Stanley Knowles, an icon of the Canadian political left and one of the last links to the post-Depression fight for the welfare state, died in Ottawa June 9.
He was a week away from his 89th birthday.
For 35 years, Knowles represented Winnipeg North Centre in the House of Commons. He inherited the seat in 1942 from CCF-founder J.S. Woodsworth and held it almost continuously until 1981, when a stroke ended his political career.
For the better part of the past 15 years, Knowles sat on the floor of the Commons as a special officer of Parliament – an honorary position created for him by former Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
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He holds the Canadian record for years spent in Parliament.
As a CCF activist and later one of the founders of the New Democratic Party, Knowles waged a battle for public pensions, medicare and social programs.
He also won respect as an expert on parliamentary rules.
Since his stroke, he devoted some of his time to Ottawa-area advocacy for stroke survivors.
“He deservedly earned a reputation as the social conscience of Parliament,” NDP leader Alexa McDonough said June 9.
Winnipeg New Democrat MP Bill Blaikie, a United Church minister, likened Knowles to biblical prophets who demanded that the authorities improve the world for the most vulnerable.
He was “a truly legendary parliamentarian,” said prime minister Jean ChrŽtien.
He also walked with political legends, helping Woodsworth and T.C Douglas create the political movement that constructed the cradle for Canada’s social programs.
He was chancellor emeritus of Brandon University.
