The Civil Liberties Association of Winnipeg emerged at the onset of the Second World War to protest the suspension of fundamental freedoms under the War Measures Act. One of the leading figures of CLAW was Arthur Lower, the famous Canadian historian and a prolific writer for one of the most influential newspapers in Canada during this period, the Winnipeg Free Press. Some of the other prominent members of CLAW included economist Mitchell Sharp, CCF Member of Parliament Alistair Stewart, and United Church Minister Lloyd Stinson who would later lead the CCF in Manitoba. During the Gouzenko Affair, CLAW was one the most outspoken critics of the government, attacking the Liberals in the pages of the Winnipeg Free Press and sending letters to Members of Parliament. Earlier, CLAW had sent a brief to the Prime Minister opposing the deportation of Japanese Canadians. As with many other civil liberties groups during this period, CLAW (later renamed the Manitoba Civil Liberties Association) was virulently anti-communist and was led by liberals and social democrats who refused to work alongside communists. It remained active after the war, but disbanded during the fifties.