the inner-party crisis, the membership dropped from almost 2000 to about 800, which included many links with organized labour as well as the entire Party in Quebec and much of the Party organization in Alberta. The out-of-court settlement also mandated the splitting of the old party's assets, with the out-going leadership undertaking to leave the Communist Party. The Canadian Tribune and the Cecil-Ross Society (a society with strict injunctions on use of funds) were allotted to the group around Hewison. Those funds were allocated according to the rules of the Societies Act. Cecil-Ross Society and musical career The Cecil-Ross Society leadership which left the party, as their critics had alleged, attempted to broaden the appeal for their press by dropping their previous ideological "baggage" and included other socialists. For a variety of reasons, the New Times, which was meant to be a broad left periodical, failed after only two issues. The Cecil-Ross Society in British Columbia also attempted to publish another magazine, Ginger, but it failed as well. Within a few years, the group folded and the remaining funds from the group were dispensed to the constituent parts throughout Canada. Today, Hewison continues to play a role in the labour and progressive movements for which he was a part for half a century. He was recently honoured as a "Pioneer of Labour" by the Peterborough and District Labour Council. He has continued to link music with labour and social activism and is the founder and lead singer of the "Rank n File Band", created by the Canadian Auto Workers union. He has produced five albums over a fifty years span, and has written scores of songs for, and performed at, conventions of virtually every major labour organization in the country. Hewison has toured extensively and most recently performed at the Illawarra Folk Festival in Australia and the Mariposa Folk Festival and Miners Memorial weekend in Canada as well at Joe Hill's birthplace in Gavle in Sweden. He has also performed and recorded with "Joe Hill" composer, Earl Robinson. His latest album is entitled "Uncharted Waters". He also continues to study contemporary capitalism and conducts classes in political economy, blogging on his website. Electoral record References External links George Hewison website 1944 births Living people Leaders of the Communist Party of Canada Canadian trade unionists Canadian communists