Ted Jolliffe
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Edward (Ted) Bigelow Jolliffe (1909-1998) was a Canadian politician and lawyer and was the first leader of the Ontario Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Born in China to missionary parents Jolliffe attended university in Ontario and, as a Rhodes Scholar, at Oxford. He became a socialist and joined the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation shortly after it was formed in 1932.
He was a candidate in the 1935 Canadian election in the Toronto riding of St. Paul's, placing fourth, and ran in the 1940 election in York East, placing third.
He became the first leader of the Ontario CCF in 1942 and took it to within five seats of victory with 34 seats and 32% of the vote in the election of 1943 that elected a Conservative minority government under George Drew. In the 1945 Ontario election, Drew ran an anti-Semitic, union bashing, Red-baiting campaign. Jolliffe replied by giving a radio speech (written by Lister Sinclair) that accused Drew of running a political gestapo in Ontario. Jolliffe alleged that a secret department of the Ontario Provincial Police was acting as a political police spying on the opposition and the media. This accusation led to a backlash, and loss of support for the CCF (from 34 seats to 8), including the loss of Jolliffe's own seat of York South, in the election. In the 1970s, archival evidence was discovered proving the charge.
Jolliffe faced a leadership challenge in 1946, but was re-elected CCF leader.
As a result of the 1948 Ontario election, the CCF recovered, winning 21 seats. Jolliffe again became Leader of the Opposition in Ontario and Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for York South. In 1951, however, as a result of the Cold War and the "red scare", the CCF and labour movement acted to purge individuals (including CCF MPP Bob Carlin) suspected of being under Communist influence. Among the general public, support for socialism suffered: the CCF was reduced to only two seats in the 1951 election. Jolliffe lost his own seat and resigned as party leader in 1953.
He returned to his previous career as a labour lawyer, founding the firm Jolliffe, Lewis and Osler with fellow CCF activist and future York South Member of Parliament David Lewis. In the 1950s and 1960s, the firm assisted the Steelworkers union in their fight with the Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers union in Sudbury, Ontario.
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Preceded by: | Ontario CCF/NDP leaders |
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