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Revision as of 11:54, 24 January 2006

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

Template:Infobox Canada Political Party The New Democratic Party (French: Nouveau Parti démocratique) is a left wing political party in Canada that advocates varying forms of social democracy and democratic socialism. It contests elections at the federal and provincial levels. In the Canadian House of Commons, it represents the left wing of the Canadian political spectrum while the Liberal and Conservative parties are generally assumed to represent the centre-left and centre-right wings, respectively. The NDP is a full member of the Socialist International organization of Democratic socialist and Social democratic parties.

Some Canadians have nicknamed the NDP as "the Dippers," though this nickname hasn't gained as much acceptance as has "Grits" for the Liberals and "Tories" for the Conservatives.

The NDP is running in the upcoming 2006 elections with its leader Jack Layton. The slogan of the party is "Getting results for Canadians".

Principles, policies and electoral achievement

The NDP is noted for its populist, agrarian and democratic socialist roots, its close affiliation with organized labour, and, 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 oriented itself increasingly away from Labour and the Church to the New Left and progressive issues such as gay rights, especially since the early 1990s. The federal leader of the NDP is Jack Layton.

The NDP has never formed the federal government, but has wielded considerable influence during federal minority governments, such as in the recently dissolved 38th Parliament and, before, the Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson.

Provincial New Democratic Parties, technically sections of the federal party, have governed several provinces and a territory. They currently govern the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, form the Official Opposition in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Yukon, and have sitting members in every provincial legislature except those of Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. In previous terms, they have formed governments in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, and in Yukon territory.

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. Like most municipal office-holders in Canada, they are usually elected as independents or with autonomous municipal parties.

History

Origins and early history

The NDP was created in 1961 as a merger of the Co-operative 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.

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.

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.

A challenge to the mainstream leadership of the New Democratic Party came from the 'Waffle', a far-left movement of the party. The views of the 'waffle' were laid forth in their Manifesto for an Independent Socialist Canada, which outlined the Waffle's deep resentment of the "American Empire" and their organization's commitment to furthering the socialist cause in Canada within the template of a successful democracy. As a response to it, the NDP outlawed the Ontario New Democratic Youth between the early 1970s until 1988.

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.

In number of seats, the federal NDP reached its highest point 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 temporarily returned from retirement and won election to Parliament in the riding of Ottawa Centre in the 2004 election. He has since announced his retirement in order to spend more time with his wife, who is ill.

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 may have 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.

The party embarked on 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.

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.

Recent developments

Jack Layton is the current leader of the NDP.

The 2004 election produced mixed results for the NDP. It again won the fewest number of seats, behind the Conservatives, Liberals, and also the Bloc Québécois, whose somewhat smaller portion of the overall popular vote was limited to Quebec ridings. However, the NDP gained five seats in the election, for a total of 19, and increased its total vote by more than a million votes, representing an increase of almost 100% from the 2000 election. 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 1965 election, despite obtaining 23% of the vote in the province.

The Liberals were re-elected 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 155, exactly one more than the total resulting Liberal and NDP count. The election of a Speaker, the fact that the Liberal caucus has lost three members since the election, and the decision of Bev Desjarlais to leave the NDP have further decreased this total. 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.

Despite the disappointing results, the party took maximum advantage of Prime Minister Paul Martin's politically precarious position with the sponsorship scandal which prompted him to make a rare televised appeal to the electorate and the opposition to allow the Gomery Commission to make its full report on the affair before any election. The NDP reacted by offering their support for the Liberal Party, provided that some major concessions in the federal budget were ceded to in the NDP's favor. 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. Both supporters and opponents of the measures branded it Canada's first "NDP budget." In late June, the amendments passed the final reading vote and many political pundits concluded that the NDP has gained creditability as to their effective clout on the national scene.

On November 9, 2005, after rejecting the Liberal government's plan to deal with health care privatization, Jack Layton announced that the NDP would introduce a motion on November 24 that would ask the Prime Minister to call a federal election in February. A motion of non confidence was passed on November 28, 2005, and every NDP MP voted to topple the Liberal minority.

2006 Election

In the 2006 election held on January 23rd, the NDP won 29 seats. This was a significant increase of 10 seats from the 19 won in 2004. It was also a major milestone for the NDP, reflecting a level of support that they had not enjoyed for several years.

Structure

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.

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, 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

The provincial New Democratic Parties are sections of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada. According to the party constitution a member of a provincial or territorial NDP is automatically a member of the federal NDP - the federal NDP has no membership of its own except in Quebec where the party has no provincial counterpart. This distinguishes the NDP from the Liberal and Conservative parties which have more complex relationships with their provincial counterparts (and in some cases, no formal relationship) and separate provincial and federal memberships.


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
New Democratic Party of Manitoba 35/57 Hon. Gary Doer, MLA, Premier of Manitoba
New Brunswick New Democratic Party 0/55 Allison Brewer
New Democratic Party of
Newfoundland and Labrador 		2/48 Jack Harris, MHA
Nova Scotia New Democratic Party 15/52 Darrell Dexter, MLA
Ontario New Democratic Party 8/103 Howard Hampton, MPP
Island New Democrats (P.E.I.) 0/27 vacant / James Rodd *
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party 30/58 Hon. Lorne Calvert, MLA, Premier of Saskatchewan
Yukon New Democratic Party 5/18 Todd Hardy, MLA

* James Rodd, as President of the PEI NDP, exercises the powers of the leader. An interim leader is expected to be appointed soon

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 35 - Government 2003, 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 19 - Official Opposition 1998, Robert Chisholm
Ontario 74 - Government 1990, Bob Rae
Prince Edward Island 1 1996, Herb Dickieson
Quebec 1 1944, (CCF)
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 the 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.

Current members of Parliament

As of November 28, 2005, the NDP held 18 seats in the House of Commons. On November 29, 2005, the Parliament of Canada was dissolved following a vote of no confidence the previous day. New elections will be held on January 23, 2006. For a list of NDP MPs in the previous parliament, and their critic portfolios, see New Democratic Party Shadow Cabinet.

One 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 Senate. She therefore sits in the Senate as an Independent New Democrat.

Federal leaders

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%

See also

Template:NDP Leaders

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