Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1504 - "The Dollar-a-Year Men" — How Canada’s Business Leaders Helped Win the War with Allan Levine
Update: 2025-11-12
Description
This Remembrance Day, join Brian for a special conversation with award-winning historian and bestselling author Allan Levine about his latest book, "The Dollar-a-Year Men".
Allan, the author of 16 acclaimed books including King: A Life Guided by the Hand of Destiny and Toronto: Biography of a City, has spent his career uncovering the people and moments that shaped our nation. A long-time columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press and contributor to the Globe and Mail, National Post, and Maclean’s, he brings a storyteller’s depth to Canada’s wartime history.
In "The Dollar-a-Year Men", Allan recounts how, during World War II, hundreds of business leaders volunteered their expertise to serve in government for a symbolic salary of one dollar a year. Under the bold leadership of C.D. Howe, these men transformed Canada into an industrial and military powerhouse — coordinating munitions, shipbuilding, and aircraft production that helped turn the tide of war. Allan and Brian discuss what drew Allan to this story, how figures like Howe managed to mobilize private industry at lightning speed, and whether this model of public–private collaboration could have lessons for today’s world. Brian also shares a personal connection — his grandfather, Hugh Arthur Crombie, served on the War Munitions Board and was recognized by Prince Philip for his wartime contributions.
This Remembrance Day, we remember not only those who fought on the front lines, but those who built the machinery of victory at home — Canadians whose sense of duty, innovation, and patriotism still inspire us today.
Allan, the author of 16 acclaimed books including King: A Life Guided by the Hand of Destiny and Toronto: Biography of a City, has spent his career uncovering the people and moments that shaped our nation. A long-time columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press and contributor to the Globe and Mail, National Post, and Maclean’s, he brings a storyteller’s depth to Canada’s wartime history.
In "The Dollar-a-Year Men", Allan recounts how, during World War II, hundreds of business leaders volunteered their expertise to serve in government for a symbolic salary of one dollar a year. Under the bold leadership of C.D. Howe, these men transformed Canada into an industrial and military powerhouse — coordinating munitions, shipbuilding, and aircraft production that helped turn the tide of war. Allan and Brian discuss what drew Allan to this story, how figures like Howe managed to mobilize private industry at lightning speed, and whether this model of public–private collaboration could have lessons for today’s world. Brian also shares a personal connection — his grandfather, Hugh Arthur Crombie, served on the War Munitions Board and was recognized by Prince Philip for his wartime contributions.
This Remembrance Day, we remember not only those who fought on the front lines, but those who built the machinery of victory at home — Canadians whose sense of duty, innovation, and patriotism still inspire us today.
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