Arthur "Slim" Evans, c. 1911.

Arthur Herbert Evans, (April 24, 1890 - February 13, 1944) was a radical leader in the industrial union movement in Canada and the United States. April 24 is the 114th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (115th in leap years). ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Early life

Born in Toronto, Arthur ("Slim") Evans, travelled west in 1911 and worked in various places, first as a farmer, then a carpenter. In Minneapolis he became involved with the Industrial Workers of the World, (IWW, or "Wobblies"). He was a participant in the 1913 miners' strike in Ludlow, Colorado, where he was shot by strikebreakers hired by John D. Rockefeller, one of the big coal company owners, during what became known as the Ludlow Massacre. Evans walked with a limp for the rest of his life as a result. 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... This article is about the city in Minnesota. ... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. ... Ludlow is a ghost town located in Colorado. ... John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. ... Ludlow massacre monument The Ludlow massacre was the death of about 20 people during an attack by the Colorado National Guard on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families, at Ludlow, Colorado on April 20, 1914. ...

Evans returned to Canada and continued his union activism. He was the leader of the One Big Union local of coal miners in Drumheller, Alberta, where he was sentenced to a three year prison term for leading a strike. In 1933 he was sentenced again to 18 months for his role leading miners, this time in Princeton, British Columbia. Evans became a member of the Communist Party of Canada, along with other former wobblies after it formed in 1921. The One Big Union was a concept which emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century amongst working class trade unionists. ... Drumheller is a town in the Badlands of east-central Alberta on the Red Deer River an hour and a half northeast of Calgary. ... Motto: Fortis et liber(Latin) Strong and free Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Official languages English (see below) Government - Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong - Premier Ed Stelmach (PC) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 28 - Senate seats 6 Confederation September 1, 1905 (split from Northwest Territories) (8th [Province]) Area Ranked... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Princeton is a small town in the Okanagan-Similkameen region of British Columbia, Canada. ... The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. ... The IWW Label A Wobbly membership card The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having much in common with anarcho-syndicalist unions, but also many differences. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Relief Camp Strike

Perhaps his greatest notoriety came in 1935 when, as leader of the Communist Party's trade union umbrella, the Workers' Unity League, Evans led the On-to-Ottawa Trek. Communist activists organized workers in the government relief camps into the Relief Camp Workers' Union. Relief camp workers struck on April 4, 1935 when they went to Vancouver, where they stayed and pressed their demands until the Trek began on June 3. The first batch of strikers left Vancouver, riding on boxcars, and were joined by many others in Kamloops, Field, Golden, Calgary and Moose Jaw. By the time they reached Regina, Saskatchewan their numbers had climbed to over 2,000. Evans led a delegation to go ahead of the strikers and meet with the prime minister, R. B. "Iron Heel" Bennett. The two leaders engaged in a heated exchange, when Bennett accused Evans of being an embezzler. Evans' response received much publicity: In 1929, on orders from the Communist International, the Canadian Communist party created its own labour central called the Workers Unity League. ... The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a 1935 social movement of unemployed men protesting the dismal conditions in federal relief camps scattered in remote areas across Western Canada. ... The Relief Camp Workers Union (RCWU) was the union into which the inmates of the Canadian government relief camps were organized in the early 1930s. ... April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Vancouver (pronounced: ) is a city in south-western British Columbia, Canada. ... June 3 is the 154th day of the year (155th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Kamloops is a city in south central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the two branches of the Thompson River and near Kamloops Lake. ... Front entrance to the townsite Field (51° 23′ 48″ N 116° 29′ 9″ W) is a town of approximately 300 people located in the Kicking Horse River valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada within the confines of Yoho National Park. ... Golden is a town in central eastern British Columbia, Canada, located 262 kilometres (163 miles) west of Calgary, Alberta and 713 kilometres (443 miles) east of Vancouver. ... Nickname: Motto: Onward Location of Calgary within census division number 6, Alberta, Canada. ... Regina may. ... Motto: Multis E Gentibus Vires (Latin: The Strength of Many Peoples) Capital Regina Largest city Saskatoon Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor Gordon Barnhart - Premier Lorne Calvert (NDP) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 14 - Senate seats 6 Confederation September 1, 1905 (Split from NWT) (9th (province)) Area Ranked... For the British composer named Richard Bennett, see Richard Rodney Bennett. ...

"You are a liar. I was arrested for fraudulently converting these funds to feed the starving, instead of sending them to the agents

at Indianapolis, and I again say you are a liar if you say I embezzled, and I will have the pleasure of telling the workers throughout

Canada that I was forced to tell the premier of Canada he was a liar. Don't think you can pull off anything like that. You are not

intimidating me a damned bit".^[1]

The meeting accomplished little more than to illustrate the intransigence of the government and the determination of the strikers, and the delegation left Ottawa to rejoin the strikers in Regina. Evans and other Trek leaders were arrested at a large demonstration of strikers and supporters on July 1, 1935, (Dominion Day), which precipitated the Regina Riot. The federal government had decided that the Trek would be forcibly stopped in Regina because of fears that it would gain momentum if allowed to reach Winnipeg that could turn it from a protest into a revolutionary movement. Evans was charged under Section 98, the section of the Canadian Criminal Code, which had been added in the aftermath of the Winnipeg General Strike outlawing membership in revolutionary organizations. An exhaustive government inquiry was held into causes of the riot, and its conclusions paved the way for reforming the relief camp system. This outcome and the overwhelming defeat of R. B. Bennett are two indicators that the strike was a success, even though the Trek was crushed. Evans continued his union activism, and organized the miners and smelter workers in Trail, British Columbia into the CIO union, Mine, Mill, and Smelters Union. He also led fundraising drives for the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, the volunteer contingent from Canada that fought the fascists during the Spanish Civil War. Motto: Advance Ottawa/Ottawa en avant Location of the City of Ottawa in the Province of Ontario Coordinates: Country Canada Province Ontario Established 1850 as Town of Bytown Incorporated 1855 as City of Ottawa Amalgamated January 1, 2001 Government  - Mayor Larry OBrien  - City Council Ottawa City Council  - Representatives 8... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Dominion Day is a commemoration day of the granting of national status in various Commonwealth countries. ... The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a 1935 protest movement comprised of unemployed young men who had been working in camps scattered in remote areas in Western Canada at a rate of twenty cents per day. ... Regina may. ... Nickname: Motto: Unum Cum Virtute Multorum (One With the Strength of Many) Coordinates: Country Canada Province Manitoba Region Winnipeg Capital Region Established, 1738 (Fort Rouge) Renamed 1822 (Fort Garry) Incorporated 1873 (City of Winnipeg) Government  - City Mayor Sam Katz  - Governing Body Winnipeg City Council  - MPs List of MPs  - MLAs List... Section 98 (s. ... The Canadian Criminal Code (formal title An Act respecting the Criminal Law) is the codification of most of the criminal offences and procedure in Canada. ... Crowd gathered outside old City Hall during the Winnipeg General Strike, June 21, 1919 The Winnipeg General Strike was Canadas most influential labour protest. ... “Footpath” redirects here. ... CIO may mean: Central Intelligence Organization, secret police in Zimbabwe Chief Information Officer, a corporate title Congress of Industrial Organizations, a United States trade union confederation. ... ... The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion or Mac-Paps were a battalion of Canadians who fought as part of the Fifteenth International Regiment for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. ... Combatants Spanish Republic With the support of: Soviet Union[1] Nationalist Spain With the support of: Italy Germany Commanders Manuel Azaña Francisco Largo Caballero Juan Negrín Francisco Franco Gonzalo Queipo de Llano Emilio Mola José Sanjurjo Casualties 500,000[2] The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict...

His last union position was as the shop steward at the Vancouver Shipyards. He died after being hit by a car in 1944.

References

John Stanton, Never Say Die!: The Life and Times of a Pioneer Labour Lawyer, Vancouver, Steel Rail Publishing, 1987.

Ben Swankey and Jean Evans Sheils, "Work and Wages"! A Semi-Documentary Account of the Life and Times of Arthur H. (Slim) Evans 1890-1944, Carpenter, Miner, Labor Leader. Vancouver: Trade Union Research Bureau, 1977.

Bill Waiser, All Hell Can’t Stop Us: The On-to-Ottawa Trek and Regina Riot. Calgary: Fifth House, 2003.