Earl Phillip Dawson (December 17, 1925March 28, 1987) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator, politician and civil servant. As president of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association, Dawson reversed the decline of hockey in rural Manitoba and spent more money per player to develop minor ice hockey than other Canadian provinces. As chairman of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) rules committee, he established clinics for referee instructors to standardize interpretation of ice hockey rules. Elected vice-president of the CAHA in 1966, he served as president from 1969 to 1971. 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 this 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. 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. 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.
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". 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.
Early life and community involvement
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 . 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.33rd Legislature Hansard (May 15, 1987), page 2094 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. 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.
Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association 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.
Dawson was elected president of the MAHA to succeed Curly Tyler in October 1958. The MAHA had its greatest registration to date and sought to reimburse teams in rural Manitoba for the cost of developing players lost to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) who in turn profited by selling players to professional teams. Dawson planned to promote and raise funds for minor ice hockey with a Minor Hockey Week in January 1959.
Dawson was re-elected president in October 1959. He sought a financial arrangement with the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association (SAHA) if the Flin Flon Bombers were to affiliate with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) instead of the MJHL, and wanted to recuperate the MAHA's costs of developing minor hockey players and on-ice officials in Flin Flon that contributed to local talent. Without a suitable agreement in place to receive a portion of playoffs profits, the MAHA made a proposal at the 1960 Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) general meeting for Flin Flon to be transferred to the SAHA. He also wanted consistent rules used in Western Canada that allowed replacement players for interprovincial playoffs, and was opposed to teams in the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association or Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association being given the advantage over the MAHA and SAHA.
Dawson was re-elected president in October 1960. The MAHA reached an agreement with the SAHA and Dawson served an ultimatum to the Flin Flon Bombers to pay a flat rate of C$300 or be denied permission to play in the SJHL. He felt that the Winnipeg Warriors team had a negative impact on junior ice hockey in Winnipeg and spoke up against professional teams encroaching upon MAHA territory. After backlash from the media, Dawson clarified the comments to disagree that professional teams should have an exclusive zone to dictate operation of teams under CAHA jurisdiction. After the Winnipeg Maroons opted out the 1961 Allan Cup playoffs, Dawson allowed lower-level senior teams to compete since the MAHA wanted a provincial representative in the national playoffs. After the season, he renegotiated the MAHA's financial arrangement with the Brandon Wheat Kings to prevent a proposed to switch from the MJHL to the SJHL. He also wanted to see updates to the MAHA constitution to deal with modern problems, and set up a committee to oversee issues specific to hockey in rural Manitoba.
Dawson was re-elected president in October 1961. The MJHL hired a new promotional director and requested to use international ice hockey rules without body checking to begin the 1961–62 season as an effort to attract more spectators. Dawson approved the request, but CAHA president Jack Roxburgh ordered the MJHL to revert to standard Canadian rules. The MAHA allowed the Prince Albert Mintos of the SJHL to move to Dauphin, Manitoba after a fire ruined the team's arena in December 1961, and levied a fee of 10 per cent of ticket sales to cover lost revenue for the existing senior team in Dauphin. Despite the Flin Flon Bombers also playing in the SJHL and paying a flat fee, Dawson justified the higher fee for temporarily displacing an existing MAHA team in Dauphin.
Dawson was re-elected to a fifth term as president in October 1962. During his presidency, the MAHA had grown to be the country's third largest provincial association by registration and spent more per capita to develop minor ice hockey than other provinces in Canada. Journalist Laurie Artiss stated that the Rural Minor Hockey Council established by Dawson had succeeded in reversing the decline of hockey in rural Manitoba by enforcing geographical limits on where the bigger cities could claim players. The decision resulted in players staying in smaller towns and gave more children a chance to play locally.
Dawson completed his final term as president in October 1963. As the past-president he represented the MAHA at an arbitration committee in October 1964. His stance on teams playing out-of-province was confirmed when the CAHA ruled that the Flin Flon Bombers and Brandon Wheat Kings would turn over the majority of profits for their home games to the MAHA despite the teams playing in the SJHL.
Canadian Amateur Hockey Association Dawson became involved in national hockey during his tenure of president of the MAHA and served on several committees of the CAHA. He was secretary of the Western Canada intermediate senior hockey committee for three seasons, and sat on the CAHA leadership committee. He later became chairman of the rules committee and organized the first nationwide clinic for referee instructors in 1964 to standardize the interpretation of hockey rules across Canada.Ferguson, Bob (2005), p. 104
Second vice-president
Dawson was elected second vice-president of the CAHA on May 28, 1966, serving under Fred Page as president. The Canadian Major Junior Hockey League was launched for the 1966–67 season, despite reservations by Dawson that the league was premature and too expensive. He advocated for the Brandon Wheat Kings to remain in the MJHL amid negotiations for top-level junior teams to leave their provincial associations and join the new league. He was named chairman of the minor hockey committee that oversaw promotions dedicated to the Canadian Centennial in 1967, and organized a Minor Hockey Week and the Midget Centennial Tournament. He also oversaw the Memorial Cup playoffs in Western Canada as vice-president.
In 1967, Dawson became chairman of the CAHA committee to oversee the Canada men's national ice hockey team. The CAHA approved establishing a second national team based in Ottawa in addition to the Winnipeg-based team. Both teams were expected to play international tours or exhibition games, and increase the number of players with international experience in advance of ice hockey at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Canada was subsequently awarded hosting duties of the 1970 Ice Hockey World Championships and Dawson sat on the planning committee. Dawson planned to continue the two national teams despite operating a deficit during the 1967–68 season.
First vice-president