Editing Tim Buck (section)

== National figure ==
[[File:Worker Buck.jpg|thumb|left|''The Worker'' headline reporting on murder attempt on Buck]]
[[File:Tim Buck at Maple Leaf Gardens.jpg|right|thumb|Tim Buck (left) and others, [[Dominion Communist – Labor Total War Committee]] meeting, [[Maple Leaf Gardens]], October 13, 1942]]

In 1928, Buck was expelled from the [[International Association of Machinists]] for being a member of the Communist Party of Canada.<ref>Rodney, William. ''Soldiers Of The International; A History of the Communist Party of Canada, 1919–1929''. Victoria, British Columbia. University of Toronto Press (1968) P.137</ref> With the onset of the [[Great Depression]], the [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative]] government of [[R. B. Bennett]] became increasingly worried about left-wing activity and agitation. On August 11, 1931, the Communist Party offices in Toronto were raided, and Buck and several of his colleagues were arrested and charged with [[sedition]]. Buck was tried in November, convicted of sedition and sentenced to [[hard labour]].

He was imprisoned from 1932 to 1934 in [[Kingston Penitentiary]] where he was the target of an apparent assassination attempt in his cell the night after a prison riot. While Buck was sitting in his cell listening to the mêlée outside, eight shots were fired into his cell via a window, narrowly missing the prisoner.<ref>''The Worker'' vol.11 Number 523, December 17, 1932, see image above</ref> In late 1933, [[Minister of Justice (Canada)|Minister of Justice]] [[Hugh Guthrie]] admitted in the [[House of Commons of Canada]] that shots had been deliberately fired into Buck's cell but "just to frighten him." A widespread civil rights campaign ultimately secured Buck's release. His extensive testimony before the [[Archambault report|Archambault Commission]] contributed to the reform of prisons in Canada. As a result, Buck was hailed a heroic champion of [[civil liberties]].

The Communist Party was banned in 1941 under the [[Defence of Canada Regulations]]. Buck and other prominent communist leaders were forced underground and ultimately into exile in the [[United States]] because of their support for the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|pact between Germany and the Soviet Union]], both of which invaded Poland at the start of the [[Second World War]]. Like supporters and immigrants from the [[Axis Powers]], communists were suspected of collusion with Germany, and all who suspected of strongly supporting the alliance were interned under the [[War Measures Act]]. The political environment began to change only after [[Operation Barbarossa|German invaded the Soviet Union]]. The Soviet Union's entry into [[World War II]] on the side of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] caused Canadian communists to end their opposition to the war and apparently to become enthusiastic supporters of the Canadian war effort. The party supported the government's call for [[Conscription Crisis of 1944|conscription]] and established [[Dominion Communist-Labor Total War Committee|Tim Buck Plebiscite Committees]], which called for a "Yes" vote in the [[1942 Canadian conscription plebiscite|1942 national plebiscite on conscription]]. The campaigning in support of the war helped change public opinion towards the communists and resulted in the government's release of communist leaders being held in detention and the return of Buck and other leaders from exile. The ban on the party itself was not lifted, but it was allowed to organize the [[Labor-Progressive Party]] as its legal public face.