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Rodney Young (politician)

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Rodney Young
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Vancouver Centre
In office
1948–1949
Preceded byIan Alistair Mackenzie
Succeeded byRalph Campney
Personal details
Born(1910-03-21)March 21, 1910
Liverpool, England
DiedJanuary 1, 1978(1978-01-01) (aged 67)
Political partyCCF

Rodney Young (March 21, 1910 − January 1, 1978) was a lawyer and Canadian Member of Parliament.

Young was born in Liverpool and emigrated to Canada in 1926 at the age of 16 setting in Vancouver. He was a socialist activist during the Great Depression and did political work in the unemployment relief camps that were set up during the Great Depression in Canada.[1]

Young was a member of the Socialist Party of Canada's British Columbia section and was one of the party's two candidates in the dual member constituency of Vancouver Centre for the 1933 provincial election garnering 64 votes.[2]

In 1934, the Socialist Party in BC joined the fledgling Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and Young joined the youth wing of the fledgling democratic socialist political party.[1]

He joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals during World War II, serving in the Canadian Army from 1940 until 1946.[1]

Following demobilization, he enrolled in the University of British Columbia's law school. While still a law student in 1948, he contested a by-election in Vancouver Centre on behalf of the CCF and was elected to the House of Commons of Canada. He only served for a year before being defeated in his attempt to retain his seat in the 1949 federal election.[1] His attempt to regain the seat in the 1953 resulted in a third-place finish.[3]

Young was a socialist and on the left-wing of the CCF. His involvement with Marxist activists resulted in his expulsion from the British Columbia wing of the CCF by the party's executive in 1954 in what was called the "Rod Young Affair".[1][4]

Electoral record

[edit]
1953 Canadian federal election: Vancouver Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Ralph Campney 8,259 40.83 −1.73
Social Credit Leslie R. Peterson 4,946 24.45 –
Co-operative Commonwealth Rodney Young 4,516 22.33 −4.05
Progressive Conservative Wendell Willard Wright 1,749 8.65 −16.02
Labor–Progressive Ernest Lawrie 756 3.74 −0.20
Total valid votes 20,226 100.0  
Liberal hold Swing −13.09
1949 Canadian federal election: Vancouver Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Ralph Campney 10,299 42.56 +8.90
Co-operative Commonwealth Rodney Young 6,382 26.37 −17.22
Progressive Conservative Henry Herbert Stevens 5,970 24.67 +1.93
Labor–Progressive Maurice Rush 952 3.93 –
Independent Harold Meade Young 595 2.46 –
Total valid votes 24,198 100.0  
Liberal gain from Co-operative Commonwealth Swing +13.06
Canadian federal by-election, 8 June 1948
On Ian Mackenzie being called to the Senate, 19 January 1948
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Co-operative Commonwealth Rodney Young 9,518 43.60 +16.27
Liberal Ralph Campney 7,348 33.66 +3.90
Progressive Conservative Hilliard Lyle Jestley 4,965 22.74 -3.73
Total valid votes 21,831 100.0  
Co-operative Commonwealth gain from Liberal Swing +6.18

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Rodney Young, 1910-1978: A Preliminary Inventory of His Papers" (PDF). Library of the University of British Columbia, Special Collections Division. April 1979. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
  2. ^ Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986, Elections BC
  3. ^ History of Federal Ridings - Vancouver Centre, Parliament of Canada website. Retrieved on 2007-09-17
  4. ^ "Socialist Education League Organized". Workers Vanguard. December 1955. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
[edit]
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