New Democratic Party

:This page is about the Canadian political party. For other parties, see New Democratic Party (disambiguation).

History

Origins and early history

The NDP was created in 1961 as a merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Tommy Douglas, the long-time CCF Premier of Saskatchewan, was elected the party's first leader. In 1960, before the NDP was officially registered, one candidate, Walter Pitman, won a by-election under the New Party banner.

Related Topics:
1961 - Cooperative Commonwealth Federation - Canadian Labour Congress - Tommy Douglas - Premier - 1960 - Walter Pitman - By-election - New Party

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The influence of organized labour on the party is still reflected in the party's leadership elections as labour votes are scaled to 25% of the total number of ballots cast. Until 1983, the basic statement of principles of the party was embodied in the Winnipeg Declaration, which had been passed by the CCF in 1956.

Related Topics:
Organized labour - 1983 - Winnipeg Declaration - 1956

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Under the leadership of David Lewis (1971-1975), the NDP supported the minority government formed by Pierre Trudeau's Liberals from 1972 to 1974, although the two parties never entered into a coalition. Together they succeeded in passing many left-wing initiatives into law, including pension indexing and the creation of a nationalized oil and gas company, Petro-Canada.

Related Topics:
David Lewis - Pierre Trudeau - 1972 - 1974 - Coalition - Petro-Canada

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The party under Ed Broadbent

Under the leadership of Ed Broadbent (1975-1989), the NDP played a critical role during Joe Clark's minority government of 1979-1980, moving the no-confidence motion on John Crosbie's budget that brought down the Progressive Conservative government, and forced the election that brought Trudeau's Liberal Party back to power.

Related Topics:
Ed Broadbent - Joe Clark - 1979 - 1980 - No-confidence motion - John Crosbie - Progressive Conservative

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In number of seats, the federal NDP reached its apogee with 43 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the election of 1988. The Conservatives, however, won a second majority. In 1989, Broadbent stepped down after 15 years as federal leader of the NDP, although he has recently returned from retirement, and won election to Parliament in the riding of Ottawa Centre in the 2004 election.

Related Topics:
Members of Parliament - Election of 1988 - 1989 - Riding - Ottawa Centre - 2004 election

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Declining popularity

Over three election cycles, under the leadership of Audrey McLaughlin (1989-1995) — the first woman to be leader of a national political party in Parliament — in the first, and Alexa McDonough (1995-2003) over the next two, the party underwent a marked decline in popularity, a modest resurgence, and a slight further decline. Among other factors, the unpopularity of Bob Rae's provincial NDP government in Ontario hurt the federal party's fortunes. In the 1993 election, in which it won only 9 seats, it lost official party status in the House of Commons. Twelve MPs are required by the rules of the House of Commons for official party status. This status was regained in the 1997 election, in which 21 New Democrats were elected.

Related Topics:
Audrey McLaughlin - Alexa McDonough - Bob Rae - 1993 election - 1997 election

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The party embarked in a renewal process starting in 2000. A general convention in Winnipeg in November 2001 made significant alterations to certain party structures, and reaffirmed its commitment to the left. In the May 2002 by-elections, Brian Masse won the riding of Windsor West in Windsor, Ontario, previously held for decades by a Liberal, former Deputy Prime Minister Herb Gray.

Related Topics:
2000 - Winnipeg - 2001 - May 2002 - Brian Masse - Windsor West - Windsor, Ontario - Deputy Prime Minister - Herb Gray

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Alexa McDonough announced her resignation as party leader for family reasons in June 2002, and was succeeded by Jack Layton. Layton, a former Toronto city councillor, was elected at the party's leadership election in Toronto on January 25, 2003, defeating his nearest rival, longtime MP Bill Blaikie, on the first ballot with 53.5% of the vote. Layton did not seek a seat in the House of Commons until the 2004 election.

Related Topics:
June 2002 - Leadership election - January 25 - 2003 - Bill Blaikie

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Recent developments

In the 2004 election, the NDP won the third largest number of votes, behind the Conservative Party of Canada and the Liberal Party of Canada. The party gained five seats in the election, for a total of 19. The NDP won fewer seats than the Bloc Québécois, though, whose smaller portion of the overall popular vote was concentrated in Quebec ridings. The party was also bitterly disappointed to see its two Saskatchewan incumbents defeated by the Conservatives, both in close races. Those losses caused the federal NDP to be shut out in Saskatchewan for the first time since the 1968 election, despite obtaining 23% of the vote in the province.

Related Topics:
Bloc Québécois - 1968 election

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The Liberals were reelected to the 38th Canadian parliament, though this time as a minority government. The number of seats needed to form a majority government in the 2004 election was 154, exactly one more than the total resulting Liberal and NDP count. The election of a Speaker, and the fact that the Liberal caucus has lost three members since the election, have further decreased this total. The NDP may play an important role in getting legislation passed, particularly instituting electoral reform with proportional representation (PR). PR enjoys at least tacit support from all the opposition parties, which would apparently see elections to the House of Commons modelled on the system used in Germany. Also, there is historical precedent to the Liberals and NDP cooperating such as in the early 1960s and 1970s that laid the national framework for universal healthcare, expansion of employment insurance and the indexing of pensions.

Related Topics:
38th Canadian parliament - Caucus - Electoral reform - Proportional representation - Germany - 1960s - 1970s - Universal healthcare - Employment insurance - Pension

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On May 19, 2005, by Speaker Peter Milliken's tie-breaking vote, the House of Commons voted for second reading on major NDP amendments to the federal budget, preempting about $4.5 billion in corporate tax cuts and funding social, educational and environmental programs instead. Both supporters and opponents of the measures branded it Canada's first "NDP budget." The governing Liberals had agreed to support the changes in exchange for NDP support on confidence votes. In late June, the amendments passed the final reading vote and many political pundits concluded that the NDP has gained creditibilty as to their effective clout on the national scene.

Related Topics:
May 19 - 2005 - Speaker - Peter Milliken - Second reading - Corporate tax - Liberals - Confidence votes

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The most successful provincial section of the party has been the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party, which first came to power in 1944 as the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation under Tommy Douglas and has won most of the province's elections since then. In Canada, Tommy Douglas is often cited as the Father of Medicare since, as Saskatchewan Premier, he introduced the first publicly-funded, universal healthcare system there.

Related Topics:
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party - 1944

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