Jan Lakeman
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
John "Jan" Lakeman (April 6, 1887 – November 7, 1956) was a mid-20th century labour rights activist, perennial election candidate and leader of the provincial Communist Party in Alberta, Canada.
Political career
Born in the Netherlands, he came to Canada in 1905,{{cite web |title=Pary Official, J. Lakeman Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31285120/edmonton-journal|publisher=Edmonton Journal|page=42|date=November 7, 1956|work=Wednesday}} eventually finding work in Edmonton with the Canadian National Railway. He became active in his railway workers union, the One Big Union, the Canadian Labour Party and the Communist Party of Canada. He was the first leader of the Alberta Communist Party after its founding in 1921/1922.
Communists were accepted in the Labour Party in the early 1920s and Lakeman was elected president of the Edmonton association for the Canadian Labour Party Alberta branch.{{cite news|title=Woodsworth Explains His Statement|publisher=The Lethbridge Herald|page=2|date=August 18, 1926|work=Vol XIX No. 210}} He ran as a CLP candidate in 1926.Monto, Tom. Protest and Progress, Three Labour Radicals in Early Edmonton, Crang Publishing/Alhambra Books, Edmonton, p. 93
After a visit to Moscow in 1929, he was expelled from his union and from the Labour Party and lost his job. He then led fights by unemployed for improved treatment.
Lakeman ran in numerous provincial and federal elections. He ran as a Communist in elections in the 1930s and during World War II after the CPC was renamed the Labor-Progressive Party.
References
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External links
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{{Succession box|
before=New party|
title=Leader of the Communist Party (Alberta)|
years=1930–1937?|
after=Lawrence Anderson, 1937–1943?}}
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Category:Independent candidates in Alberta provincial elections
Category:Communist Party – Alberta candidates in Alberta provincial elections
Category:Dominion Labor Party (Alberta) candidates in Alberta provincial elections
Category:Labor-Progressive Party candidates in the 1945 Canadian federal election
Category:Candidates in the 1930 Canadian federal election
Category:Candidates in the 1926 Canadian federal election
Category:One Big Union (Canada) members
Category:Dutch emigrants to Canada
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