Canadian Dimension ( CD ) is a Canadian left-wing magazine founded in 1963 by Cy Gonick and published in Winnipeg , Manitoba . In 2019, CD transitioned to a digital publication "as a springboard to a lively role in the 21st century resurgence of radical socialist thinking and organizing."
104-472: Canadian Dimension is a forum for left-wing political thought, opinion, and analysis that ranges from New Democratic Party –style social democracy to libertarian socialism . The magazine was founded in 1963 by Cy Gonick , and a collective took over editorial responsibility in 1975. Over the course of its 56 years in print, the magazine was managed by an editorial collective of over 30 writers and activists from major cities across Canada, with Gonick acting as
208-474: A mixed economy and broader welfare , and has a left-wing , democratic socialist faction. The NDP is a member of the Progressive Alliance , a political international of progressive and social democratic parties. The NDP's constitution states that both social democracy and democratic socialism are influences on the party. Specific inclusion of the party's history as the continuation of
312-576: A chance to enter Parliament via a by-election , McDonough opted to wait until the next election to enter Parliament. The party recovered somewhat in the 1997 election , electing 21 members. The NDP made a breakthrough in Atlantic Canada , a region where they had been practically nonexistent at the federal level. Before 1997, they had won only three seats in Atlantic Canada. However, in 1997 they won eight seats in that region. The party
416-520: A federal election in February to allow for several pieces of legislation to be passed. The Liberals turned down this offer. 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. During the election , the NDP won 29 seats, a significant increase of 10 seats from the 19 won in 2004. It
520-740: A federation of labour has been established. While these are separate entities, the leadership of provincial federations are members of the CLC executive council. The CLC has also chartered approximately 130 district labour councils (DLC), based upon municipal jurisdictions. Local unions with membership within the county, region or city of the DLC may affiliate and participate in the labour council. These councils assist with provincial or national political or issue campaigns and also lead efforts in municipal elections. The CLC has head offices in Ottawa out of which it runs
624-434: A majority government, mostly at the expense of the NDP, which lost half its seats. Lewis lost his own riding and resigned as leader the following year. Under Ed Broadbent (1975–1989) the NDP attempted to find a more populist image to contrast with the governing parties, focusing on more pocketbook issues than on ideological fervour. The party played a critical role during Joe Clark 's minority government of 1979–1980, moving
728-896: A merger of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). The CCF grew from populist , agrarian and socialist roots into a modern social democratic party. Although the CCF was part of the Christian left and the Social Gospel movement, the NDP is secular and pluralistic. It has broadened to include concerns of the New Left , and advocates issues such as LGBT rights , international peace , and environmental stewardship. The NDP also supports
832-634: A merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC) and the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL), the two major labour congresses in Canada at the time. The TLC's affiliated unions represented workers in a specific trade while the CCL's affiliated unions represented all employees within a workplace , regardless of occupation. The trades-based organizational model, which continues today especially in
936-507: 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. The NDP voted against the government in all four confidence votes in the 39th parliament, the only party to do so. However, it worked with the Conservatives on other issues, including in passing
1040-712: A misstep by the leadership of UAW Local 200 in trying to rally a national one-day strike in sympathy of Ford workers, in 1946 CCF activists within the Locals 195 and 200 overturned their leadership. In addition, the UAW International Board elections of 1947 gave stronger support to Walter Reuther , the CCF-supporting International President. Between these two trends, the Canadian UAW leadership changed directions. In
1144-501: A more just, equal, and sustainable Canada within a global community dedicated to the same goals. The NDP states that it is committed to public health care. The party states that it fights for "a national, universal, public pharmacare program to make sure that all Canadians can access the prescription medicine they need with their health card, not their credit card – saving money and improving health outcomes for everyone". The party also states its support for expanding services covered under
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#17327839108461248-515: A negotiated two-state solution ." Since its formation, the party has had a presence in the House of Commons. It was the third largest political party from 1965 to 1993, when the party dropped to fourth and lost official party status . The NDP's peak period of policy influence in those periods was during the minority Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson (1963–68) and Pierre Trudeau (1972–74). The NDP regained official status in 1997, and played
1352-623: A policy of CCF support. A significant measure of this support was the 133–133 tie vote at the TLC's 1954 Ontario convention on the matter of CCF support. With the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL), the situation was more complex. As a child of the Great Depression and the international romance with revolution in the decades immediately after 1917 , Communist Party of Canada labour activists had taken leadership positions in several key unions and locals of CCL-affiliated unions. Indeed,
1456-550: A provincial or territorial section of the NDP includes automatic membership in the federal party, and this precludes a person from being a member of different parties at the federal and provincial levels. Membership lists are maintained by the provinces and territories. There have been three exceptions: Nunavut , the Northwest Territories, and Quebec. In Nunavut and in the Northwest Territories, whose territorial legislatures have non-partisan consensus governments ,
1560-552: A similar role in the Liberal and Conservative minority governments of 2004–2006 and 2006–2011, respectively. Following the 2011 election , the party became the second-largest party and formed the Official Opposition in the 41st Canadian Parliament . Provincial New Democratic parties, which are organizationally sections of the federal party, have governed in six of the ten provinces and a territory . The NDP governs
1664-472: A socialist publication throughout its history. In 1963, the publication did not cover issues related to feminism, environmentalism, human rights, gay and lesbian liberation, or the relationship between political beliefs and personal lifestyle choices. By the 1980s, however, CD had begun featuring articles on these topics with greater frequency. An editorial written on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, " CD at 30" concluded that Canadian Dimension's renewal
1768-567: A then-record of 43 members of parliament (MPs) elected to the house in the election of 1988 . The Liberals, however, had reaped most of the benefits of opposing the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement to emerge as the dominant alternative to the ruling PC government. In 1989, Broadbent stepped down after 14 years as federal leader of the NDP. At the party's leadership convention in 1989, former BC Premier Dave Barrett and Yukon MP Audrey McLaughlin were
1872-445: A union bargaining committee for the bargaining unit prior to commencing negotiations with the employer. This bargaining committee will meet with the union's members within the bargaining unit to determine the needs and wants of the membership. However, it is important to note that under laws in Canada, since the local union is the legal bargaining agent, the signature of the local union's president or appointed representative must appear on
1976-500: A union. The appropriateness of a group for collective bargaining is established by the Labour Board of the jurisdiction and may consist of all employees of an enterprise at a single location or a select group of employees—maintenance workers, a specific trade or regulated group (such as teachers or nurses), front office employees, etc. Where such a vote is successful, the union that they have joined becomes their bargaining agent and
2080-544: A wide spectrum of writers on the left. Some of the earliest contributors included Charles Taylor , George Grant , Gad Horowitz , C. B. Macpherson , Kari Levitt , John Warnock, James Laxer , Leo Panitch and Reg Whitaker. More recently, frequent contributors have included the likes of Bryan Palmer, Sam Gindin , Jim Silver, Pam Palmater , Andrea Levy, Rinaldo Walcott , David Moscrop , Peter Kulchyski, Paul Robinson, Yves Engler , Joel Kovel , Boris Kagarlitsky , and Ian Angus . Canadian Dimension has identified itself as
2184-643: Is a federal political party in Canada . Widely described as social democratic , the party sits at the centre-left to left-wing of the Canadian political spectrum , with the party generally sitting to the left of the Liberal Party . The party was founded in 1961 by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). The federal and provincial (or territorial) level NDPs are more integrated than other political parties in Canada, and have shared membership (except for
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#17327839108462288-467: Is a reaffirmation of the philosophy that has guided us over the past 30 years. We cherish our pluralism because we think it is an integral part of the struggle to replace capitalism. We prize our independence because it gives us the freedom to maintain that pluralism, to question left orthodoxy, to challenge our allies and heap abuse on capitalist pigs everywhere. And we remain an alternative because those capitalist pigs hold sway almost everywhere, brutalizing
2392-599: Is so severe that they are forced to seek relief in hospital emergency rooms". The NDP supports the Palestinian state . In March 2024, an NDP motion on Palestine was passed after significant amendments were agreed with the Liberals. In particular, the motion called on the government to "officially recognize the State of Palestine", but this was amended to "work...towards the establishment of the State of Palestine as part of
2496-480: Is strongly opposed by the CLC, which labels it a company union . The Conventions of the CLC elect the Officers—the President, Secretary-Treasurer and two Executive Vice-Presidents. The executive committee looks after the affairs and administration of the congress. It consists of the officers and vice presidents and meets at least four times a year. The CLC's executive council, which is the governing body of
2600-416: Is the administrative chairperson of the party, chairing party conventions, councils and executive meetings. Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress , or CLC (French: Congrès du travail du Canada or CTC ) is a national trade union centre , the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated. The CLC was founded on April 23, 1956, through
2704-588: The 1948 provincial elections , the United Auto Workers supported CCF candidates. The International Woodworkers of America (IWA) in British Columbia was also Communist-led. When, in 1948, CCF supporters gained control of the IWA's New Westminster local, other BC-based (and Communist-led) locals of the IWA withdrew in an attempt to form an independent union. However, this effort failed when
2808-604: The 1993 election , where the party won only nine seats, three seats short of official party status in the House of Commons. This was, and remains, the NDP's lowest seat total in any election since the party's founding in 1961; the election also resulted in the lowest-ever total number of votes received by the NDP in a federal election. The loss was blamed on the unpopularity of NDP provincial governments under Bob Rae in Ontario and Mike Harcourt in British Columbia and
2912-515: The 2004 , 2006 , 2008 , and 2011 federal elections , before winning three seats there in the 2015 federal election . The NDP would once again be shut out of Saskatchewan as part of the Conservatives sweep of the province in the 2019 election . The New Democratic Party has also formed government in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Yukon. A list of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1961. The party president
3016-575: The 2014 election . The new NPDQ is not affiliated to the federal NDP due to more recent provincial laws in Quebec which disallow provincial parties from affiliating with federal parties. The NDP in Quebec has been in decline since 2016, struggling to attract local leaders and support. The most successful provincial section of the party has been the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party , which first came to power in 1944 as
3120-584: The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) to bring about an alliance between organized labour and the political left in Canada. In 1958 a joint CCF-CLC committee, the National Committee for the New Party (NCNP), was formed to create a new social democratic political party, with ten members from each group. The NCNP spent the next three years laying down the foundations of the New Party ,
3224-612: The Federal Accountability Act and pushing for changes to the Clean Air Act . Following that election, the NDP caucus rose to 30 members with 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. The party won 37 seats in the 2008 federal election , the best performance since
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3328-517: The Federation of Canadian Municipalities , Jack Layton was elected at the party's leadership election in Toronto on January 25, 2003. 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
3432-521: The Legislative Assembly in the province of Quebec . However, after some conflicts with the Liberals leadership, he sat as an independent and then ran (and was defeated) as an independent in the general election of 1944. In December 1953 the TLC and CCL created a joint committee to explore means of cooperation and possible merger. On May 9, 1955, the joint committee announced that a merger agreement had been reached. The terms were accepted by
3536-540: The Liberal Party made opposition to the Free Trade Agreement the focus of their campaign efforts. While the NDP attained what was then their best result in the party's history (they would win more seats in the House of Commons in the 2011 and 2015 federal elections), some union leaders publicly criticized the NDP leadership immediately after the election for not being sufficiently focused on opposition to
3640-545: The New Democratic Party in 1961. The NDP has, in its constitution, a relationship with the labour movement. Many local union organizations directly affiliated with the NDP, giving these local union bodies the right to participate in the Party's conventions and councils. NDP constitution also recognizes the CLC's District Labour Councils, organizations of local unions in a single city or town, as delegating bodies to
3744-456: The New Democratic Party of Quebec ). The NDP has never won the largest share of seats at the federal level and thus has never formed government. From 2011 to 2015, it formed the Official Opposition ; apart from this, it has been the third or fourth-largest party in the House of Commons . However, the party has held the balance of power , and with it considerable influence, during periods of Liberal minority governments . Sub-national branches of
3848-595: The Outaouais . This meant that a majority of the party's MPs now came from a province where they had only ever had two candidates elected in the party's history. The NDP's success in Quebec was mirrored by the collapse of the Bloc Québécois , which lost all but four of its 47 seats, and the collapse of the Liberal Party nationally, which was cut down to just 34 seats, its worst-ever result. This also marked
3952-642: The Workers' Unity League (WUL) was a group of Communist-led unions in the 1930s with considerable organizational success. With adoption of the position of a united front against fascism after 1939, the WUL merged with the CCL. With the CCL, there were many local unions with Communist leadership. In particular, the United Auto Workers locals in Windsor, Ontario were Communist-led. The orientation of
4056-622: The non-confidence motion on John Crosbie 's 1979 budget that brought down the Progressive Conservative government and forced the 1980 election that brought the Liberal Party back to power. In the 1984 election , which saw the Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney win the most seats in Canadian history, the NDP won 30 seats, while the governing Liberals fell to 40 seats. The NDP set
4160-516: The 1988 total of 43. This included a breakthrough in the riding of Edmonton-Strathcona , only the second time the NDP had managed to win a seat in Alberta in the party's history. In the 2011 federal election , the NDP won a record 103 seats, becoming the Official Opposition for the first time in the party's history. The party had a historic breakthrough in Quebec , where they won 59 out of 75 seats, dominating Montreal and sweeping Quebec City and
4264-455: The 1990s, unions of teachers, nurses and other similar groups affiliated with the CLC and the CLC's provincial labour federations. In January 2018, Unifor , the largest private sector union in Canada, left the CLC to become independent. Unifor stated that among the reasons for leaving were disagreements with the CLC over the rights of workers to choose what union should represent them, and concerns Unifor had about US-based unions working against
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4368-753: 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. McDonough announced her resignation as party leader for family reasons in June 2002 (effective upon her successor's election). A Toronto city councillor and recent President of
4472-431: The CCL as their umbrella organization. The growth of industrial jobs in the first half of the 20th century, combined with new legislation in most Canadian jurisdictions explicitly recognizing the industrial union organizational model, led to fears of raiding between the unions belonging to the two federations, the TLC and the CCL. Tensions were increased because of significant political differences. The TLC leadership, in
4576-566: The CLC between conventions, consists of the congress officers, the leadership of the 22 largest unions in the CLC, and representatives of women, people of colour, aboriginal , lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, youth and retired workers. This group meets at least three times a year. The role of the CLC is to represent its affiliates to the government, media, etc., to co-ordinate the efforts of various unions on specific campaigns—either electoral or issues-based—and to promote non-competition between its affiliates. In each Canadian province
4680-541: The CLC. Most local unions are affiliated to the Canadian Labour Congress. However, there are a number of unions that discourage their locals from affiliating for a variety or reasons. The largest group is based in Quebec, where the role of the Catholic Church in establishing some unions lead those organizations to reject of the social democratic orientation of unions elsewhere in Canada. When
4784-534: The CLC. Local unions of Canadian labour organizations may affiliate to the CLC and pay the required per capita fees. Payment of affiliation fees allows for participation in the decision-making processes of the CLC. Conventions are held every three years. A union with 1000 or less members is entitled to one delegate. Another delegate is added after each increment of 500 members. Many Canadian labour organizations have, at their own conventions, established policies, by-laws or constitutions requiring local unions to affiliate to
4888-573: The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation under Tommy Douglas and has won eleven of the province's elections since then. In Canada, Douglas is often cited as the "Father of Medicare" since, as Saskatchewan Premier, he introduced Canada's first publicly funded, universal healthcare system to the province. Despite the historic success of the Saskatchewan branch of the party, the NDP was shut out of Saskatchewan for
4992-588: The Congress of Union Retirees of Canada. Regional offices are in Moncton, Toronto, Regina and Vancouver. Field workers based in these offices assist DLCs and their political and issues campaign Since 1994, the CLC has been a member of the Halifax Initiative , a coalition of Canadian non-governmental organizations for public interest work and education on international financial institutions . In
5096-919: The Earth and all of her creatures. Over the past decade, the format of the magazine radically shifted, namely with dedicated sections of each issue focusing on different themes such as Cities, Indian Country, Arts and Politics, Food, Pensions in Peril, Queer, Remembering 1968, Immigration, the Criminal (Justice) System, precarious work , big media , Canada mines the South, the New Feminist Revolution , Our Winnipeg , Today's Student Activism, climate change , peak oil , and degrowth . New Democratic Party (Canada) The New Democratic Party ( NDP ; French : Nouveau Parti démocratique ; NPD )
5200-638: The Elmwood—Transcona seat, with Leila Dance elected as MP with a much reduced margin. This was the NDP's first by-election victory in five years. However, the party finished a close third in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, behind the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois. Further to this, the NDP ended their confidence and supply agreement with the Liberal Party. The deal had run from March 2022 but was pulled nine months early. The NDP evolved in 1961 from
5304-563: The Free Trade Agreement. Since that election, the tactical nature of the relationship between some unions and the NDP has further degraded to their point where the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW), the successor to the Canadian section of the UAW has, since the late 1990s, supported the Liberal Party federally and in Ontario provincial elections. Nonetheless, other significant unions remained steadfast in their support with
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#17327839108465408-626: The June 1955 TLC convention and in October 1955 by the CCL convention. In 1963, independent unions representing civic workers and workers in the broader public sector merged their organizations to form the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, legislative changes allowed employees of the federal and provincial public service to join unions, bringing new members into CLC-affiliated unions. During this period, hospital workers increasingly became unionized. In
5512-508: The Liberals in St. John's East and Hamilton Mountain , where incumbent NDP MPs Jack Harris and Scott Duvall did not stand for re-election. Overall, the election resulted in no change to the balance of power in the House of Commons. In March 2022, the NDP agreed to a confidence and supply deal with the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau . Among the policies included in
5616-471: The Liberals in the province. The election resulted in a Liberal majority government. Mulcair's leadership faced criticism following the election, culminating in his losing a leadership review vote held at the NDP's policy convention in Edmonton , Alberta on April 10, 2016. This marked the first time in Canadian federal politics that a leader was defeated in a confidence vote. Consequently, his successor
5720-553: The Liberals won a minority government, although it fell back to fourth place behind the resurgent Bloc Québécois. During the COVID-19 pandemic , the NDP used its leverage to lobby the Liberals to be more generous in their financial aid to Canadians, including by extending of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program, which was a key demand in order to provide confidence to the government in
5824-506: The NDP and the Bloc Québécois as their top political priorities, even while maintaining involvement in social coalitions. Given the size of the CAW with the Canadian labour movement, the CAW's support for the Liberals has caused significant problems for the CLC leadership in continuing to follow the Congress's policy of NDP and the Bloc support. The Canadian Labour Congress established April 28 as
5928-410: The NDP has been led by Jagmeet Singh , who is the first visible minority to lead a major federal party in Canada on a permanent basis. Following the 2021 Canadian federal election , it is the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons, with 24 seats. In 1956, after the birth of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) by a merger of two previous labour congresses, negotiations began between the CLC and
6032-476: The NDP have formed the government in six provinces ( Ontario , Manitoba , Saskatchewan , Alberta , British Columbia , and Nova Scotia ) and the territory of Yukon . The NDP supports a mixed economy , broader welfare , LGBT rights , international peace , environmental stewardship, and expanding Canada's universal healthcare system to include dental care, mental health care, eye and hearing care, infertility procedures, and prescription drugs. Since 2017 ,
6136-530: The NDP in first place, the party lost 59 seats in the 2015 election and fell back to third place in Parliament. By winning 44 seats, Mulcair was able to secure the second best showing in the party's history, winning one more seat than Ed Broadbent managed in the 1988 election, but with a smaller share of the popular vote. NDP seat gains in Saskatchewan and British Columbia were offset by numerical losses in almost every other region, while in Alberta and Manitoba
6240-429: The Opposition. The party confirmed his suggestion of Hull—Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel to carry out the functions of party leader in his absence. Layton died from his cancer on August 22, 2011. In his final letter, Layton called for a leadership election to be held in early 2012 to choose his successor, which was held on March 24, 2012, and elected new leader Tom Mulcair . Despite early campaign polls which showed
6344-400: The Trades and Labour Congress of Canada–Canadian Congress of Labour merger complete in 1956, a further step was taken. Although political discussion was downplayed during the merger talks, in 1958 the Canadian Labour Congress and Co-operative Commonwealth Federation set up a 20-person joint committee to discuss the foundation of a new political party. These talks resulted in the founding of
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#17327839108466448-403: The Windsor UAW locals deeply affected the legislative and parliamentary elections in the Windsor area. In the 1943 elections , the CCF had won all three Windsor-area seats. But in 1945 the UAW locals endorsed three UAW activists who ran as "UAW-Liberal-Labour" candidates with the support of the Labor-Progressive Party (LLP). As a result, the CCF lost all three Windsor seats. Taking advantage of
6552-465: The aftermath of the Second World War, various political trends played out within the Canadian labour movement as political parties and their supporters rallied for leadership control of the emerging labour movement. The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada (TLC) held a policy of non-partisan activity right up until the formation of the CLC. However, within the TLC, efforts were made by Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) labour activists to attain
6656-439: The authority to negotiate one contract that applies to all bargaining units. These regional bargaining units must be certified by the Labour Board of the jurisdiction and in making the decision regarding what group will be certified as the bargaining agent for workers, the Boards will consider which unions have the preponderance of membership in a given trade. This method tends to reinforce the focus of construction sector unions upon
6760-529: The autumn of 2020. In the snap 2021 federal election , the NDP made minor gains in both vote share and seat count, winning in 25 ridings. The party won a second seat in Alberta for the first time when Blake Desjarlais picked up Edmonton Griesbach and Heather McPherson won her second term at Edmonton Strathcona . The party also picked up two seats in British Columbia with Lisa Marie Barron reclaiming Nanaimo—Ladysmith and Bonita Zarrillo reclaiming Port Moody—Coquitlam. These gains were offset by losses to
6864-412: The building and construction industries, is based in older European traditions that can be traced back to guilds . However, with industrialization came the creation of a new group of workers without specific trades qualifications and, therefore, without ready access to the representation offered by the TLC's affiliates. In response, these workers adopted the industrial model of union organization and formed
6968-484: The chartered local unions of a union elect delegations (with the size of the delegation based upon membership size) to attend regional, national and international conventions of the union at which leadership boards are elected. Local unions are also the fundamental unit of the Canadian Labour Congress. The CLC is a central labour body to which unions are affiliated. Only in rare cases groups of workers with collective bargaining rights can be "directly chartered" as locals of
7072-488: The contract for it to be legally binding. Local unions are chartered organizations of the national or international union to which they belong. A local union charter may contain clauses that limit and/or protect the scope of the local union. For example, the charter may identify the geographic area, trade, industry, etc. to which the local union must confine itself or to which it has the exclusive mandate to represent workers. Other sectors have other structures as determined by
7176-597: The conventions of the provincial and federal New Democratic Party sections. Hence, by embedding labour organizations in its structure, the NDP went beyond being simply the party for labour and became the party of labour. Since the foundation of the NDP, and particularly since the 1980s, the labour movement's relationship within the social democratic left has changed in two ways. First, unions increased their involvement with social coalition groups such as organizations advocating for women's economic rights, peace or other causes which have an avowedly non-partisan orientation. Second,
7280-471: The coordinating editor and publisher. In 2019, Harrison Samphir, a writer and editor who previously served as the magazine's web editor and associate publisher, was appointed as CD 's editor-in-chief. CD provides a forum for debate on topics such as socialism versus social democracy and features in-depth analytical essays, opinion, and activist writing from across Canada and beyond, as well as critical reviews of books and films. Canadian Dimension draws on
7384-452: The creation of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in 1933 and the founding of the New Democratic Party in 1961. New Democrats seek a future that brings together the best of the insights and objectives of Canadians who, within the social democratic and democratic socialist traditions, have worked through farmer, labour, co-operative, feminist, human rights and environmental movements, and with First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, to build
7488-521: The deal were the establishment of a national dental care program for low income Canadians, progress towards a national pharmacare program, labour reforms for federally regulated workers, and new taxes on financial institutions. In September 2024, the NDP faced two competitive by-elections in Elmwood—Transcona in Manitoba and LaSalle—Émard—Verdun in Quebec . The NDP successfully defended
7592-457: The federal NDP is promoted by its riding associations, since each territory is composed of only one federal riding . In Quebec, the historical New Democratic Party of Quebec was integrated with the federal party from 1963 until 1989, when the two agreed to sever their structural ties after the Quebec party adopted a sovereigntist platform. From then on, the federal NDP was represented in Quebec only by their Quebec Section, whose activities in
7696-619: The first time in history where the Liberal Party was neither the government nor the Official Opposition, as the NDP had taken over the latter role. The NDP was now the second largest party in the House of Commons opposing a Conservative majority government. In July 2011, Layton announced that he was suffering from a new cancer and would take a leave of absence, projected to last until the resumption of Parliament in September. He would retain his position of NDP Leader and Leader of
7800-469: The first woman to lead a major federal political party in Canada. Although enjoying strong support among organized labour and rural voters in the Prairies, McLaughlin tried to expand their support into Quebec without much success. Under McLaughlin, the party did manage to win an election in Quebec for the first time when Edmonston won the 1990 Chambly by-election . McLaughlin and the NDP were routed in
7904-464: The government provided that some major concessions in the federal budget were ceded to. 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 healthcare. When the Liberals refused, Layton announced that he would introduce a motion on November 24 that would ask Martin to call
8008-590: The loss of a significant portion of the Western vote to the Reform Party , which promised a more decentralized and democratic federation along with right-wing economic reforms. McLaughlin resigned in 1995 and was succeeded by Alexa McDonough , the former leader of the Nova Scotia NDP . In contrast to traditional Canadian practice, where an MP for a safe seat stands down to allow a newly elected leader
8112-423: 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. McLaughlin ran on a more traditional approach, and became
8216-551: The minority government formed by the Pierre Trudeau –led 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 . 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
8320-421: The mobility of the workforce in the construction sector, most jurisdictions set out special rules for bargaining for workers and employers in that sector. In that sector, local unions receive bargaining agent rights for a trade of workers at a single employer, similar to the industrial sector. However, union construction workers and unionized construction employers create provincial or regional bargaining agents with
8424-448: The more radical Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and specific identification of the "democratic socialist" tradition as a continuing influence on the party are part of the language of the preamble to the party's constitution: New Democrats are proud of our political and activist heritage, and our long record of visionary, practical, and successful governments. That heritage and that record have distinguished and inspired our party since
8528-401: The national health care system to include dental care, mental health care, eye and hearing care, infertility procedures, and prescription drugs. Regarding dentistry, the NDP notes that "one in three Canadians has no dental insurance and over six million people don't visit the dentist every year because they can't afford to. Too many people are forced to go without the care they need until the pain
8632-459: The needs of the industries and the legal framework. Most jurisdictions have separate legislation under which employees of the public service may form unions. In some provinces, colleges, fire protection and police services have separate Acts. Hotel employees may also have special legislation that works alongside the labour relations legislation for that province but which removes the right to strike and replaces it with binding arbitration . Due to
8736-407: The norm. Within some local unions there may be tens—indeed hundreds—of bargaining units. All the union members in all the bargaining units that belong to the same local union elect their local union executive board, including president. The local union may have various sub-committees of the executive board such as political action and health and safety. In each bargaining unit, the unions will establish
8840-399: The party are active in municipal politics, the party does not organize at that level. For example, though former Toronto mayor David Miller was an NDP member during his successful 2003 and 2006 mayoral campaigns, his campaigns were not affiliated with the NDP. Unlike most other Canadian federal parties, the NDP is integrated with its provincial and territorial parties. Holding membership of
8944-464: The party maintained its existing seat counts. The party was locked out of Atlantic Canada and the Territories, and lost over half of its seats in Ontario, including all of its seats in Toronto. In Quebec, the NDP lost seats to all three of the other major parties, namely the Liberals, Conservatives, and Bloc Québécois, though it managed to place second in both vote share (25.4%) and seats (16) behind
9048-481: The party's interim name pending a national convention. During this process, a large number of New Party Clubs were established to allow like-minded Canadians to join in its founding, and six representatives from New Party Clubs were added to the National Committee. In 1961, at the end of a five-day long founding convention which established its principles, policies and structures, the New Democratic Party
9152-464: The person of President Percy Bongough, had actively supported the Liberal Party . With the defeat of Liberal R. K. Gervin and Conservative A. F. MacArthur by Claude Jodoin at the TLC's convention in August 1953, some of the political differences between the TLC and CCL began to wane. Jodoin was not a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party, having served for a time as a Liberal Member of
9256-511: The province were limited to the federal level. However, following the party's breakthrough in the province in the 2011 federal election, the NDP announced their plans to recreate a provincial party in Quebec in time for the following Quebec general election. The modern New Democratic Party of Quebec party was registered with the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec on January 30, 2014, but it failed to nominate any candidates in
9360-659: The provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba , forms the Official Opposition in Alberta , Saskatchewan , and Ontario , and has sitting members in every provincial legislature except those of Quebec , New Brunswick , and Prince Edward Island . The NDP has previously formed the government in the provinces of Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and the Yukon Territory. The NDP has previously had at least one sitting member in every provincial legislature except that of Quebec. While members of
9464-475: The relationship of some unions with the NDP became more tactical and seemed less to be a long-term alliance. These two trends were apparent in the 1988 Canadian federal election . At the outset of the election campaign, several unions had established partnerships with organizations such as The Council of Canadians in order to attempt to derail the Progressive Conservative government's Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement . These social coalition groups and
9568-464: The rest of Ontario, while making small or no gains in the popular vote in Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Nunavut. In British Columbia, the NDP lost three seats ( Kootenay—Columbia , Port Moody—Coquitlam , and, after having lost it at a by-election , Nanaimo—Ladysmith ) but retained most of their support in the province. Following the election, the NDP held the balance of power as
9672-529: The rights of their members, as well as two instances of US-based unions interfering in elections for Canadian union local leadership. The CLC accused Unifor of leaving the congress in order to raid an affiliate union, UNITE HERE Local 75, in Toronto. CLC rules prohibit affiliates from raiding each other, which Unifor did a day after leaving the congress. Under the general labour relations laws in effect in all Canadian jurisdictions, groups of workers deemed "appropriate for collective bargaining " may vote to join
9776-592: The role of the Catholic Church in Quebec unions disintegrated during the Quiet Revolution , the leadership of the unions in that province was quickly captured by separatists who eschewed participation in national organizations such as the CLC and the New Democratic Party (NDP). This group of Canadian workers remains outside the CLC. Another considerable group outside the CLC is the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC), which
9880-549: The total needed for the balance of power. As has been the case with Liberal minorities 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
9984-403: The trade(s) in which they have historic strength and thereby militates against "competition" (i.e.: raiding) between worker organizations—a benefit to both workers and employers of the sector. As a result of the legal framework, a chartered local union within the construction sector will typically have a charter to represent all workers in a specified trade and within a specified region. Typically,
10088-590: The union members did not endorse the change. Efforts to dislodge communists from the United Electrical (UE) and the Mine Mill union did not succeed, and these unions were expelled from the Canadian Congress of Labour. By 1950, the Canadian Congress of Labour had become a federation of unions which, to a greater or lesser extent, all supported the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. With
10192-586: The workers in the jobs to which the collective agreement pertains are members of a bargaining unit . Depending upon the terms of the collective agreement, some or all of the workers employed in jobs covered by the collective agreement will become members of the union which has become their bargaining agent. Union members within a bargaining unit elect their stewards , health and safety representatives and unit leadership. In industrial sectors, local unions may have members in several bargaining units. These are so-called "amalgamated locals" and are increasingly becoming
10296-486: Was able to harness the discontent of voters in Atlantic Canada, who were upset over cuts to employment insurance and other social programs implemented by Jean Chrétien 's Liberal majority government. In the November 2000 election , the NDP campaigned primarily 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
10400-455: Was born, and Tommy Douglas , the long-time CCF Premier of Saskatchewan , was elected as its first leader. At the 1971 leadership convention , an activist group called the Waffle tried to take control of the party but was defeated by David Lewis with the help of the union members. The following year, most of The Waffle split from the NDP and formed their own party. The NDP itself supported
10504-472: Was disappointed to see its two Saskatchewan incumbents defeated in close races by the new Conservative Party (created by merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties), perhaps because of the unpopularity of the NDP provincial government. The Liberals were re-elected, though this time as a minority government . Combined, the Liberals and NDP had 154 seats – one short of
10608-593: Was elected to his third term in Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie , was the only NDP candidate to win a seat in Quebec, while the party lost all three of its Saskatchewan ridings ( Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River , Regina—Lewvan , and Saskatoon West ) to the Conservatives. The party remained shut out of Toronto and lost two of its MPs ( Cheryl Hardcastle in Windsor—Tecumseh and Tracey Ramsey in Essex ) in
10712-615: 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. 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 . The Conservatives won
10816-495: Was to be chosen at a leadership election to be held no later than October 2017, with Mulcair agreeing to remain as leader until then. On October 1, 2017, Jagmeet Singh , the first person of a visible minority group to lead a major Canadian federal political party on a permanent basis, won the leadership vote to head the NDP on the first ballot. In the 2019 federal election , the NDP won only 24 seats in its worst result since 2004, shedding 15 seats. Alexandre Boulerice , who
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