George Hewison (born 1944) is a former long-time member of the Communist Party of Canada, trade unionist and folk singer. A second-generation member of the party, Hewison grew up selling the party press and joined the party at the age of 17. His father "Red Jack" Hewison, had immigrated to Canada from Scotland and had been a founding member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation but was disillusioned by the CCF during the Cold War and joined the Labour-Progressive Party (as the Communist Party was known) when CCF leaders supported a raid by Hal Banks and the Seafarers International Union against Hewison's union, the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union in 1953. 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (Latin: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within the UK Languages with Official Status1 English Scottish Gaelic Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Tommy Douglas (centre) stands in front of a CCF billboard during an election campaign in Saskatchewan. ... For the generic term for a high-tension struggle between countries, see cold war (war). ... The Labour-Progressive Party was a Communist party in Canada. ...

Hewison succeeded William Kashtan as general secretary in 1988 at a time when the Communist world was being convulsed by Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms in the Soviet Union. He was leader of the Canadian party when the USSR and the Soviet bloc collapsed. The Communist Party of Canada had long been uncritical supporters of Moscow and was severely disoriented by the collapse of Soviet Communism in Eastern Europe. Hewison and other leaders of the party attempted to open a discussion about the causes for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the significance for Communists in Canada and internationally. He was challenged by a minority faction, led by previous leader William Kashtan and future leader Miguel Figueroa among others who accused him of "revisionism". Hewison was unanimously re-elected leader at the party's next convention in 1992 which produced a new manifesto called "Communists and the New Decade" (1990s). The minority faction, which had been defeated at the convention, continued to resist the direction the Hewison leadership was heading and finally forced the party and its elected leadership into court. An out-of-court settlement took place between the group around Hewison and those around the minority faction which coalesced around Figueroa, and others. In the meantime, hundreds of party activists disgusted with the paralytic debate between the factions, left the party. During the inner-party squabble, the membership plummetted from 1500 to 800. The out-of-court settlement mandating the splitting of the old party's assets, with the minority assuming the name "Communist Party of Canada", and the out-going leadership undertaking to leave the Communist Party . The Canadian Tribune and the Cecil-Ross Society (a society with strict injunctions on use of funds) were allotted to the group around Hewison who were to leave the party. Those funds were allocated according to the rules of the Societies Act. Prior to the split, the long-standing financial support from the Soviet Union to the Communist paty of Canada was discontinued. This had created a different crisis for the party in terms of its ability to finance a large staff, headquarters, maintain a print shop, a publishing house and two weekly newspapers (Canadian Tribune and Pacific Tribune). The leadership which left the party attempted to broaden the appeal for their press by including the broader left. For a variety of reasons, the New Times, which was meant to be a broad left periodical, failed after several issues. The Cecil-Ross Society also attempted to publish another magazine, Ginger, but it failed after two issues. William Kashtan (1909-1993?) became general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada in January 1965, several months following the death of Leslie Morris. ... The term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... *This article is about communism; a form of society. ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov (Gorbachev)   listen? (Russian: ; pronunciation: ) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... During the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) comprised the following Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Albania (until the early 1960s, see below), the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia. ... Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange) and other former communist regimes (light orange). ... William Kashtan (1909-1993?) became general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada in January 1965, several months following the death of Leslie Morris. ... Miguel Figueroa (born 1953) has been the leader of the Communist Party of Canada since 1992. ... Revisionism is a word which has several meanings. ... A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. ... The Cecil-Ross Society was a socialist educational foundation operated by the former majority of the Communist Party of Canada after they were forced to terminate their association with the party in 1992 in a political and legal dispute following the fall of the Soviet Union. ... Broad Left is the generic term for a coalition of left members in a trade union. ...

In recent years, Hewison has supported himself through a gas station and convenience store he owns near Peterborough, Ontario and continues to investigate the history of Twentieth Century communism, including the rise and fall of the Soviet Union and its significance to Canada. Hewison continues to perform as a folk singer, specifically of labour songs, at various fundraisers and events. Peterborough (2004 population 74,600 and the metropolitan population numbers 102,423) is a city on the Otonabee River in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, 125km northeast of Toronto. ...

William Kashtan (1909-1993?) became general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada in January 1965, several months following the death of Leslie Morris. ... The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Miguel Figueroa (born 1953) has been the leader of the Communist Party of Canada since 1992. ...