Arthur J. Turner Interview: Machinists’ Union, CCF & NDP MLA
Arthur J. Turner (1888-1983) was a socialist and trade unionist who came to Canada from England in 1913. He was a member of the International Association of Machinists at the shipyards in Victoria, before relocating to Vancouver. He joined the One Big Union (O.B.U.) and was vice president of the Victoria Shipbuilders’ unit. This inteview is part of our Oral History Collection.
Turner was politically active in the Federated Labor Party, the Canadian Labor Party, the Independent Labor Party, Independent Labor Party (Socialist) and the Socialist Party of Canada, joining the CCF (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation) when it was formed in 1933 and then the NDP (New Democratic Party) in 1961. Turner was MLA for Vancouver East for 25 years (1941-1966). In this interview he describes the origins, rise and decline of the One Big Union, as well as various labour-socialist parties in British Columbia. He relates an incident at a large anti-conscription meeting in Victoria during World War One that was broken up by soldiers, and another when Quebec conscripts were forced at gunpoint to board a ship in Victoria for the Russian front during World War One.