Earl Dawson

Earl Phillip Dawson (December 17, 1925March 28, 1987) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator, politician and civil servant.

Earl Phillip Dawson was born on December 17, 1925, in Saint Boniface, Winnipeg.

He was the son of Thomas and Irene Dawson, and was educated at École Provencher.

He contracted polio at age 12 which prevented him from playing ice hockey.

Dawson became a reserve officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and served with both the RCAF and the Canadian Army during World War II.

He married Madeline O'Callaghan on June 29, 1949, with whom he had four sons and one daughter.

Dawson moved to Rivers, Manitoba in 1951, where he operated a dry cleaning business for 19 years.

Dawson managed an intermediate level ice hockey team from Rivers during the 1952–53 playoffs, which was disqualified by the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) for the use of illegal players.

He became president of the Rivers Hockey Association in 1953 and served three consecutive terms until 1955.

He was also invited to join the MAHA executive committee after expressing his grievances, and served as a convenor for the intermediate level from 1954 to 1957.

He was elected second vice-president of the MAHA in October 1955, and was elected first vice-president of the MAHA in October 1957.

He was extensively involved in community service groups, was a town councilor from 1957 to 1965, and represented the Hamiota electoral district as a Manitoba Liberal Party member from 1966 to 1969.

He was a town councilor for Rivers from 1957 to 1965, and was president of the local chamber of commerce.

He served as president of the local Royal Canadian Legion, and was the commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets squadron in Rivers.

He also served as president of the local Kiwanis Club, the Rivers Credit Union and the Rivers Liberal Association.

He was chairman of the financial committee for the Immaculate Conception Church in Rivers, and was chairman of the board of governors for the local hockey arena.

He rose to prominence in Canadian hockey when he served as president of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association from 1958 to 1963.

He established a council to reverse the decline of hockey in rural Manitoba and saw the association continually increase its registrations by spending more per player to develop minor ice hockey than other provinces in Canada.

Dawson became chairman of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) rules committee and organized the first nationwide clinic for referee instructors to standardize the interpretation of hockey rules.

He was named Western Manitoba Sportsman of the Year by the Brandon Sun in 1964, and was posthumously inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995.

Dawson became vice-president of the CAHA in 1966 then served as its president from 1969 to 1971.

Dawson wanted to use the 1967 Pan American Games and the Canadian Centennial events to boost recreation in Manitoba and improve local infrastructure.

He sought to increase subsidies for rural students, to employ students locally and stop human capital flight.

He argued that medicare laws in Manitoba discriminated against rural citizens, and wanted to reduce medical costs and increase their services.

He also supported the development of local resources to relieve rural industries and businesses from tax burden.

The International Ice Hockey Federation had approved a limited use of professionals at the 1970 Ice Hockey World Championships, but later reversed the decision when the International Olympic Committee objected.

Dawson and the CAHA perceived the situation to be a double standard since the Europeans were believed to be state-sponsored professionals labelled as amateurs, and withdrew the Canada men's national ice hockey team from international competitions until it was allowed to use its best players.

Dawson faced internal issues from junior ice hockey teams in Western Canada who were upset with the imposed age limit and demanded greater financial compensation for players chosen in the National Hockey League Amateur Draft.

The Western Canada Hockey League played outside of the CAHA's jurisdiction for two seasons, when Dawson negotiated a new deal that saw the league accept the age limit in exchange for increased financial compensation.

Dawson oversaw the CAHA reorganize its executive to include vice-presidents for minor hockey, junior hockey and senior ice hockey to give each level of hockey a greater voice.

He later announced that junior hockey would split into a two-tier system for the 1970–71 season.

The Memorial Cup remained the championship for the top tier and junior hockey, and the CAHA established the Manitoba Centennial Cup for the second tier's championship.

Dawson oversaw the transition of both the Memorial Cup and the Allan Cup's formats from an east-versus-west final into a round-robin involving league champions.

He also led the CAHA into the product endorsement business, released a logo for the CAHA, and used the money generated to reinvest into hockey in Canada.

Dawson served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Army during World War II, then operated a dry cleaning business for 19 years in Rivers, Manitoba.

Dawson served as a director for Sport Canada and the secretary of the Canada Games council from 1970 to 1987.

He oversaw the Canada Fitness Award Program and supported the Junior Olympics program.

He served as chairman of the 1975 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships hosted in Winnipeg which coincided with the Manitoba Centennial celebrations.

He aimed to increase the level of competition in women's sport across the country, and implemented testing for doping in sport in the Canada Games in 1984.

Dawson summarized his career by stating, "I just seem to be the kind of person who gets involved in controversy, be it in hockey or politics", and the Winnipeg Free Press concurred that he "had controversy as his constant companion".