Darrell Rankin

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Darrell T. Rankin (born February 14, 1957) is a Canadian peace activist and communist politician. He was briefly leader of the Communist Party of Canada - Ontario (CPC-O) in 1995, and has been the leader of the Communist Party of Canada - Manitoba (CPC-M) since 1996.

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

Rankin was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, and became involved in radical left politics through an early opposition to the Vietnam War. His grandparents were active in the Communist Party of Canada, which he himself joined in 1978. Rankin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree.[1]

He lived in Ottawa, Ontario from 1983 to 1995, and was a leading figure in the Canadian Peace Alliance and the Ottawa Disarmament Coalition.[2] A newspaper report from 1986 lists him as an articling lawyer, although it is not clear if he continued in this profession.[3] He participated in protests against the Gulf War in 1991.[4]

In 1992, a majority of delegates at the Communist Party's national convention voted to abandon Marxism-Leninism and pursue a social democratic alternative. Rankin was a part of the minority group led by Miguel Figueroa that opposed this change, and continued to support orthodox communist principles. The party split, and the minority group won the rights to the Communist Party name through an out-of-court settlement.

[edit] CPC-O leader

Rankin was appointed leader of the Communist Party of Canada - Ontario in April 1995, and led the party in the 1995 provincial election. The national party had fallen to only five hundred members in this period, and the Ontario party ran a low-profile campaign with only five candidates and an $8,000 budget.[5] Rankin challenged New Democratic Party Premier Bob Rae in York South, focusing on issues including health, education, social programs and full employment. A newspaper report lists him as thirty-eight years old during the campaign.[6]

In June 1995, Rankin contributed a paper entitled "Observations on the setbacks to Socialism" to the Communist Party discussion journal The Spark! (which is not to be confused with the Trotskyist group of the same name). The article examined recent events in Eastern Europe, including the fall of the Soviet Union.[7]

[edit] CPC-M leader

Rankin moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba later in 1995. The Communist Party of Canada - Manitoba had been without effective leadership for several years, and Rankin was chosen as the party's provincial organizer before the year was over. He organized a seventy-fifth anniversary banquet for the party in early 1996, and was elected CPC-M leader later in the year.[8] The party was re-registered with Elections Manitoba in 1999. Rankin has led the party in the 1999 and 2003 elections.[9]

In January 2004, Rankin was challenged for the CPC-M leadership by Paul Sidon. He received 79% of delegate support, against 21% for Sidon.

Rankin is a founding member of Peace Alliance Winnipeg and a member of the No War Coalition (Manitoba). He helped organize protests against the 1999 Kosovo Conflict, the 2001 NATO invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[10] He also writes occasional articles for People's Voice, the newspaper of the Communist Party.[11]

Rankin has campaigned for public office several times, although he has never come close to being elected. As of March 2006, he is the leader of Communist Party of Canada's Peace and Disarmament Coalition.[12] He is not related to Naomi Rankin, the leader of the Communist Party of Canada - Alberta.[13]

[edit] Table of offices held

Preceded by:
vacant (*)		 Leader of the Communist Party of Canada - Manitoba
1996—		 Succeeded by:
current leader
Preceded by:
(**)		 Leader of the Communist Party of Canada - Ontario
1995		 Succeeded by:
(**)
  • (*) The CPC-M had been without a leader since at least 1990, and possibly longer.
  • (**) It is not clear if the CPC-O had a recognized leader between 1992 and 1998, apart from Rankin's short tenure in 1995. Hassan Husseini was chosen as leader in 1998.

[edit] Electoral Record

2006 federal election : Winnipeg North edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     New Democratic Party (x)Judy Wasylycia-Leis 15,582 57.18 $52,916.99
     Liberal Parmjeet Gill 5,752 21.11 $64,979.49
     Conservative Garreth McDonald 4,810 17.65
     Green David Carey 779 2.86 $397.50
     Christian Heritage Eric Truijen 207 0.76
     Communist Darrell Rankin 123 0.45 $295.28
Total valid votes 27,253 100.00
Rejected ballots 137
Turnout 27,390 50.91
Electors on the lists 53,805


2004 federal election : Winnipeg North edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     New Democratic Party (x)Judy Wasylycia-Leis 12,507 48.16 $34,948.23
     Liberal (x)Rey Pagtakhan 9,491 36.55 $61,961.93
     Conservative Kris Stevenson 3,186 12.27 $9,148.61
     Green Alon Weinberg 531 2.04 $2,287.45
     Christian Heritage Eric Truijen 141 0.54 $1,000.00
     Communist Darrell Rankin 111 0.43 $654.58
Total valid votes 25,967 100.00
Rejected ballots 128
Turnout 26,095 47.13
Electors on the lists 55,372


2003 Manitoba provincial election : Point Douglas edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     New Democratic Party (x)George Hickes 2,877 74.86 $10,189.54
     Liberal Mary Lou Bourgeois 547 14.23 $7,991.06
     Progressive Conservative Wyatt McIntyre 337 8.77 $10.68
     Communist Darrell Rankin 82 2.13 $376.06
Total valid votes 3,843 100.00
Rejected and declined ballots 55
Turnout 3,898 40.24
Electors on the lists 9,687


2000 federal election : Winnipeg North Centre edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     New Democratic Party (x)Judy Wasylycia-Leis 14,356 58.39 $54,041.14
     Liberal Mary Richard 6,755 27.47 $48,194.97
     Progressive Conservative Myron Troniak 2,950 12.00 $4,320.59
     Communist Darrell Rankin 525 2.14 $263.77
Total valid votes 24,586 100.00
Rejected ballots 481
Turnout 25,067 51.95
Electors on the lists 48,254


1999 Manitoba provincial election : Burrows edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     New Democratic Party (x)Doug Martindale 5,151 66.34 $21,056.00
     Liberal Mike Babinsky 1,849 23.82 $24,553.70
     Progressive Conservative Cheryl Clark 724 9.32 $11,879.28
     Communist Darrell Rankin 41 0.53 $0.00
Total valid votes 7,765 100.00
Rejected and declined ballots 55
Turnout 7,820 65.63
Electors on the lists 11,916


1997 federal election : Winnipeg Centre edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     New Democratic Party Pat Martin 10,979 40.89 $48,662
     Liberal (x)David Walker 9,895 36.86 $47,283
     Reform Reginald A. Smith 3,095 11.53 $3,175
     Progressive Conservative Campbell Alexander 2,442 9.10 $6,171
     Independent Greg Krawchuk 148 0.55 $163
     Marxist-Leninist Glenn Michalchuk 136 0.51 $11
     Ind. (Communist) Darrell Rankin 108 0.40 $1,913
     Ind. (Ind. Libertarian) Didz Zuzens 44 0.16 $0
Total valid votes 26,847 100.00
Rejected ballots 374
Turnout 27,221 57.00
Electors on the lists 47,753


1995 Ontario provincial election : York South edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     New Democratic Party (x)Bob Rae 10,442 41.24 $39,100.07
     Progressive Conservative Larry Edwards 7,726 30.51 $28,482.21
     Liberal Hagood Hardy 6,025 23.79 $42,578.22
     Family Coalition Don Pennell 305 1.20 $4,210.68
     Green David James Cooper 219 0.86 $1,046.57
     Natural Law Bob Hyman 176 0.70 $0.00
     Independent Kevin Clarke 170 0.67 $1,164.66
     Libertarian Roma Kelembet 153 0.60 $819.58
     Communist Darrell Rankin 105 0.41 $59.00
Total valid votes 25,321 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 388
Turnout 25,709 69.13
Electors on the lists 37,192


1993 federal election : Calgary Southwest edit
Party Candidate Votes %
     Reform Preston Manning 41,630 61.22
     Progressive Conservative (x)Bobbie Sparrow 12,642 18.59
     Liberal Bill Richards 11,087 17.36
     New Democratic Party Catherine Rose 1,099 1.62
     National Lea Russell 910 1.34
     Green Sol Candel 301 0.44
     Natural Law Ida Bugmann 249 0.37
     Independent Miel S.R. Gabriel 57 0.08
     N/A (Communist) Darrell Rankin 28 0.04
Total valid votes 68,003 100.00
Rejected ballots 137
Turnout 68,140 70.81
Electors on lists 96,213

All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada, Elections Ontario and Elections Manitoba. Provincial election expenditures in Manitoba refer to individual candidate expenses. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Election 2000 entry: Darrell Rankin, Globe and Mail, online report.
  2. ^ "Handful hold low-key protests", Toronto Star, 11 February 1989, A11.
  3. ^ Abby Deveney and Jacquie Miller, "First rooms open in new courthouse", Ottawa Citizen, 18 August 1996, C2.
  4. ^ "Protesters condemn ground attack", Ottawa Citizen, 25 February 1991, C1.
  5. ^ John Gray, "Liberal numbers don't add up in attack on NDP expenditure", Globe and Mail, 16 May 1995, A6.
  6. ^ Nicolaas Van Rijn, "Meet the people who want your vote", Toronto Star, 5 June 1995, A12.
  7. ^ Darrell Rankin, "Observations on the setbacks to Socialism", The Spark! No. 6, 1995.
  8. ^ Holli Moncrieff, "Volunteers needed for Earth Day events", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 April 1996, p. 1.
  9. ^ "Communist party plans to field five in election", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 March 1999, A8.
  10. ^ Kevin Rollason, "No bombs in Kosovo, activists say", Winnipeg Free Press, 23 March 1999, A3; Kevin Rollason, "War in Afghanistan draws critics", Winnipeg Free Press, 24 March 2002, A4; Alexandra Paul, "Threats to Iraq all about oil,say protesters", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 January 2003, A5.
  11. ^ For instance, Darrell Rankin, ""No!" to Privatized Health Care", 16-31 January 2006 (Volume 14, No. 2).
  12. ^ Darrell Rankin, "Humanity needs a strong peace movement", Political Affairs Magazine, 18 March 2006.
  13. ^ Brian Laghi, "Moscow not on the North Saskatchewan", Edmonton Journal, 15 January 1995, B2.
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