Communist Party (Alberta)
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| Communist Party of Alberta | |
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| Active Provincial Party | |
| Founded | 1930 |
| Leader | Naomi Rankin |
| President | none |
| Headquarters | P.O. Box 68112 #70 Bonnie Doon P.O. Edmonton, Alberta T6C 4N6 |
| Political ideology | Communism |
| International alignment | Solidarity Network |
| Colours | Red |
| Website | http://www.communistparty-alberta.ca/ |
Communist Party of Alberta is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada.
The party was created some time around 1930. The party has been a very minor force in Alberta's traditionally conservative provincial politics, it achieved its best results in the 1940s with a couple of distant second place finishes. In those elections, it called itself the "Labour Progressive Party" because the name "Communist" had been banned by the federal government. The party started using the Communist name again in 1963.
The Communist Party first ran in the Edmonton by-election of January 9, 1931. It contested two more by-elections after that, including the infamous October 7, 1937 Edmonton by-election in which the short-lived and also communist Peoples Candidate Party won 10,000 votes and finished second. Jan Lakeman from the Communists finished third. The party has not contested another by-election since.
While the Communist Party had marginally better results under the old Single Transferable Vote system that Alberta used between 1926 and 1959, its candidates rarely ever made it past the first vote transfer.
The Communist Party was less successful than other left wing parties in the province, such as the Labour Party and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. In the 1975 provincial election, the Communist Party split the far left wing vote with the Constitutional Socialist Party.
The Communist Party did not run in the 1967 and 1971 elections. In Alberta, political parties do not lose registration as long as financial statements are filed with Elections Alberta. The party has managed to run at least one candidate in every general election since 1971.
In recent years, the Communist Party has not been able to attract more then a couple candidates with vote totals that rarely top 100.
The Alberta Communist Party is a full provincial wing of the federal Communist Party of Canada.
Contents |
[edit] Party leaders
- Jan Lakeman 1930 - ?
- Naomi Rankin 1992 - Current
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This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
[edit] Election results by year
[edit] General elections
| Election | Affiliation | # of Candidates | Votes | Pop. % | Best Candidate | Votes | District |
| 1935 | Communist | 9 | 5,771 | 1.91% | Jan Lakeman | 1,096 | Edmonton |
| 1940 | Communist | 1 | 1,067 | 0.35% | James McPherson | 1,067 | Edmonton |
| 1944 | Labour Progressive | 30 | 12,003 | 4.26% | William Teresio | 999 | Vermilion |
| 1948 | Labour Progressive | 2 | 1,372 | 0.47% | Bernard Swankey | 856 | Pincher-Creek Crowsnest |
| 1952 | Labour Progressive | 2 | 1,132 | 0.38% | Bernard Swankey | 824 | Edmonton |
| 1955 | Labour Progressive | 9 | 3,420 | 0.90% | William Harasym | 947 | Edmonton |
| 1959 | Labour Progressive | 4 | 884 | 0.21% | William Tuomi | 251 | Edmonton Norwood |
| 1963 | Communist | 4 | 527 | 0.13% | Dan Gamache | 215 | St. Paul |
| 1975 | Communist | 14 | 768 | 0.13% | Neil Stenberg | 116 | Redwater-Andrew |
| 1979 | Communist | 7 | 357 | 0.05% | William Tuomi | 80 | Edmonton Highlands |
| 1982 | Communist | 8 | 389 | 0.04% | Naomi Rankin | 66 | Edmonton Highlands |
| 1986 | Communist | 6 | 199 | 0.03% | Naomi Rankin | 51 | Edmonton Highlands |
| 1989 | Communist | 2 | 82 | 0.01% | Naomi Rankin | 55 | Edmonton Gold Bar |
| 1993 | Communist | 1 | 47 | 0.005% | Naomi Rankin | 47 | Edmonton Strathcona |
| 1997 | Communist | 1 | 61 | 0.01% | Naomi Rankin | 61 | Edmonton Riverview |
| 2001 | Communist | 2 | 117 | 0.01% | Naomi Rankin | 76 | Edmonton Centre |
| 2004 | Communist | 2 | 98 | 0.01% | Bonnie-Jean Collins | 56 | Calgary East |
[edit] By-elections
| Date | District | Candidate | Votes | % | Placement |
| January 9, 1931 | Edmonton | Jan Lakeman | 813 | 4.68% | 4th out of 4 |
| November 16, 1931 | Red Deer | F.G. Bray | 261 | 6.68% | 4th out of 4 |
| October 7, 1937 | Edmonton | Jan Lakeman | 1,779 | 5.72% | 3rd out of 5 |
[edit] External links
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| Lieutenant-Governor: Norman Kwong | Former lieutenant-governors | |
| Premier: Ralph Klein (Incumbent), Ed Stelmach (Designate) | Former premiers | |
| Opposition Leader: Kevin Taft | Former Opposition Leaders | |
| Executive Council (Cabinet) | |
| Legislature: Current members | Former legislatures | Current electoral divisions | |
| Speaker of the Assembly: Ken Kowalski | |
| Political parties: Progressive Conservatives | Liberals | New Democrats | Alliance | |
| Alberta Party | Communists | Greens | Separation | Social Credit | |
| Elections: 2004 general election | Past elections | Electoral districts | |
| Current issues: Equalization payments | Prosperity Bonus | Same-sex marriage | Separatism | |
