ASLplease ASLplease:
Communism is easy to hang onto when you work in a dangerous environment that requires a strong union to counter the unsafe work conditions brought on by the profiteers.
These folks had a different vision of Communism,alas greed finally won out.
This is the town I moved to in 1967 and have lived close to all my life.
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Master's Research - The "Communist" Administration of Blairmore, Alberta
November 1, 2007
FROM THE NOVEMBER 2007 LEGEND
At the height of the Great Depression, the coal-mining town of Blairmore, AB, elected the first “Red” local government in North America.
This little-known reality was the subject of Kyle Franz’s (MA ’07) master’s research. Under the direction of supervisor Dr. Sheila McManus (History), Franz produced his master’s dissertation, Painting the Town Red: The “Communist” Administration of Blairmore, Alberta, 1933-1936. Part of his thesis will be published in a collection of radical histories called Mobilizations, Protests and Engagements: Canadian Perspectives on Social Movements, expected from Fernwood Press in the spring of 2008.
Franz says that a combination of social, political and economic factors since 1924 resulted in an atmosphere where the townspeople thought it acceptable and practical to vote in a Red administration they felt could solve their problems. The community had experienced massive unemployment and poverty as a result of the coal-market collapse at the end of the First World War followed by continued economic hardship during the Depression.
“In Blairmore they said enough is enough, and the community took effective action by electing a government willing to initiate change,” says Franz.
The Red council took a very populist approach that benefited the working class. The council immediately increased business taxes, decreased taxes on working-class homes and reduced the cost of town-owned utilities.
All unused publicly owned land was available for cultivation so that townspeople could grow their own food. The town also renovated a dilapidated home to provide shelter for the homeless.
“For this council, relief was not only about the allocation of money, but also the opportunity to support oneself with dignity,” says Franz.
The council later renamed the main street Tim Buck Boulevard after the then-imprisoned leader of the Communist Party of Canada. In November 1934, it declared a school and civic holiday on the anniversary of the Russian Revolution.
Returned to power in 1935 by acclamation, the Red administration turned to a more ideological focus on Canadian and international labour struggles and its anti-war and anti-Fascist principles while still providing relief for residents.
Later that year several scandals tarnished the council’s reputation. As a result of public pressure in 1936 when the council was up for re-election, the Red councillors withdrew their nominations and were replaced by a compromise slate of both miners and business people.
Franz says this period in Blairmore’s history demonstrates the ability of the Canadian left to organize and mobilize at a time when it was illegal to be a Communist.
“This is one of very few success stories from the Depression,” says Franz. “Blairmore’s experience shows that a community, when motivated, can find innovative and pragmatic solutions to their problems.”
Franz will continue to explore the type of community that would elect a Communist town council while pursuing his doctoral studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.
In recognition of his master’s research at the U of L, he was recently awarded a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Queen’s University Tri Council Award.
I like this part.
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For this council, relief was not only about the allocation of money, but also the opportunity to support oneself with dignity,”
CKA Uber 
. A topic about Harper celebrating D-Day and everybody is either argueing with each other on replies that have nothing to do with that or replying on a conversation that has strayed far from what the article was about.
