Albert Edward Smith - Labour MLA

Labour MLA

In 1920, Smith was prevailed on to run for the provincial legislature as a labour candidate. He received the nomination of a local group called the "Brandon Labour Party", which was aligned with the Winnipeg branch of the Dominion Labour Party. He was successful in the 1920 provincial election, defeating Liberal incumbent Stephen E. Clements by 604 votes. Some of Smith's opponents blamed vote-splitting by the Liberals and Conservatives for his victory.

For the next two years, Smith sat with the labour parliamentary group led by Fred Dixon in the legislative opposition. Unlike other labour members, Smith did not join the Independent Labour Party when the Winnipeg branch of the Dominion Labour Party split in late 1920. In August 1921, he instead attended a meeting of the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council which led to the creation of the Canadian Labour Party. While joining the CLP took Smith on a different path from his co-legislators, he remained a member of the labor parliamentary group.

Labour's political support in Manitoba had declined somewhat by the 1922 provincial election. Smith lost his seat to John Edmison, who ran as a "fusion" candidate of the local Liberals and Conservatives. No longer receiving a salary as a Methodist minister or Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Smith experienced financial difficulties in Brandon and decided to return to Ontario. He moved to Ontario in 1923, and immediately started a People's Church in Toronto.

Smith was also involved in the Forum Committee of the local Labour Temple, and became a prominent member of the Canadian Labour Party in the city. Unlike James Simpson, Smith supported opening the CLP to members of the newly formed Communist Party of Canada.