Richard Cashin: Difference between revisions

The Honourable
Richard Cashin
PC OC ONL
The Honourable Richard Cashin PC OC ONL
Member of Parliament; for St. John's West
	In office; 18 June 1962 – 24 June 1968
Preceded by	William Joseph Browne
Succeeded by	Walter Carter
Personal details
Born	Richard Joseph Cashin; 5 January 1937 (age 87); St. John's, Dominion of Newfoundland
Political party	Liberal
Other political; affiliations	New Democratic Party of Canada (1970s onwards)

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Latest revision as of 13:25, 8 October 2024

Richard Joseph Cashin PC OC ONL (born 5 January 1937), is a lawyer, former Canadian politician and trade union leader.

The grandson of Sir Michael Cashin, KBE and nephew of Peter Cashin, Richard Cashin is a member of a prominent Newfoundland political family. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1962 general election as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for St. John's West. He remained an MP throughout the Pearson era, being re-elected in 1963 and 1965 elections.

He was named parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Fisheries in 1966. After several years as an MP, during Progressive Conservative and Liberal minority governments, Cashin suffered a major upset when he was one of the few incumbent Liberal MPs to lose his seat in the 1968 general election that returned a Liberal majority government led by Pierre Trudeau.

After his political defeat, Cashin returned to his law practice. He won a major settlement for fishermen in Placentia Bay in a lawsuit against the Electric Reduction Company whose toxic waste damaged the local fishery industry.

In 1970, Cashin joined with Father Desmond McGrath in a successful effort to organize fishers into a new trade union, which became the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union. Cashin and McGrath crossed the province organizing the union, and at the union's founding convention held in 1971, Cashin was elected its first president. The union was successful in pressuring fishing companies in Burgeo to negotiate a contract in 1972, and led trawlermen in successful strike action in 1975. Through these actions, the union grew and established itself as the largest union in the province.

Cashin moved to the left in the 1970s and supported candidates of the New Democratic Party. Despite being appointed to the board of directors of government-owned oil company Petro-Canada by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, he led the union to endorse the NDP in the 1980s, and became a vice-president of the party. In 1987, his influence resulted in the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union disaffiliating from the United Food and Commercial Workers and joining the Canadian Auto Workers.

In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.^[1] Cashin was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in 1992 allowing him to use the style The Honourable.

References

^ Order of Canada citation

External links

[1] Order of Canada citation

[1]

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 {{sources|date=October 2024}}
 {{Infobox officeholder
-| honorific-prefix    = [[The Honourable]]
+| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
-| honorific-suffix    = {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|OC|ONL|size=100%}}
+| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|OC|ONL|size=100%}}
-| name                = Richard Cashin
+| name             = Richard Cashin
-| image               =
+| image            =
-| riding              = [[St. John's West (federal electoral district)|St. John's West]]
+| riding           = [[St. John's West (federal electoral district)|St. John's West]]
-| parliament          = Canadian
+| parliament       = Canadian
-| predecessor         = [[William Joseph Browne]]
+| predecessor      = [[William Joseph Browne]]
-| successor           = [[Walter C. Carter|Walter Carter]]
+| successor        = [[Walter C. Carter|Walter Carter]]
-| term_start          = 18 June 1962
+| term_start       = 18 June 1962
-| term_end            = 24 June 1968
+| term_end         = 24 June 1968
-| birth_name          = Richard Joseph Cashin
+| birth_name       = Richard Joseph Cashin
-| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1937|1|5|df=y}}
+| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1937|1|5|df=y}}
-| birth_place         = [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland]]
+| birth_place      = [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland]]
-| death_date          =
+| death_date       =
-| death_place         =
+| death_place      =
-| nationality         =
+| nationality      =
-| spouse              =
+| spouse           =
-| party               = [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]
+| party            = [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]
-| otherparty          = [[New Democratic Party of Canada]] (1970 - 1972)
+|otherparty = [[New Democratic Party of Canada]] (1970s onwards)
-| relations           =
+| relations        =
-| children            =
+| children         =
-| residence           =
+| residence        =
-| alma_mater          =
+| alma_mater       =
-| occupation          =
+| occupation       =
-| profession          =
+| profession       =
-| religion            =
+| religion         =
 }}
-'''Richard Joseph Cashin''' [[King's Privy Council for Canada|PC]] [[Order of Canada|OC]] [[Order of Newfoundland and Labrador|ONL]] (born 5 January 1937), is a [[lawyer]], former Canadian politician and [[trade union]] leader.
+'''Richard Joseph Cashin''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|OC|ONL|size=100%}} (born 5 January 1937),  is a [[lawyer]], former Canadian politician and [[trade union]] leader.
 The grandson of Sir [[Michael Cashin]], KBE and nephew of [[Peter Cashin]], Richard Cashin is a member of a prominent [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] political family. He was first elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada]] in the [[1962 Canadian federal election|1962 general election]] as the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[St. John's West (federal electoral district)|St. John's West]]. He remained an MP throughout the [[Lester Pearson|Pearson]] era, being re-elected in [[1963 Canadian federal election|1963]] and [[1965 Canadian federal election|1965 elections]].
+He was named [[parliamentary secretary]] to the [[Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada)|Minister of Fisheries]] in 1966. After several years as an MP, during [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] and Liberal [[minority government]]s, Cashin suffered a major upset when he was one of the few incumbent Liberal MPs to lose his seat in the [[1968 Canadian federal election|1968 general election]] that returned a Liberal [[majority government]] led by [[Pierre Trudeau]].
-He graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in 1958 (B.A.) 1961 Dalhousie Law School (LL.B.) He served as a Member of Parliament from 1962 to 1968, and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries from 1966 to 1968. From 1968 to 1971, he practiced law.
+After his political defeat, Cashin returned to his law practice. He won a major settlement for fishermen in [[Placentia Bay]] in a lawsuit against the [[Electric Reduction Company of Canada Industries Limited|Electric Reduction Company]] whose toxic waste damaged the local [[fishery]] industry.
-He was elected life president of both his graduating classes.
+In 1970, Cashin joined with Father [[Desmond McGrath]] in a successful effort to organize fishers into a new [[trade union]], which became the [[Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union]]. Cashin and McGrath crossed the province organizing the union, and at the union's founding convention held in 1971, Cashin was elected its first president. The union was successful in pressuring fishing companies in [[Burgeo]] to negotiate a contract in 1972, and led trawlermen in successful [[strike action]] in 1975. Through these actions, the union grew and established itself as the largest union in the province.
-He was named [[parliamentary secretary]] to the [[Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada)|Minister of Fisheries]] in 1966. After several years as an MP, during [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] and Liberal [[Minority government|minority governments]], Cashin suffered a major upset when he was one of the few incumbent Liberal MPs to lose his seat in the [[1968 Canadian federal election|1968 general election]] that returned a Liberal [[majority government]] led by [[Pierre Trudeau]].
+Cashin moved to the left in the 1970s and supported candidates of the [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]]. Despite being appointed to the board of directors of government-owned oil company [[Petro-Canada]] by [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Pierre Trudeau]], he led the union to endorse the NDP in the 1980s, and became a vice-president of the party. In 1987, his influence resulted in the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union disaffiliating from the [[United Food and Commercial Workers]] and joining the [[Canadian Auto Workers]].
-After his political defeat, Cashin returned to his law practice.
+In 1989, he was made an Officer of the [[Order of Canada]].<ref>{{OCC|2584}}</ref> Cashin was sworn into the [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada]] in 1992 allowing him to use the style [[The Honourable]].
-In 1969 he sued [[Electric Reduction Company of Canada Industries Limited|Electric Reduction Company]] on behalf of hundreds of fishermen in Placentia and St. Mary’sBay who lost a year’s fishing due to ERCOs Phosphorous Plant effluent. At the time it was the biggest tort settlement in the province’s history.
-In 1970, he was instrumental in establishing the Newfoundland Fishermen, Food
-and Allied Workers' Union, with Father Desmond McGrath. It became the largest fisheries union in North America, representing, at its peak, some 25,000 fish harvesters and fish plant workers in the province of Newfoundland and, during most of the 1980's, about 3,000 fish workers and others in the Maritimes.
-During his tenure as president of the union, he was instrumental in establishing
-the Labrador Fishermen's Union Shrimp Company Limited, which is a venture cooperatively owned by some 900 fish harvesters on the coast of Labrador. The newly
-established entity was successful in acquiring two offshore shrimp licenses, the profits
-from which have allowed the company to establish four fish plants on the coast of
-Labrador. With sales from its shrimp, crab and scallop resources, as well as groundfish,
-this company boasts sales more than $20 million annually, making it one of the largest
-Community owned companies in Canada.
-When the commercial banks ceased service on the coast of Labrador, the Labrador
-Shrimp Company was instrumental in establishing the Eagle River Credit Union, which
-has branch offices on the coast of Labrador and on the Northern Peninsula. During his term of office, he was involved in the establishment of the Fishermen's Community Credit Union Limited, which is still active in the province.
-The main accomplishment of the Union was to put in place the collective bargaining
-process, to establish fish prices. It also gave Newfoundland fishermen the distinction of
-being the only fishermen in Canada to be fully covered under workers’ compensation. Cashin moved to the left in the 1970s and supported candidates of the [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]]. Shortly afterwards he rejoined the Liberal Party and has remained ever since.
-During his term as president of the Fishermen, Food and Allied Workers Union
-he served on a number of boards and commissions, a list of which i's attached separately.
-Mr. Cashin was Atlantic Commissioner for the Pepin-Robards Task Force on Canadian
-Unity from 1977 to 1979. He also served in a similar capacity on the Citizen's Forum for
-Canada's Future from 1990 to 1991.
-In 1991, he chaired the Task Force on Incomes and Adjustment in the Atlantic
-Fishery. It made several key recommendations about professionalization
-and adjustment programs that have since formed part of public policy since then. The
-key recommendations regarding unemployment insurance have established a more
-equitable and suitable system of unemployment insurance for harvesters and has clearly laid to rest the long-time criticism of fishermen being part of the UI program.
-In 1989, he was made an Officer of the [[Order of Canada]].<sup>[1]</sup> Cashin was sworn into the [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada]] in 1992 allowing him to use the style [[The Honourable]]. He received an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1991. In 2020 he was awarded the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.
-He has served on several Boards and Commissions, including the following:
-Board of Governors, Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (1973 - 1977)
-Canadian Saltfish Corporation (1979 - 1986)
-The North-South Institute (1982 - 1988)
-The Institute for Research on Public Policy (1982 - 1984)
-Secretary-Treasurer, Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour (1975 - 1977
-Petro-Canada (1981 - 1984)
-The Institute of Public Affairs, Dalhousie University (1981 - 1984)
-The Export Trade Development Board (1981 - 1983)
-Royal Society of Canada (1992 - 1994)
-International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (1980-'84: 1990-'93)
-Board of Directors Canadian Auto Workers Union 1988-93
-National Forum on Health (1994 - 1997)
-Chair of Advisory Committee, Governor General's Caring Canadian Award (1996)
 ==References==