Johns was a member of the Socialist Party of Canada, and was a prominent spokesman for the SPC in Winnipeg during the 1910s.
In 1918, he said he thought it was futile for labour representatives to seek election to capitalist legislatures, and called for direct action such as general strikes.
The following year, he attended the Western Labour Conference in Calgary, Alberta, and brought forward a series of resolutions that provided for the creation of the One Big Union in Canada.
Johns, despite his previous comments about electoral politics, was candidate for the SPC in the Winnipeg constituency in the 1920 provincial election.
At the time, Winnipeg elected ten members via Single transferable voting.