At age 18, he joined the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, saw action in Europe, and in 1946, left the service with the rank of Captain.
In 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had taken a “no free lunch” position and stated that he intended to cut the size of the civil service by 10%.
Initially, the committee kept the situation out of the public eye and pressured ministers and officials until the Treasury Board allotted another $1 million for salaries.
As no progress was being made, Howe spoke to the Globe and Mail, accusing the government of union-busting and betraying the national trust.
[6] In 1983, Howe left the NFB to become an associate professor at the department of cinema and television at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where he would stay until his retirement in 1996.
Upon retirement, Howe and his wife had settled at the family's summer home in Warner, New Hampshire; he died there, of natural causes, on August 18, 2008.