Dwight Johnson

Who was Dwight Johnson?

Dwight Lyman Johnson was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1943 to 1945. Elected as a member of the Manitoba Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, Johnson had a tenuous relationship with the party leadership and was expelled from the party caucus in 1945. After leaving the legislature, he became a member of the communist Labour-Progressive Party.

Johnson was born in Rapid City, Manitoba. His ancestors had moved from Pennsylvania to Ontario in the late eighteenth century. Many were Quakers, and almost all were farmers. He was educated in Rapid City, and at the Brandon Normal School, Brandon College and the Manitoba Medical College. He received a degree in medicine in 1926.

He served in the ranks of the 27th Battalion during World War I, and was awarded a Military Medal and recommended for a commission. From 1926 to 1931, he served in the Philippines as a hospital superintendent. On returning to Manitoba, he served on the Brandon School Board and the Brandon Health Unit from 1937 to 1943.

Johnson became politically active during this period. He was a member of the Brandon Reconstruction Club in the 1930s, a local division of the Canadian League for Social Reconstruction. In 1936, he became a vice-president of the Brandon CCF club. Johnson was a vocal proponent of socialism, and criticized others in the party who were reluctant to use the term openly.