Communist Party – Alberta

Communist Party – Alberta
Leader Naomi Rankin
Founded 1930 (1930)
Headquarters Edmonton, Alberta
Ideology Communism
International affiliation Solidarity Network
Official colours Red
Website
www.communistparty-alberta.ca
Politics of Alberta
Political parties
Elections

Communist Party – Alberta is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. It is a provincial branch of the Communist Party of Canada.

Contents

History

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. (see also United Progressive which the party used in the 1940 election in Vegreville))

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, the last of which was a by-election held on October 7, 1937 in the Edmonton electoral district in which Jan Lakeman Leader of 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. The party has managed to run at least one candidate in every general election since then. In recent years, the Communist Party has not been able to attract more than a couple candidates with vote totals that rarely top 100 in each electoral district contested.

The Communist Party – Alberta is a full provincial wing of the federal Communist Party of Canada.

Party leaders

Election results by year

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 A. MacPherson 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
2008 Communist 2 96 0.01% Bonnie-Jean Collins 55 Calgary East

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

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