Albert “Ginger” Goodwin, born on this day in 1887 and nicknamed for his bright red hair, was a Canadian socialist and labor activist whose murder by police while protesting conscription led to the first general strike in Canada.
Born in Yorkshire, England on May 10th, 1887, Goodwin immigrated to Canada in 1909, at the age of 19, working as a coal miner in Nova Scotia.
In Canada, he organized with the Socialist Party of Canada and became a notable labor leade during the 1912–1914 Coal Miner’s Strike against Canadian Collieries. Following the strike, he was blacklisted and was forced to move away from Cumberland to find work.
In 1916, he joined the Mining and Smelter workers Union and was elected as Secretary for the Trail chapter. Following his involvement with trade unions, Goodwin entered politics running as a candidate for the Socialist Party of Canada in the 1916 British Columbian election, although he did not win.
As World War I broke out, Goodwin became an outspoken advocate against the draft, initially refusing to sign up. Eventually, he was compelled to be drafted, and, after exhausting multiple appeals against his conscription, he fled into the hills of Cumberland, British Columbia.
On July 27th (some sources say July 26th), Goodwin was shot and killed by a member of the Dominion Police, who had ventured into the hills surrounding Comox Lake to locate men evading the draft and arrest them for their evasion. The officer who killed Goodwin successfully claimed self-defense in court, although it is unknown how the two actually encountered each other.
In protest to his murder, the first general strike in Canada, the Vancouver General Strike, took place on August 2nd, 1918. In 2015, a film about his life titled “Goodwin’s Way” was released.
“War is simply part of the process of Capitalism. Big financial interests are playing the game. They’ll reap the victory, no matter how the war ends.”
- Albert Goodwin
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