New Democratic Party

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This article is about the Canadian political party. For other uses, see New Democratic Party (disambiguation).
New Democratic Party
Nouveau Parti démocratique
Active Federal Party
Founded June 17, 1961
Incorporated CCF and CLC
Leader Jack Layton
President Anne McGrath
Headquarters 300 - 279 Laurier Avenue W
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5J9
Political ideology

Social democracy,
Democratic socialism,
Third Way
International alignment Socialist International
Colours Orange and Green
Seats 30 House
1 Senate (not officially recognized)
Website www.ndp.ca

The New Democratic Party (French: Nouveau Parti démocratique) is a political party in Canada with a progressive social democratic philosophy that contests elections at both the federal and provincial levels. In the Canadian House of Commons, it holds a left-wing position in the Canadian political spectrum. The leader of the federal NDP is Jack Layton. Provincial New Democratic Parties currently form the government in the province of Manitoba, and have previously formed government in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and in the Yukon territory.

Contents

[edit] Principles, policies and electoral achievement

The NDP grew from populist, agrarian and democratic socialist roots. Today it is known for its relationships with non-governmental organizations and organized labour. While the party is secular and pluralistic, it has a longstanding relationship with the Christian left and the Social Gospel movement, particularly the United Church of Canada. However, the federal party has broadened to include concerns of the New Left, which advocates issues such as gay rights, peace, and environmental protection.

New Democrats today advocate, among other things:

The NDP has never formed the federal government, but has at times wielded influence during federal minority governments, such as in the recently dissolved 38th Parliament and, before, the Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, due to being a large enough group to decide outcomes when the others are split. Provincial New Democratic Parties, technically sections of the federal party, have governed several provinces and a territory. They currently govern the province of Manitoba, form the Official Opposition in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia and have sitting members in every provincial legislature except those of Quebec, New Brunswick (although the New Brunswick NDP had an elected member until 2006) and Prince Edward Island. They have previously formed governments in the provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and in the Yukon territory. The NDP also formed the official opposition in Alberta during the 1980s.

The New Democrats are also active municipally, and have been elected mayors, councillors, and school and service board members — Toronto mayor David Miller is a leading example, although he did not renew his membership. Like most municipal office-holders in Canada, they are usually elected as independents or with autonomous municipal parties.

[edit] History

[edit] Origins and early history

Tommy Douglas (centre left), Leader: 1961-1971
Tommy Douglas (centre left),
Leader: 1961-1971

The NDP was created in 1961 as a merger of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). [6] 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.

The influence of organized labour on the party is still reflected in the party's conventions 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 was passed by the CCF in 1956.

[edit] Trudeau minority

David Lewis, Leader: 1971-1975
David Lewis,
Leader: 1971-1975
Early NDP logo
Early NDP logo

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 several socially progressive initiatives into law such as pension indexing and the creation of the crown corporation Petro-Canada. [7]

In 1974, the NDP worked with the Progressive Conservatives to pass a motion of non-confidence, forcing an election. However, it backfired as Trudeau's Liberals regained a majority government, mostly at the expense of the NDP, which lost half its seats. Lewis lost his own riding and resigned as leader.

[edit] Height of popularity

Ed Broadbent, Leader: 1975-1989
Ed Broadbent,
Leader: 1975-1989

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 non-confidence motion on John Crosbie's budget that brought down the Progressive Conservative (PC) government, and forced the election that brought Trudeau's Liberal Party back to power.

In the 1984 election, which saw the Conservatives win the most seats in Canadian history, the NDP won 30 seats, only one behind the 31 it won in 1972. The Liberals were decimated, falling to 40 seats, and there was some talk that the NDP could push them into oblivion. Afterwards, Broadbent himself consistently out-polled Liberal leader John Turner and even Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

On July 20, 1987, the NDP swept three by-elections in Newfoundland, Ontario, and the Yukon, picking up two formerly Conservative seats and holding one NDP seat. These by-elections brought Audrey McLaughlin to the House of Commons, as the MP for Yukon.[8]

The NDP elected a record 43 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the election of 1988. The Liberals, however, had reaped most of the benefits of opposing free trade to emerge as the dominant alternative to the ruling government. The Conservatives' barrage of attacks on the Liberal momentum, as well as vote-splitting between the NDP and Liberals, helped them win a second consecutive majority. In 1989, Broadbent stepped down after 14 years as federal leader of the NDP. [9]

[edit] Decline

At the party's leadership convention, former B.C. Premier Dave Barrett and Audrey McLaughlin were the main contenders for the leadership. During the campaign, Barrett argued that the party should be concerned with western alienation, rather than focusing its attention on Quebec. The Quebec wing of the NDP strongly opposed Barrett's candidacy, with Phil Edmonston, the party's main spokesman in Quebec, threatening to resign from the party if Barrett won. [10] Barrett's campaign was also hurt when his back-room negotiations with leadership rival Simon De Jong were inadvertently recorded by the latter's CBC microphone. In these discussions, De Jong apparently agreed to support Barrett in exchange for being named House Leader, but he changed his mind at the last minute and supported McLaughlin instead, announcing his endorsement of her before the vote. In the course of his discussion with Barrett, De Jong explained "It's a head and heart thing," i.e., that his head told him to go with Dave while his heart told him to go with Audrey. McLaughlin won the leadership on the fourth ballot, becoming the first woman in Canada to lead a political party.

Although enjoying strong support among organized labour and rural voters in the Prairies, McLaughlin tried to expand their support into Quebec without much success. In 1989, the Quebec New Democratic Party adopted a sovereigntist platform and severed its ties with the federal NDP. Under McLaughlin, the party did manage to have the first MP from Quebec elected under the NDP banner, Phil Edmonston, who won a 1990 by-election.

In a deviation from their traditional position as staunch federalists, the NDP chose to align itself with the Conservatives and Liberals on the "yes" side of the Charlottetown Accord referendum in 1992. Barrett reluctantly endorsed it to comply with party policy (he opposed the Meech Lake Accord in 1987), but later referred to the NDP's support for the Accord as a mistake. Edmonston, a Quebec nationalist, frequently clashed with his own party over this position on Canadian federalism, since he opposed decentralization and devolving powers to Quebec, and did not run for re-election.

The NDP was routed in the 1993 election. It won only nine seats, three seats short of official party status in the House of Commons. Several factors contributed to this dramatic collapse just one election after winning a record number of seats and after being first in opinion polling at one point during the previous Parliament. One was the massive unpopularity of NDP provincial governments under Bob Rae in Ontario and Michael Harcourt in British Columbia. Not coincidentally, the NDP was routed in these provinces; it lost all 10 of its Ontario MPs and 17 of its 19 British Columbia MPs. The Ontario NDP would be soundly defeated in 1995, while the British Columbia NDP recovered and won reelection in 1996.

The NDP was also indirectly hampered by the collapse of the Progressive Conservatives, who were cut down to only two seats. Exit polls showed that 17% to 27% of NDP supporters from 1988 voted Liberal in 1993. It was obvious by the beginning of October that Liberal leader Jean Chrétien would be the next prime minister. However, the memory of 1988's vote splitting combined with the tremendous antipathy toward the PCs caused NDP supporters to vote Liberal to ensure the Conservatives would be defeated. Many voters in the NDP's traditional Western heartland also switched to the right-wing Reform Party of Canada. Despite sharp ideological differences, Reform's populism struck a chord with many NDP supporters. Barrett's warnings about Western alienation proved to be prophetic, as the rise of the Reform Party replaced the NDP as the protest voice west of Ontario.

[edit] Recovery

NDP logo under Alexa McDonough
NDP logo under Alexa McDonough

The party recovered somewhat under new leader Alexa McDonough, electing 21 New Democrats in the 1997 election. The NDP made a breakthrough in Atlantic Canada, unseating Liberal ministers David Dingwall and Doug Young. The party was able to harness the discontent of Maritime voters, who were upset over cuts to employment insurance and other programs.

Afterwards, McDonough was widely perceived as trying to move the party toward the centre of the political spectrum, in the Third Way mode of Tony Blair. Union leaders were lukewarm in their support, often threatening to break away from the NDP, while Canadian Auto Workers head Buzz Hargrove called for her resignation. MPs Rick Laliberté and Angela Vautour crossed the floor to other parties during this term, reducing the NDP caucus to 19 seats.

In the November 2000 election, the NDP campaigned on the issue of Medicare but lost significant support. The governing Liberals ran an effective campaign on their economic record and managed to recapture some of the Atlantic ridings lost to the NDP in the 1997 election. The initial high electoral prospects of the Canadian Alliance under new leader Stockwell Day also hurt the NDP as many supporters strategically voted Liberal to keep the Alliance from winning. The NDP finished with 13 MPs--just barely over the threshold for official party status.

The party embarked on a renewal process starting in 2000. A general convention in Winnipeg in November 2001 made significant alterations to 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.

[edit] Jack Layton elected leader

Jack Layton, Leader: 2003-present
Jack Layton,
Leader: 2003-present

McDonough announced her resignation as party leader for family reasons in June 2002, and was succeeded by Jack Layton. A former Toronto city councillor, Layton was elected at the party's leadership election in Toronto on January 5, 2003, defeating his nearest rival, longtime Winnipeg-area MP Bill Blaikie, on the first ballot with 53.5% of the vote. [11]

Layton had run unsuccessfully for the Commons three times in Toronto-area ridings. In contrast to traditional but diminishing Canadian practice, where an MP for a safe seat stands down to allow a newly elected leader a chance to enter Parliament, Layton did not contest a seat in Parliament until the 2004 election. In the interim, he appointed Blaikie as deputy leader and made him parliamentary leader of the NDP.

[edit] 2004 election

The 2004 election produced mixed results for the NDP. It increased its total vote by more than a million votes; however, despite Layton's optimistic predictions of reaching 40 seats, the NDP only gained five seats in the election, for a total of 19. The party was disappointed to see its two Saskatchewan incumbents defeated by the Conservatives, both in close races, [12] perhaps due to the unpopularity of the NDP provincial government. Those losses caused the federal NDP to be shut out in Saskatchewan for the first time since the 1965 election, despite obtaining 23% of the vote in the province.

Exit polls indicated that many NDP supporters voted Liberal to keep the new Conservative Party from winning. The Liberals had recruited several prominent NDP members, most notably former British Columbia premier Ujjal Dosanjh, to run as Liberals as part of a drive to convince NDP voters that a reunited Conservative Party could sneak up the middle in the event of a split in the centre-left vote.

The NDP campaign also experienced controversy after Layton suggested the removal of the Clarity Act, considered by some to be vital to keeping Quebec in Canada and by others as undemocratic, and promised to recognize any declaration of independence by Quebec after a referendum. This position was not part of the NDP's official party policy, leading some high-profile party members, such as NDP House Leader Bill Blaikie and former NDP leader Alexa McDonough, to publicly indicate that they did not share Layton's views. (Layton would later reverse his position and support the Act in 2006.)[citation needed]

The Liberals were re-elected, though this time as a minority government. Combined, the Liberals and NDP had 154 seats--one short of the total needed for the balance of power. As has been the case with Liberal minority governments in the past, the NDP were in a position to make gains on the party's priorities, such as fighting health care privatization, fulfilling Canada's obligation to the Kyoto Protocol, and electoral reform.

The party used Prime Minister Paul Martin's politically precarious position caused by the sponsorship scandal to force investment in multiple federal programs, agreeing not to help topple the government provided that some major concessions in the federal budget were ceded to. The governing Liberals agreed to support the changes in exchange for NDP support on confidence votes. 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. [13] Both NDP supporters and Conservative opponents of the measures branded it Canada's first "NDP budget". In late June, the amendments passed final reading and many political pundits concluded that the NDP had gained credibility and clout on the national scene.

[edit] 2006 election

Jack Layton is the current leader of the NDP.
Jack Layton is the current leader of the NDP.

On November 9, 2005, after the findings of the Gomery Inquiry were released, Layton notified the Liberal government that continued NDP support would require a ban on private health care. When the Liberals refused, Layton announced that he would introduce a motion on November 24 that would ask Martin to call a federal election in February to allow for several pieces of legislation to be passed. The Liberals turned down this offer. The Canadian Auto Workers and the Canadian Labour Congress demanded that the NDP not topple the Liberal government, but Layton rejected the unions' demands. On November 28, 2005, Conservative leader Stephen Harper's motion of no confidence was seconded by Layton and it was passed by all three opposition parties, forcing an election. Columnist Andrew Coyne has suggested that the NDP was unlikely to receive much credit for continuing to further prop up the Liberals, so they ended their support for the Martin government.

During the election, the NDP focused their attacks on the Liberal party, in order to counter Liberal appeals for strategic voting. A key point in the campaign was when Judy Wasylycia-Leis had tipped off the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to launch a criminal investigation into the leaking of the income trust announcement [14]. The criminal probe seriously damaged the Liberal campaign and prevented them from making their key policy announcements, as well as bringing Liberal corruption back into the spotlight. After the election, the RCMP announced the conclusion of the income trust investigation and laid a charge of 'Breach of Trust' against Serge Nadeau, an official in the Department of Finance [15], while Liberal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale was cleared of wrongdoing [16].

The NDP campaign strategy put them at odds with Canadian Auto Workers, which had supported an NDP-backed Liberal minority government and which was only backing NDP candidates that had a chance of winning. After the campaign, the Ontario wing of the party expelled CAW leader Buzz Hargrove for his support of the Liberals. In addition, his federal membership in the party was automatically suspended.

On January 23, the NDP won 29 seats, a significant increase of 10 seats from the 19 won in 2004. It was the fourth-best performance in party history, approaching the level of popular support enjoyed in the 1980s. The NDP kept all of the 18 seats it held at the dissolution of Parliament (Paul Dewar retained the riding of Ottawa Centre vacated by Broadbent). Bev Desjarlais, an NDP MP since 1997, unsuccessfully ran as an independent in her Churchill riding after losing the NDP nomination. While the party gained no seats in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, or the Prairie Provinces, it gained five seats in British Columbia, five more in Ontario and the Western Arctic riding of the Northwest Territories.

[edit] Conservative minority

The Conservative Party won a minority government in the 2006 election, and initially the NDP was the only party that would not be able to pass legislation with the Conservatives. However, following a series of floor crossings, the NDP also came to hold the balance of power.

There have been four confidence votes in the current parliament, and the NDP is the only party to have voted against the Conservatives on all of them. These were votes on the United States-Canada softwood lumber dispute, extending the mission to Afghanistan, the 2006 Canadian federal budget and 2007 federal budget. On other issues the NDP has worked with the Conservatives. After forcing the Conservatives to agree to certain revisions, the NDP helped pass the Accountability Act. After the NDP fiercely criticized the initial Conservative attempt at a Clean Air Act, the Conservatives agreed to work with the NDP and other parties to revise the legislation.[17] The NDP also supported the government in introducing regulations on income trusts, fearing that trends toward mass trust conversions by large corporations to avoid Canadian income taxes would cause the loss of billions of dollars in budget revenue to support health care, pensions and other federal programs. At the same time, the NDP was also weary of the threat of investor losses from income trusts’ exaggerated performance expectations.

Since the election, the NDP caucus rose to 30 members following the victory of NDP candidate Thomas Mulcair in a by-election in Outremont. This marked the second time ever (and first time in seventeen years) that the NDP won a riding in Quebec.

[edit] Provincial and territorial wings

Campaign sign for a federal NDP candidate in the riding of Kelowna—Lake Country, British Columbia
Campaign sign for a federal NDP candidate in the riding of Kelowna—Lake Country, British Columbia

Unlike most other Canadian parties, the NDP is integrated with its provincial and territorial parties, such that a member of a provincial or territorial NDP is automatically a member of the federal NDP. This precludes a person from supporting different parties at the federal and provincial levels. A key example of this was Buzz Hargrove's expulsion by the Ontario New Democratic Party after he backed Paul Martin in the 2006 election, which automatically terminated his membership in the federal party as well.

There are three exceptions. In Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, whose territorial legislatures have no parties, the federal NDP is promoted by its riding associations, since each territory is composed of only one federal riding.

In Quebec, the Quebec New Democratic Party and the federal NDP agreed in 1989 to sever their structural ties after the Quebec party adopted a sovereigntist platform. Since then, the federal NDP is not integrated with a provincial party in that province; instead, it has a section, the Nouveau Parti démocratique-Section Québec/New Democratic Party Quebec Section, whose activities in the province are limited to the federal level, whereas on the provincial level its members are individually free to support or adhere to any party.

Provincial and territorial parties, current seats, and leaders
Party Seats/Total Leader
Alberta New Democratic Party 4/83 Brian Mason, MLA
New Democratic Party of British Columbia 33/79 Carole James, MLA, Leader of the Opposition
New Democratic Party of Manitoba 36/57 Hon. Gary Doer, MLA, Premier of Manitoba
New Brunswick New Democratic Party 0/55 Roger Duguay
New Democratic Party of
Newfoundland and Labrador		 1/48 Lorraine Michael, MHA
Nova Scotia New Democratic Party 20/52 Darrell Dexter, MLA, Leader of the Opposition
Ontario New Democratic Party 10/103 Howard Hampton, MPP
Island New Democrats (P.E.I.) 0/27 Vacant
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party 20/58 Lorne Calvert, MLA, Leader of the Opposition
Yukon New Democratic Party 3/18 Todd Hardy, MLA

(Those forming government in bold)

From 1963 to 1994, there was a New Democratic Party of Quebec.

Chart of the best showings for provincial parties, and the election that provided the results
Province/Territory Seats - Status Election years and party leaders at the time
Alberta 16 - Official Opposition 1986, Ray Martin; 1989, Ray Martin
British Columbia 51 - Government 1991, Michael Harcourt
Canada 43 1988, Ed Broadbent
Manitoba 36 - Government 2007, Gary Doer
New Brunswick 2 New Brunswick 1984 by-election, George Little
Newfoundland
and Labrador		 2 1987 by election Peter Fenwick ; 1999, 2003, Jack Harris
Nova Scotia 20 - Official Opposition 2006, Darrell Dexter
Ontario 74 - Government 1990, Bob Rae
Prince Edward Island 1 1996, Herb Dickieson
Quebec 1 1944, (CCF, David Côté)
Saskatchewan 55 - Government 1991, Roy Romanow
Yukon 11 - Government 1996, Piers McDonald

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 Canada's first publicly-funded, universal healthcare system there. Despite the continued success of the Saskatchewan branch of the party, the NDP was shut out of Saskatchewan in the 2004 federal election for the first time in recent history. This is a trend that has been continued in the 2006 federal election. The New Democratic Party has also formed the provincial government in Manitoba, British Columbia and Ontario.

[edit] Current members of Parliament

The election of January 23, 2006, gave the NDP 29 seats; it subsequently won one seat in a by-election. Twelve of its MPs are women; after the general election this represented 41% of its seats, the highest proportion of women that has ever existed in a Canadian parliamentary caucus with official party status. For a list of NDP MPs and their critic portfolios, see New Democratic Party Shadow Cabinet.

Senator Lillian Dyck chooses to associate herself with the NDP. However the party does not allow her to be part of the parliamentary caucus, as the NDP favours the abolition of the Canadian Senate. She sits in the Senate as an Independent New Democrat.[1]

[edit] 39th Parliament

[edit] Federal leaders

# Leader From To Birth Death Ridings while leader
1 Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas August 3, 1961 April 23, 1971 October 20, 1904 February 24, 1986 Burnaby—Coquitlam, BC
2 David Lewis April 24, 1971 July 6, 1975 June 23, 1909 May 23, 1981 York South, ON
3 John Edward "Ed" Broadbent July 7, 1975 December 4, 1989 March 21, 1936 - Oshawa—Whitby, Oshawa, ON
4 Audrey Marlene McLaughlin December 5, 1989 October 13, 1995 November 7, 1936 - Yukon, YK
5 Alexa Ann McDonough October 14, 1995 January 24, 2003 August 11, 1944 - Halifax, NS
6 John Gilbert "Jack" Layton January 25, 2003 - July 18, 1950 - Toronto—Danforth, ON

[edit] Federal election results 1962–2006

Election # of candidates # of seats won # of total votes  % of popular vote
1962 217 19 1,044,754 13.57%
1963 232 17 1,044,701 13.24%
1965 255 21 1,381,658 17.91%
1968 263 22 1,378,263 16.96%
1972 252 31 1,725,719 17.83%
1974 262 16 1,467,748 15.44%
1979 282 26 2,048,988 17.88%
1980 280 32 2,150,368 19.67%
1984 282 30 2,359,915 18.81%
1988 295 43 2,685,263 20.38%
1993 294 9 933,688 6.88%
1997 301 21 1,434,509 11.05%
2000 298 13 1,093,748 8.51%
2004 308 19 2,116,536 15.7%
2006 308 29 2,588,200 17.5%

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ NDP | Clean air, land and water
  2. ^ NDP | Jack Layton and Paul Summerville's speech in Toronto
  3. ^ NDP | Jack Layton's speech on Canada's role in the world
  4. ^ NDP | Electoral reform: make every vote count
  5. ^ Jack Layton releases New Democratic Party election platform
  6. ^ The evolution of CCF into NDP: 1961 and after
  7. ^ David Lewis - Federal NDP Leader 1971-75 - Biography of David Lewis
  8. ^ History of Federal Ridings since 1867
  9. ^ CBC News Indepth: Ed Broadbent
  10. ^ Barrett, David
  11. ^ CBC News - Indepth Backgrounder: NDP Leadership Race
  12. ^ The New Democratic Party
  13. ^ CBC News Indepth: Budget 2005
  14. ^ CTV.ca | Income trust a major campaign turning point
  15. ^ Canada News Centre - Centre des nouvelles du Canada
  16. ^ Goodale cleared in trust case
  17. ^ Harper agrees to send Clean Air Act to committee

[edit] External links

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