Clarence Gillis
| Clarence Gillis | |
|---|---|
Cape Breton South MP, in 1940. Source: Library and Archives Canada
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| Member of Parliament | |
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In office 1940–1957 |
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| Preceded by | David James Hartigan (Liberal) |
| Succeeded by | Donald MacInnis (Conservative) |
| Constituency | Cape Breton South |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 3, 1895 Londonderry, Nova Scotia |
| Died | December 17, 1960 (aged 65) Glace Bay, Nova Scotia |
| Political party | Co-operative Commonwealth Federation |
| Spouse(s) |
1. Mamie Gillis 2. Theresa Sargeant |
| Residence | Sydney, Nova Scotia |
| Profession | Coal Miner/Trade unionist |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
1. Mamie Gillis
Clarence (Clarie) Gillis, MP (October 3, 1895 – December 17, 1960) was a Canadian social democratic politician and trade unionist from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. He was born on Nova Scotia's mainland, but grew-up in Cape Breton. He worked in the island's underground coal mines operated by the British Empire Steel and Coal Company (BESCO). He also served as a member of the infantry in the Canadian Corps in Flanders during the First World War. After the war he returned to the coal mines and became an official with the mine's United Mine Workers of America (UMW) union. In 1938, he helped bring UMW Local 26 into the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), becoming the first labour local to affiliate with the party. In 1940, he became the first CCF member elected to the Canadian House of Commons, east of Manitoba. While serving in the House, he was known as its leading voice championing labour issues. He was also a main voice for social rights during his 17-years in Parliament. His most notable achievement was securing the funding that allowed the building of a fixed-link between Nova Scotia's mainland and Cape Breton Island at the Strait of Canso: the Canso Causeway. After winning four-straight elections, he was defeated in 1957 and died three-years later in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.
He was born on the Nova Scotia mainland, in the town of Londonderry, in 1895. His father, J.H. Gillis, moved the family to the Industrial Cape Breton area in 1904. J.H. Gillis worked in the coal mines and was an associate of union leader J.B. McLachlan. Clarie, as Clarence Gillis was known, started working in the region's coal mines in 1913. The next year, he joined the Canadian Corps and rose from private to acting lieutenant. He suffered a head wound from shrapnel in Flanders. He would recover enough to go back to the mines after the war.
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