of Robert Borden's Union government of pro-conscription Liberals and Conservatives. Although he rejected these requests, Smith's name was put forward for the Unionist nomination in Brandon. Borden's government was supported by both mainstream labour and the Methodist Church, and some local government supporters believed Smith's name would aid their cause. Asked to make a speech at the nomination meeting, he informed the delegates that he had no confidence in either of the older parties, and did not believe the Union arrangement would make any difference. To the surprise of none present, Smith did not receive the nomination. Socialist politics In 1917, Smith read The Communist Manifesto for the first time. He later claimed that the work was "like a revelation". Smith's religious views were, by his own admission, unorthodox for the standards of his age: he believed that the message of Jesus was "the proclamation of a new social order of human society", and rejected the "harsh theologies" of mainstream Christian churches. "In my sermons", he wrote, "no miracle was required to explain the birth of Jesus or his life and teachings ... His name was to be cherished because He died as a leader of the people, for His principles and in protest against the unjust rulers of His day". After reading The Communist Manifesto, Smith eventually reached the conclusion that Jesus was a communist. Smith's views had not yet developed to this stage in 1917, however, and he joined the social reformist Dominion Labour Party at the end of the First World War. Smith supported the strikers from his pulpit during the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 and opened his church to Brandon civic workers who voted for a parallel strike in their city. As a member of the Brandon Trades and Labour Council, Smith provided extensive logistical support to Brandon's strike committee. He also testified before the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations. Not surprisingly, Smith's labour activities were opposed by more conservative figures in his Methodist church. At a special meeting of the church board held on May 26, 1919, a prominent church member moved that Smith "be restrained from any further preaching in First Church". No formal charges were made against him, and the motion was withdrawn. Nonetheless, his role as Brandon's Methodist minister had become untenable. On June 8, he announced the formation of a new People's Church in the city. People's Church On June