J. S. Woodsworth

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J. S. Woodsworth
1st Leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
In office August 1, 1932 – March 21, 1942
Preceded by	new party
Succeeded by	Major James Coldwell
1st National Chairman of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
In office 1932–1938
Preceded by	new party
Succeeded by	Major James Coldwell
Member of the House of Commons of Canada
In office October 29, 1925 – March 21, 1942
Preceded by	new constituency
Succeeded by	Stanley Knowles
Constituency	Winnipeg North Centre
In office December 6, 1921 – October 29, 1925
Preceded by	George William Andrews
Succeeded by	constituency abolished
Constituency	Winnipeg Centre
Personal details
Born	James Shaver Charleston Woodsworth (1874-07-29)July 29, 1874 Etobicoke, Ontario
Died	March 21, 1942(1942-03-21) (aged 67) Vancouver, British Columbia
Political party	Labour Party (1921–1932) Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (1932–1942)
Spouse	Lucy Staples ​ (m. 1903)​
Children	Grace MacInnis
Alma mater	Victoria College, Toronto University of Oxford
Occupation	Author, lecturer, minister, secretary, social activist, teacher

James Shaver Woodsworth (July 29, 1874 – March 21, 1942) was a Canadian Methodist minister, politician, and labour activist. He was a pioneer of the Canadian Social Gospel, a Christian religious movement with social democratic values and links to organized labour. A long-time leader and publicist in the movement, Woodsworth served as an elected member of the federal parliament from 1921 until his death in 1942. In 1932, he helped to found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a socialist political party which was the predecessor to the New Democratic Party (NDP).^[1]

While studying at Oxford, he became interested in social welfare, and upon his return to Canada as a minister of the Methodist Church he preached the Social Gospel to the poor and the working classes of Manitoba. As the superintendent of the All People's Mission in Winnipeg and the secretary of the Canadian Welfare League he focused on investigating social conditions, worked with immigrants, and campaigned for social welfare.

Woodsworth's focus on social issues and inequality led him to become active in the political labour movement in Canada. He led the protest campaign following the brutal police action which caused one person to be killed during the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919 and helped to organize the Manitoba Independent Labour Party (ILP). He ran and was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the ILP in 1921. In 1932 during the Great Depression, Woodsworth and the ILP along with other socialist and labour groups founded the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), with Woodsworth as its leader. The CCF, Canada's first widely successful socialist party, evolved into today's New Democratic Party.^[2] Woodsworth influenced many of Canada's contemporary social programs including social assistance, pensions and medicare.