In August 1969, I came to Sudbury to accept a teaching position at the newly founded Cambrian College. One of the first people I met outside the college was Don Scott, who had been the NDP candidate in Nickel Belt in the 1967 provincial election.
He insisted I come to dinner at his home in Azilda, and then brought me to a riding association meeting at the Mill Hall.
My later efforts as a political organizer in Nickel Belt all followed from the events of that evening, and I was never in any doubt about how much I was influenced by Don Scott’s inspiration and example. His commitment to social democracy was unshakable, and undoubtedly his efforts on behalf of the NDP in Nickel Belt in the 1960s were the foundation of the huge organizational and electoral success the party enjoyed in the next several decades.
Don joined the Royal Canadian Navy on July 15, 1941. It was was in the Navy that he met Donald C. MacDonald, later leader of the Ontario NDP, and became a member of the CCF.
It was MacDonald who later persuaded him to let his name stand for the NDP in York North in the 1963 provincial election, and later in the 1967 election in Nickel Belt.
After the 1963 effort, Don was offered a teaching job in Capreol and immediately set about organizing for the upcoming federal election in 1965.
He got an old time CCFer, Norm Fawcett of Capreol, a railway engineer, to seek the nomination, and then managed his successful campaign. This was a critical step in the revival of the NDP after the bitter civil war between Mine Mill 598 and the Steelworkers.
He knew that the surest way to defeat for the NDP was to take sides in the union struggles, and he made it clear that the NDP should do its best to represent all workers, whatever their union.
He not only had a grand world vision, but a passion for getting things done. The teacher’s retirement villages come to mind, but so does the massive reform of the teachers’ pension plan, which has benefited every retired teacher even if they had never heard Don Scott’s name.
His profound disagreements with the NDP during the period of the Rae government were perhaps offset by the admirable work of Howard Hampton and Jack Layton in rebuilding after the down turn of the 1990s.
He was certainly pleased with the NDP achievements in the 2011 federal election and particularly so with the breakthrough in Quebec, led by Jack Layton and Thomas Mulchair.
Don Scott was a great Canadian — practical but not expedient, principled but not self-righteous.
He left a proud legacy to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and he did his very best to advance the cause of social and economic justice over more than 70 years. He tried to leave the world a better place than he found it.
And we can’t ask more than that of anyone. I shall certainly miss him.
A longtime Cambrian College teacher, Cameron Hopkins is a former vice-president of the provincial party, and campaign manager for Floyd Laughren and John Rodriguez. A community volunteer, he is now retired from politics, and enjoys playing with his grandchildren. Hopkins resides in British Columbia.
Posted by Laurel Myers
