Steve Brodie

This photo is from the Province Newspaper. This is Steve Brodie, after the men were evicted from the post office in June of 1938.

Steve Brodie was a Scottish orphan who came to Canada at the age of 14. He worked as a farm labourer and at 18, the young Brodie befriended a Marxist ex-newspaperman. Then the depression hit Canada and Steve, like many men of that time, started 'riding the rods' and criss crossing the country looking for work. He wasn't successful and ended up in the relief camps in B.C. (riding the rods means sneaking aboard the freight trains and getting a free ride somewhere.)

Brodie joined the fight to press the government for "work and wages". He joined 1500 others in the On-to-Ottawa trek in 1935. That journey was stopped in Regina by police bullets and billy clubs. That is where the young man lost a few teeth. 

Steve looked back at that journey and didn't see anything to celebrate."It was one of the battle's we lost... It was a desperate attempt on the part of the unemployed to draw attention to our plight."

This young Scot made history in 1938 with the sit down strike at the post office. He paid it for too. As I stated last week, numerous people were hurt and Brodie was the target of the police wrath.

The man who drove the injured Brodie to the hospital, reported to the Vancouver Sun newspaper: "Brodie had his hands over his head. He was trying to fight off two cops in front of him. There were three behind him, pounding on him with their billies. He fell. They still pounded on him." An RCMP Sergeant stopped the beating when he spotted a newspaper photographer recording the event. Brodie regained consciousness 24 hours later in St. Paul's hospital.

Later, when asked, Brodie would tell of the postcards the men received during the occupation. People would tell them what a great thing they were doing. As appreciative as he probably was for the support, Brodie also noted that 'everyone was waiting for someone else to do something'.

As we know from our history books, the Great Depression ended in 1939 when the world went to war. Steve Brodie joined the merchant marines and after the war, he went to work at the Esquimalt dockyard. But he was still the fireball of before and delighted in needling guests on a call-in radio show. He never ceased to challenge others on issues such as unemployment, poverty and capitalism.

What many may not know is that this natural leader was a devoted and loving grandfather. When he lost his battle with liver cancer on December 6, 1997 at the age of 87, Grampa Steve had five grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren. 

Whether you agree with the stand this man took or his politics, you have to admit that he had a great fighting spirit and earned his place in history.

I would like to thank the Livable4All website for the information on Steve Brodie.

I hope you find the beauty around you.