North Battleford MP was first Communist in Parliament
Elected at the height of the Second World War, Dorise Nielsen became the first Communist, and third woman, to hold a seat in Canadian Parliament.
Born on July 30, 1902, in London, U.K., Nielsen moved to Saskatchewan in 1927 to teach near the town of Spiritwood.
Living through the Great Depression heavily influenced Nielsen’s politics. She joined the CCF in 1934 and the Communist Party of Canada three years later. In 1940 she ran for federal office in the riding of North Battleford under the “Unity” banner — defeating the Liberal incumbent.
Nielsen was a crusader for children’s welfare, civil liberties and the fight against poverty — especially in depression-ravaged Western Canada — at a time when the government was focused on war funding which far exceeded spending on social causes.
“Already the people of the west have realized that during this period they are going to be asked to make sacrifices, and they are beginning to ask themselves how they, who are so near the edge of destitution, can make yet another sacrifice,” Nielsen said when addressing Parliament in May 1940. “In their minds they are beginning to doubt many things; suspicions are beginning to arise.”
As a member of the Communist party, an affiliation she attempted to hide after it was outlawed months after her win, Nielsen advocated for the release of imprisoned Communists and became a spokesperson for its policies in Parliament.
In 1945 Nielsen ran unsuccessfully for re-election as a LabourProgressive, a name used by the Communist Party of Canada until 1959. She worked for the party in Toronto before making one final failed bid for office in 1953.
In 1957 she moved to the People’s Republic of China where she worked as an English teacher and editor of the Foreign Languages Press before her death on Dec. 9, 1980.
As we celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017, the StarPhoenix and Leader-Post are telling the stories of 150 Saskatchewan people who helped shape the nation. Send your suggestions or feedback to sask150@postmedia.com.