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Bruce Magnuson

{{Short description|Canadian trade unionist and Comminist leader}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| native_name =

| name = Bruce Magnuson

| image =

| office1 = Leader of the Communist Party of Ontario

| term_start1 = 1956

| term_end1 = 1967

| predecessor1 = Stewart Smith

| successor1 = William Stewart

| birth_name = Bruce Adolf H. Magnuson

| birth_date = {{birth date|1909|02|21}}

| birth_place = Värmland, Sweden

| death_date = {{death date and age|1995|06|24|1909|02|21}}

| death_place = Toronto, Ontario

| nationality =

| awards =

| spouse =

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Politician, trade unionist

| party = Communist Party of Ontario

| otherparty = Communist Party of Canada
Labor-Progressive Party (1943–1959)

}}

Bruce Adolf H. Magnuson (February 21, 1909 – June 24, 1995) was a Canadian trade unionist and Communist leader.

Magnuson was born in the Swedish province of Värmland and grew up on his parents' farm. He immigrated to Canada in the spring of 1928 at the age of 19 and worked on farms in Saskatchewan before settling in the Lakehead district of northern Ontario in 1933 where he got involved in a bushworkers' strike led by the Lumber Workers Industrial Union of Canada.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/pss/25143588|jstor=25143588|accessdate=Mar 15, 2020|last1=Campbell|first1=Peter|title=Reviewed work: The Untold Story of Ontario's Bushworkers, Bruce Magnuson|journal=Labour / Le Travail|year=1992|volume=29|pages=266–268|doi=10.2307/25143588|url-access=subscription}}

He was hurt working in the bush and spent several months in hospital convalescing during which time he read the Communist Manifesto and other leftwing literature and decided to join the Communist Party of Canada.

Magnuson was elected president of Local 2786 Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Union in 1940 and led the union until 1951 when Communists were purged by the parent union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, after which Magnuson organized a breakaway union, the Canadian Union of Woodworkers In 1946, he led a strike that is credited with establishing the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union on a broad basis in northern Ontario winning recognition of the union by lumber companies as the bargaining authority for workers in the pulpwood industry and establishing collective bargaining in the region's timber industry.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lyM7K-Ftr8C&q=1946+strike+magnuson+bruce+lumber&pg=PA311 |title=A Nation of Immigrants: Women, Workers, and Communities in Canadian History ... - Paula Draper, Franca Iacovetta, Robert Ventresca - Google Books |date= January 1998|isbn=9780802074829 |accessdate=2012-08-13|last1=Iacovetta |first1=Franca |last2=Draper |first2=Paula |last3=Ventresca |first3=Robert |publisher=University of Toronto Press }}

From August 1940 to August 1942, Magnuson was interned first at Camp Petawawa and later at an internment camp at Hull, Quebec as a subversive under the Defence of Canada Regulations.{{cite web|url=http://www.socialisthistory.ca/Docs/CPC/WW2/FoughtFor.htm |title=Socialist History Project |publisher=Socialisthistory.ca |date= |accessdate=2012-08-13}} He and other communists were released after the Soviet Union became an ally as a result of Germany's invasion of the USSR.{{cite journal|last=Campbell|first=Peter|title=Review: Bruce Magnuson, The Untold Story of Ontario's Bushworkers (Toronto: Progress Books 1990).|journal=Labour/Le Travail|year=1992|volume=29-30|pages=266–268|doi=10.2307/25143588|jstor=25143588|url=http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/viewFile/4845/5718|accessdate=January 25, 2012}}

Magnuson was on the founding executive of the Labor-Progressive Party in Ontario{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JilgAAAAIBAJ&pg=4761,4521265&dq=labor+progressive&hl=en|title=Saskatoon Star-Phoenix - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|accessdate=Mar 15, 2020}} and a frequent candidate. In the 1957 federal election, Magnuson was the Labor-Progressive candidate in Port Arthur against Liberal cabinet minister C.D. Howe but withdrew a few weeks prior to the election in order to support Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidate Douglas Fisher who went on to defeat Howe by 1,400 votes in an upset victory{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G95FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5349,1254578&dq=bruce+magnuson+labor-progressive&hl=en|title=Vochenblatt - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|accessdate=Mar 15, 2020}} Magnuson had won 923 in the 1953 federal election in Port Arthur.

He became leader of the Labor-Progressive Party in Ontario following its crisis in 1956 when provincial leader Stewart Smith, former MPP J.B. Salsberg and hundreds of other party members left in the aftermath of Nikita Khrushchev's Secret Speech, the 1956 Hungarian Uprising as well as revelations about the extent of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union under Stalin.

Magnuson led the Labor-Progressive Party in the 1959 Ontario election,{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IDY_AAAAIBAJ&pg=3240,6090306&dq=communist+ontario&hl=en|title=The Windsor Daily Star - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|accessdate=Mar 15, 2020}} and remained leader of the party as it renamed itself the Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) and contested the 1963{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QDM_AAAAIBAJ&pg=4065,3904058&dq=william-stewart+communist&hl=en|title=The Windsor Star - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|accessdate=Mar 15, 2020}} and 1967 provincial elections{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JUU_AAAAIBAJ&pg=2006,3202927&dq=communist+ontario&hl=en|title=The Windsor Star - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|accessdate=Mar 15, 2020}}

He last ran as a Communist Party candidate in the 1984 federal election in Sudbury winning 75 votes. He remained a member of the Central Executive of the Communist Party of Canada in the mid-1980s.{{Cite web|url=http://www.google.ca/search?q=%22bruce+magnuson%22+communist&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=bks&source=og&sa=N&tab=sp|title="bruce magnuson" communist - Google Search|website=www.google.ca|accessdate=Mar 15, 2020}}

He died in Toronto in 1995."Deaths", The Globe and Mail, June 26, 1995, pg. C5

Electoral record

{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1984|Sudbury (federal electoral district)|Sudbury|percent=yes|change=yes}}

{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Doug Frith|18,012|41.30|-14.40}}

{{CANelec|CA|PC|John A. Dediana|14,100 |32.33|+20.50}}

{{CANelec|CA|NDP|Harriet Conroy|11,185 |25.65|-5.51}}

{{CANelec|CA|Rhinoceros (historical)|Phil Moon Popovich|241|0.55|-0.18}}

{{CANelec|CA|Communist|Bruce Magnuson|75|0.17|+0.02}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|43,613}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|ON|1975|St. Catharines (provincial electoral district)|St. Catharines|percent=yes}}

{{CANelec|ON|PC|Rob Johnston|10,064|34.74}}

{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|J.A. Rochefort|9,270|32.00}}

{{CANelec|ON|NDP|Fred Dickson|9,215|31.81}}

{{CANelec|ON|Communist|Bruce Magnuson|227|0.78}}

{{CANelec|XX|Independent|Lucylle Boikoff|192|0.66}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|28,968|99.13}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots|253|0.87}}

{{CANelec/total|Turnout|29,221}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1968|Windsor-Walkerville|percent=yes}}

{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Mark MacGuigan|17,090|49.14}}

{{CANelec|CA|NDP|Bert Weeks|12,090|34.76}}

{{CANelec|CA|PC|David Alexander Gray|5,191|14.93}}

{{CANelec|CA|Communist|Bruce A. H. Magnuson|408|1.17}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|34,779}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|ON|1967|Dovercourt (provincial electoral district)|Dovercourt|percent=yes}}

{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Dante De Monte|6,184|44.02}}

{{CANelec|ON|NDP|Otto Bressan|4,598|32.73}}

{{CANelec|ON|PC|Kay Armstrong|2,841|20.22}}

{{CANelec|ON|Communist|Bruce Magnuson|426|3.03}}

{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|14,049}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1965|Essex East (electoral district)|Essex East|percent=yes|change=yes}}

{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Paul Martin Sr.|26,094|63.78|+3.96}}

{{CANelec|CA|PC|David Gourlie| 8,142|19.90|-0.78}}

{{CANelec|CA|NDP|Hugh McConville|6,133|14.99|-2.79}}

{{CANelec|CA|Communist|Bruce A. H. Magnuson|543|1.33|–}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|40,912}}

{{CANelec/hold|CA|Liberal|}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|ON|1963|Port Arthur (provincial electoral district)|Port Arthur|percent=yes|change=yes}}

{{CANelec|ON|PC|George Wardrope|13,580|50.56|+9.68}}

{{CANelec|ON|NDP|Joseph Shannon|6,731|25.06|-0.77}}

{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Paul Le May|6,143|22.87|-10.42}}

{{CANelec|ON|Communist|Bruce Magnuson|407|1.51|-}}

{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|26,861|100.00|-}}

{{CANelec/total|Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots|175|0.65|-0.59}}

{{CANelec/total|Turnout|27,036|66.70|-4.36}}

{{CANelec/total|Eligible voters|40,533}}

{{CANelec/hold|ON|PC|+5.22}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|ON|1959|St. Andrew (provincial electoral district)|St. Andrew|percent=yes|change=yes}}

{{CANelec|ON|PC|Allan Grossman|3,773|42.08|+0.83}}

{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Samuel Kelner|2,996|33.41|+23.37}}

{{CANelec|ON|CCF|James Robertson|1,664|18.56|+6.77}}

{{CANelec|ON|Labor-Progressive|Bruce Magnuson|402|4.48|-31.23}}

{{CANelec|ON|Social Credit|Dorothy Cureatz|132|1.47|–}}

{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|8,967|}}

{{CANelec/hold|ON|PC|}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1958|Fort William (federal electoral district)|Fort William|percent=yes|change=yes}}

{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Hubert Badanai|9,915|39.84|+1.63}}

{{CANelec|CA|PC|Art Widnall|9,798|39.37|+3.96}}

{{CANelec|CA|CCF|Michael Chicorli|4,953|19.90|-6.48}}

{{CANelec|CA|Labor-Progressive|Bruce Magnuson|224|0.90|–}}

{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|24,890|}}

{{CANelec/hold|CA|PC|}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|ON|1955|Port Arthur (provincial electoral district)|Port Arthur|percent=yes|change=yes}}

{{CANelec|ON|PC|George Wardrope|9,517|42.52|+5.14}}

{{CANelec|ON|CCF|Ronald Wilmot|7,741|34.59|+4.85}}

{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Charles MacDonnell|4,347|19.42|-6.83}}

{{CANelec|ON|Labor-Progressive|Bruce Magnuson|775|3.46|-}}

{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|22,380|100.00|-}}

{{CANelec/total|Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots|277|1.22|-0.36}}

{{CANelec/total|Turnout|22,657|68.38|+4.36}}

{{CANelec/total|Eligible voters|33,132}}

{{CANelec/hold|ON|PC|+4.99}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1953|Port Arthur (federal electoral district)|Port Arthur|percent=yes|change=yes}}

{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|C. D. Howe|12,272|50.14|-0.97}}

{{CANelec|CA|CCF|Ronald Vincent Wilmot|5,865|23.96|-1.91}}

{{CANelec|CA|PC|Bob Robinson|5,415|22.12|+1.64}}

{{CANelec|CA|Labor-Progressive|Bruce Magnuson|923|3.77|–}}

{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|24,475}}

{{CANelec/hold|CA|Liberal|}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|ON|1951|Port Arthur (provincial electoral district)|Port Arthur|percent=yes|change=yes}}

{{CANelec|ON|PC|George Wardrope|7,758|37.38|+13.86}}

{{CANelec|ON|CCF|Frederick Robinson|6,172|29.74|-15.19}}

{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Frederick Kelly|5,447|26.25|-5.3}}

{{CANelec|ON|Independent Liberal|Bruce Magnuson|1,375|6.63|-}}

{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|20,752|100.00|-}}

{{CANelec/total|Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots|333|1.58|+0.61}}

{{CANelec/total|Turnout|21,085|64.02|+1.25}}

{{CANelec/total|Eligible voters|32,934}}

{{CANelec/gain|ON|PC|CCF|+14.52}}

{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|ON|1945|Port Arthur (provincial electoral district)|Port Arthur|percent=yes|change=yes}}

{{CANelec|ON|CCF|Frederick Robinson|6,403|34.90|-19.38}}

{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Hobart Styffe|4,375|23.85|-3.60}}

{{CANelec|ON|PC|Herbert Cook|3,254|17.74|-0.52}}

{{CANelec|ON|Independent Liberal|Charles Winnans Cox|2,828|15.41|-}}

{{CANelec|ON|Labor-Progressive|Bruce Magnuson|1,486|8.10|-}}

{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|18,346|100.00|-}}

{{CANelec/total|Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots|212|1.15|+0.34}}

{{CANelec/total|Turnout|18,419|73.01|-0.96}}

{{CANelec/total|Eligible voters|25,419}}

{{CANelec/hold|ON|CCF||-11.49}}

{{end}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{Ontario Communist Leaders}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnuson, Bruce}}

Category:1909 births

Category:1995 deaths

Category:Swedish emigrants to Canada

Category:Swedish communists

Category:Leaders of the Communist Party of Canada (Ontario)

Category:Trade unionists from Ontario

Category:Politicians from Thunder Bay

Category:Labor-Progressive Party candidates in the 1953 Canadian federal election

Category:Labor-Progressive Party candidates in the 1958 Canadian federal election

Category:Communist Party of Canada candidates in the 1965 Canadian federal election

Category:Communist Party of Canada candidates in the 1968 Canadian federal election

Category:Communist Party of Canada candidates in the 1984 Canadian federal election

Category:People detained under Defence of Canada Regulations

Category:People from Värmland County