In memoriam: Harry Paine (1933-2016)

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SOCIALIST ACTION MARCH 2017 11 Harry Paine died peacefully on Dec. 30, 2016, at the lovely hospice at­ tached to the Grace Hospital in Win­ nipeg, Manitoba. He retained his pas­ sion for life and politics to his last breath.

Harry was a revolutionary, agitator, propagandist, union militant, truck driver, strike leader, pro-choice ad­ vocate, anti-war activist, internation­ alist, festival and theatre organizer, harmonica player, folkie, carpenter, jack-of-all-trades, brilliant chef, teller of tales, champion of seniors, political commentator, optimist, and incurable romantic. Harry was the consummate working-class hero.

At the ripe age of 17, Henry Paine emigrated from England to Canada, landing in Toronto. There he imme­ diately sought out left-wing political connections, joining the Socialist Ed­ ucation League, Canadian section of the Trotskyist Fourth International. Many will recall that Harry was part of the socialist movement in Toronto in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

His political activity got him onto some unfortunate “lists.” So, he clev­ erly started identifying himself as “Harry,” instead of “Henry,” and got a new lease on his activist life. Har­ ry played an important role in the League for Socialist Action, the tradeunion movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and in the Left Cau­ cus of the New Democratic Party.

In 1962, the Globe and Mail pub­ lished his picture on the front page. It identified him as the most powerful person in Ontario because of his criti­ cal role as the leader of a spontaneous strike movement that paralyzed the Ontario economy for six weeks. He led nine wildcat strikes at Smith Transport with Local 938 Teamsters. One of them was in solidarity with a wildcat strike in Quebec that froze all inter-city transportation on Ontario’s highways.

Because of his commitment to the Fourth International, Harry found himself spending time in New York City helping to build the headquar­ ters of the Socialist Workers Party. He was part of a key link between radi­ cal socialists who maintained their commitment during the dark days of McCarthyism in the 1950s, up to the student and youth radicalization of the 1960s.

Harry was persuaded to leave To­ ronto for Winnipeg by Mitch Po­ dolak, founder of the Winnipeg and other Folk Festivals. In the late 1980s, Harry was highly regarded for his community work, his promotion of initiatives that reflected his socialist commitments, and his contributions to the cultural and political left in the province.

Among his main claims to fame was his role as organizer and chief cook at the legend­ ary back-stage kitchen of the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Later he became the technical pro­ ducer and main contractor/ carpenter of the West End Cul­ tural Centre, conceptually and literally helping to build this important cultural institution. Through his work in the NDP Wolsely Constituency Associa­ tion in Winnipeg’s famed “gra­ nola belt,” he became a go-to guy for left-leaning NDP mem­ bers and unaffiliated activists working on various progressive ini­ tiatives over the years.

After he “retired,” Harry got even busier—as an advocate for seniors’ rights. This work he came to organi­ cally. He experienced first-hand the discrimination and marginalization which is the fate of many low-income seniors.

If he wasn’t zooming off on his bike to some NGO meeting, he was meet­ ing with the Premier, or an NDP cabi­ net minister, to argue for an initiative they should be implementing, which they often then did implement.

After his pancreatic cancer diagno­ sis and partial recovery from related procedures in the Fall of 2016, Harry still felt inspired to join Socialist Ac­ tion. On SA’s monthly cross-country telephone conference calls, Harry was one of the most voluble and knowl­ edgeable contributors.

In his last days, looking up from the laptop on his hospital tray, Harry quipped with characteristic dry hu­ mour and indefatigable optimism, “You know, I don’t have time to die! n

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