| Robert Laxer |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT ROBERT LAXER | |
| canadian socialists | |
| laxer, robert | |
| 1915 births | |
| 1998 deaths | |
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Laxer was born in Montreal , Quebec in 1915 and graduated from McGill University with a B.A. in 1936 and an M.A. in 1939. Laxer joined the Communist Party Of Canada during the Great Depression . He worked as a freelance journalist until 1941 when he joined the Canadian Army and served during World War II . Upon returning to Canada in 1947, he became a paid organizer for the Communist Party's successor, the Labour-Progressive Party . Following the Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party Of The Soviet Union , the accusations by Nikita Khrushchev of crimes by Stalin , and the 1956 Soviet Invasion Of Hungary , Laxer joined many other disillusioned Communists in resigning from the party. He returned to school and ultimately obtained a Doctorate in clinical and learning psychology from the University Of Toronto . From 1960 to 1964, he was a lecturer in the University of Toronto's department of psychology and a clinical psychologist at Toronto General Hospital . He then taught at York University , and later became an associate professor at the Ontario Institute For Studies In Education . He became a full professor in 1968. In 1969, he joined his son, James Laxer , and Mel Watkins to form The Waffle , a Socialist group within the New Democratic Party . Through the 1970s, he wrote numerous articles and books advocating Canadian economic independence from the United States and, in particular, Canadian ownership of the Oil Industry . He was appointed by Pierre Trudeau to the board of directors of Petro-Canada which had been created as a state-owned Crown Corporation , in part, due to Laxer's arguments. In the 1980s, Laxer was active in the Council Of Canadians , the peace movement, and as an opponent of the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement . |
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