1090:retrieved from ProQuest
849:retrieved from ProQuest
735:Supreme Court of Canada
474:Library of Parliament
845:Globe and Mail, pg R7
807:2008 federal election
803:Westmount—Ville-Marie
356:1958 general election
254:1948 mayoral election
138:political figure and
1361:Canadian Trotskyists
1265:Tate, Ernie (2014).
1175:The Workers Vanguard
1100:Tate, Ernie (2014).
1086:Toronto Star, pg A15
1050:Tate, Ernie (2014).
1000:Tate, Ernie (2014).
975:Tate, Ernie (2014).
799:New Democratic Party
644:Fourth International
614:New Democratic Party
422:George Stanley White
364:democratic socialist
341:Major James Coldwell
289:Fourth International
161:In the midst of the
111:New Democratic Party
775:man at a time when
307:and brother-in-law
154:, then a suburb of
140:perennial candidate
795:Anne Lagacé Dowson
684:Split from the LSA
448:Sidney Earle Smith
416:Hastings—Frontenac
349:Sidney Earle Smith
337:Hastings—Frontenac
209:. Leaders such as
129:Ross Jewitt Dowson
45:Ross Jewitt Dowson
1239:Fidler, Richard.
915:Labour/Le Travail
742:royal commissions
670:dependency theory
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