Labour at the Lakehead: Ethnicity, Socialism, and Politics, 1900-35 - Tapa dura

In the early twentieth century, politicians singled out the Lakehead asa breeding ground for radical labour politics. Michel S. Beaulieureturns northern Ontario to its rightful place as a birthplace ofleftism in Canada by exposing the conditions that gave rise to an arrayof left-wing organizations. Cultural ties among workers helped bringleft-wing ideas to Canada, but ethnicity weakened the left as eachgroup developed a distinctive vocabulary of socialism and asAnglo-Celtic workers defended their privileges against Finns,Ukrainians, and Italians. At the Lakehead, ethnic difference oftenoutweighed class solidarity--at the cost of a strongerlabour movement for Canada.