Albert Edward Smith - Joining The Communist Party

Joining The Communist Party

Smith's personal philosophy continued to develop in this period, and in January 1925 he made the decision to join the Communist Party himself. His membership in the party was confirmed at a small upstairs room at 8 Gerrard Street East in Toronto, where a meeting of the party was held. He later explained his decision to a Toronto Star reporter by arguing that communism was a part of man's social evolution. Smith remained a member of the Communist Party for the rest of his life. Still a prominent figure in Toronto, he often defended the Communist Party against threats from hostile governments. He became a prominent organizer for the Canadian Labour Defence League across Canada in the 1920s, and served as its general secretary until it was shut down by the Canadian government in 1940.

He campaigned for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1925 federal election as a candidate of the CLP in the northern Ontario riding of Port Arthur—Thunder Bay. He finished fourth, with 1,363 votes. The winner was William Fitzgerald Langworthy of the Conservative Party. At the time of the election, Smith described his occupation as "educationalist". He ran again in the 1926 election, and finished third with 1,382 votes. The winner was Conservative Donald James Cowan.

Smith ran for municipal office in Toronto during this period. In 1925, he ran for alderman in Ward Seven as a candidate of the Labour Representation Political Association, a broad-tent group aligned with the Canadian Labour Party. He was defeated, and lost a second time in 1926. He also ran as a candidate of the Ontario division of the CLP in the 1926 provincial election, receiving 416 votes in Hamilton Centre. The winner on that occasion was Thomas Jutten of the Ontario Conservative Party. In the 1930 federal election he ran as an independent candidate in Fort William winning 594 votes.