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Shortly after Confederation, Canadian cities were teeming with impoverished workers and rapid industrialization. While socialist movements were taking shape across Europe, Phillips Thompson became a leading voice for Canadian labour in Southwestern Ontario. Writing sharp political satire under the pen name “Jimuel Briggs,” Thompson gained recognition as one of Canada’s earliest labour journalists, and a spokesperson for the Knights of Labor, North America’s largest labour organization of the late 19th century.
His 1887 book The Politics of Labor was one of the first to critique the development of Canada’s political economy, and he used his satirical skills to write The Labor Reform Songster; a collection of working-class marching songs for the militant movement. For the Social Democrats of the North theme music, the tune of US folk song “John Brown’s Body” is used in variation as the tune to the Phillips Thompson’s Labor Reform Songster melody “The March of the Workers.”
Social Democrats of the North: Canadian Visions for Justice & Equality from Confederation to the Quiet Revolution is a new podcast series from Perspectives Journal by Broadbent Research Fellow and Editorial Committee Member Dave McGrane.
Dave McGrane, Professor of Political Science at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatchewan, explores the life, times, and ideas of Canada’s most influential social democrats. From Confederation at 1867, to the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, discover the people who shaped social democracy in Canada, the movements that fought for the working-class, and the legacies they’ve left for the wellbeing of all Canadians. There are lessons for activists, and forgotten struggles that apply to today’s wins. After all, the best teacher for a better world tomorrow, is the past.
Social Democrats of the North is a Perspectives Journal Podcast Series, published by the Broadbent Institute.
Host & Episode Research – Dave McGrane
Producer – Clement Nocos
Production Assistant – Jack McClelland
Theme music note
The tune of US folk song “John Brown’s Body” is used extensively for militant labour movements and group marching, referencing US abolitionist John Brown. The tune has evolved into a number of variations, including ‘The March of the Workers’ in the Labor Reform Songster (1892) by Ontario labour leader Phillips Thompson (Social Democrats of the North Episode 2).
Battle Hymn of the Republic medley by Marisa Anderson is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
