Human Rights A Day

Canadian Communist Party leader Tim Buck arrested for left-wing beliefs. Not many politicians hold a post for 35 years, but Timothy Buck did exactly that. Born on January 6, 1891 in England, the machinist and labour leader immigrated to Canada in 1910. There he rose to the rank of general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada in 1929, a post he held until 1964. He ran for Parliament several times, gaining 25 per cent of the votes at least twice, but never made it to MP. Of course, the existence of the Communist Party worried many Canadians, among them Prime Minister R.B. Bennett. Fearful of a left-wing uprising during the Great Depression, he ordered police to take action against party leaders. On August 11, 1931, they arrested Buck and other Communist Party members across Canada for sedition: incitement to rebellion. Buck was convicted and spent two years in Kingston Penitentiary for his political beliefs. He died in 1973. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.