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59-774: The successor to the Alberta section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the even earlier Alberta wing of the Canadian Labour Party and the United Farmers of Alberta . From the mid-1980s to 2004, the party abbreviated its name as the "New Democrats" (ND). The party served as Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1982 to 1993. It was shut out of the legislature following

118-465: A leadership election could be held to choose his successor. The leadership convention was held in Edmonton from October 18 to October 19, 2014. Rachel Notley was elected as the party's next leader, defeating fellow MLA David Eggen and union leader Rod Loyola in the first ballot with 70% of the vote. The incumbent PC premier Jim Prentice called an election on April 7, 2015, following the reveal of

177-587: A new budget to strengthen his party's mandate. On election night, the NDP won 54 seats, re-electing all four of their incumbents as well as 50 new members to the legislative assembly. The NDP had high expectations for Edmonton , given Notley's local ties and the city's historically favourable stance towards centre-left parties. Surpassing all projections, the party won every seat in the capital and also swept Red Deer and Lethbridge . They also secured 15 seats in Calgary ,

236-565: A new political party that could make social democracy more popular with Canadian voters. This party, initially known as the New Party , became the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961. The CCF estimated its membership as being slightly more than 20,000 in 1938, less than 30,000 in 1942, and over 90,000 in 1944. Membership figures declined following World War II to only 20,238 in 1950 and would never again reach 30,000 By

295-467: A record high popular vote for the party with 44%, dominating Edmonton and gaining a significant portion of the vote in Calgary. However, their success was largely limited to urban areas as they only won one rural seat Banff-Kananaskis . With 38 MLAs, the party elected the largest official opposition in Alberta history. On January 16, 2024, Notley announced she would be resigning as party leader effective

354-576: A schism between the NDP governments of Alberta and British Columbia over the twinning of the Transmountain Pipeline, which remained a contentious project in the Canadian political arena and particularly within the federal New Democratic Party. While the Alberta economy recovered from the depths of the energy recession by 2019, the oil industry remained relatively stagnant and economic growth had been nowhere near what Alberta had enjoyed in

413-536: A teacher and taught in Didsbury and Calgary. He started teaching High School students in 1930 through to his retirement in 1970. He was an instructor in history, geography and social studies at Crescent Heights High School in Calgary. He kept teaching while still performing his duties in the public offices he held. Liesemer served as an Alderman for the city of Calgary from 1934 to 1937. In 1937 he challenged Incumbent Mayor Andrew Davison but failed in his bid to defeat

472-547: A united alternative to the Conservatives," suggested that the parties not compete against each other in certain ridings. Although McGowan was unable to speak on the issue before the resolution was defeated, he later addressed it during his report to the Convention as AFL President. He urged members to acknowledge the need for significant change in light of 40 years of Tory government and the recent election results. In

531-629: A variety of options for political cooperation with the Alberta Liberals and/or Greens." and "to prepare a motion to be considered" at the next Party Convention. The proposal was opposed by NDP leader Brian Mason. Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan independently distributed a proposal for a cooperation pact with the Alberta Liberal Party and Alberta Greens to defeat Progressive Conservative candidates. The proposal, titled "The Way Forward: An AFL proposal for

590-562: The 1944 Alberta general election this time as a candidate for the provincial Cooperative Commonwealth he find electoral success winning the 5th spot in the Single Transferable Vote . Aylmer would be reelected to a second term in the 1948 Alberta general election and ultimately defeated after serving two terms in the 1952 Alberta general election . He attempted to win his seat back running in Calgary North in

649-473: The 1944 Saskatchewan election on a platform calling for social programs, the Alberta CCF was more radical and campaigned on provincial ownership of the province's resources and utilities. Irvine also advocated an alliance with the communist Labor-Progressive Party which would have been beneficial in the cities where the single transferable vote electoral system was used. Through the 1940s and 1950s,

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708-580: The 1944 election , the CCF received 24% of the vote but won only 2 seats, both of them in Edmonton and Calgary where the use of single transferable vote ensured fair representation. (The disproportionality was due to the way boundaries of the constituencies outside the cities were drawn and the use of Instant-runoff voting outside the cities, which did not help a lesser party like the CCF.) The Social Credit government received more than half of ballots cast. Roper

767-410: The 1993 election , returning in the 1997 election with two seats. The party won no more than four seats in subsequent elections until the 2015 election , in which it won 54 of the 87 seats in the legislature and formed a majority government . Until 2015, Alberta had been the only province in western Canada—the party's birthplace—where the NDP had never governed at the provincial level. The Alberta NDP

826-604: The 2012 provincial election the NDP picked up two seats in Edmonton, regaining their previous 4 seat total. Both Rachel Notley and Brian Mason safely held onto their seats while David Eggen was re-elected as the member for Edmonton-Calder . Newcomer Deron Bilous was also elected in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview , the seat formerly held by Martin. In many other ridings the party also won more votes than it had attained previously. On April 29, 2014, Brian Mason announced that he would step down as leader as soon as

885-676: The Cold War , the CCF was accused of having Communist leanings. The party moved to address these accusations in 1956 by replacing the Regina Manifesto with a more moderate document, the Winnipeg Declaration . Nevertheless, the party did poorly in the 1958 federal election , winning only eight seats. After much discussion, the CCF and the Canadian Labour Congress decided to join forces to create

944-517: The Regina Manifesto as the party's program. The manifesto outlined a number of goals, including public ownership of key industries, universal public pensions , universal health care , children's allowances, unemployment insurance , and workers' compensation . Its conclusion read, "No CCF Government will rest content until it has eradicated capitalism and put into operation the full programme of socialized planning which will lead to

1003-631: The Saskatchewan CCF formed the first democratic socialist government in North America , with Tommy Douglas as premier . Douglas introduced universal Medicare to Saskatchewan , a policy that was soon adopted by other provinces and implemented nationally by the Liberal Party of Canada during the administration of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson . Tommy Douglas's CCF governed Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961. Federally, during

1062-463: The next leadership election , scheduled for June 22, 2024. Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi emerged victorious, winning with 86% of the vote, the largest for any winner of a provincial leadership election of any major political party in Canada. Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation ( CCF ; French : Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif , FCC )

1121-491: The 1926 introduction of STV in Edmonton to 1952. The pattern in Calgary is similar. Although not successful in getting a seat in that city every election under STV, it was not until 1986 that a CCF or NDP MLA was elected in Calgary, following STV's cessation in 1956.) The election of the Progressive Conservatives in 1971 led to the gradual collapse of Social Credit. The Alberta Liberal Party suffered in

1180-477: The 1935 and 1940 provincial elections. In 1942, the Alberta CCF clubs formally merged with the Labour Party and Elmer Roper became the new leader after achieving an unexpected victory in a 1942 by-election , becoming the party's first Alberta MLA (excepting Chester Ronning, who had been elected in 1932 as a joint UFA/CCF candidate). In the next two years party membership soared from 2,500 to over 12,000. In

1239-585: The 1971 election to 19% in the 1982 election. Despite winning only two seats, the party became the Official Opposition in 1982. In the 1986 election , under Ray Martin 's leadership, the party won 30% of the vote and 16 seats, marking a high point for New Democrat support. Party membership increased from around 5,000 in the 1970s to 20,000 after the 1986 provincial election . However, the New Democrats were unable to gain additional seats in

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1298-520: The 1989 election. While they remained the Official Opposition in the legislature, their popular support fell behind the Liberals for the first time in decades, with the Liberals at 28% and the NDs at 26%. In the 1993 election , their popular vote fell by more than half to 11%, and they were shut out of the legislature altogether. This was mainly due to the anti-PC vote consolidating around the Liberals. Both

1357-684: The Alberta CCF's first leader in the 1940 provincial election but despite winning 11% of the vote the party did not win any seats in the Alberta Legislature - the CCF had not garnered the support of the UFA's conservative supporters or put a dent in support for the agrarian populism of the Social Credit Party of Alberta . The Alberta wing of the Labour Party federated with the CCF in 1935, but ran its own candidates in

1416-565: The CCF in its next provincial convention, in January 1933. In its first federal election, seven CCF MPs were elected to the House of Commons in 1935 . Eight were elected in the following election in 1940 , including their first member east of Manitoba, Clarence Gillis , in Cape Breton, a coal-mining area of Nova Scotia (specifically the federal riding of Cape Breton South ). The party

1475-484: The CCF was defined as a "community freed from the domination of irresponsible financial and economic power in which all social means of production and distribution, including land, are socially owned and controlled either by voluntarily organized groups of producers and consumers or – in the case of major public services and utilities and such productive and distributive enterprises as can be conducted most efficiently when owned in common – by public corporations responsible to

1534-457: The CCF's popularity, and, with the exception of a 1966 by-election victory by Garth Turcott , did not win any seats until the 1971 election when Grant Notley , who had taken over the party in 1968, was elected to the legislature. With the cancellation of single transferable voting in Edmonton in 1956, the NDP did not win a seat in Edmonton until 1982. (This is in strong contrast to the steady winning of one seat in Edmonton in each election, from

1593-466: The CCF's vote percentage declined, eventually falling under 10 percent. At any one time, the party never won more than two seats. The party was kept to two MLAs throughout the 1950s. Roper lost his seat in the 1955 election . In the same election, Stanley Ruzycki and Nick Dushenski were elected. Roper was succeeded as party leader by Floyd Albin Johnson . The 1959 general election was a disaster for

1652-603: The CCF, losing both its existing seats. Party leader Johnson, running in the Dunvegan electoral district, failed to win his seat, leaving the party shut out of the legislature. The CCF merged with the Canadian Labour Congress in 1961, becoming the New Democratic Party of Canada . In Alberta, the NDP was founded in 1962 with a new leader, Neil Reimer , Canadian director of the Oil Workers International Union . The NDP did not, at first, build much on

1711-795: The Independent Labour Party (of Manitoba), the Canadian Labour Party (mostly in Edmonton), the Dominion Labour Party of southern Alberta, the UFA, and the United Farmers of Ontario (which withdrew from the CCF in 1934). Also involved in founding the new party were members of the League for Social Reconstruction (LSR), such as F. R. Scott and Frank Underhill . It can be said that the CCF

1770-403: The Liberals and Tories were preaching the need for fiscal conservatism at the time. Ray Martin resigned as leader and was succeeded first by Ross Harvey and then by Pam Barrett . The party regained its presence in the legislature by winning two seats in the 1997 election . Barrett resigned her position as party leader in 2000 after claiming a near-death experience in a dentist 's chair. She

1829-648: The President's position and re-elected M. J. Coldwell as the National Chairman. Coldwell was then appointed acting House Leader on 6 November. Woodsworth died on 21 March 1942, and Coldwell officially became the new leader at the July convention in Toronto and threw the party behind the war effort. As a memorial to Woodsworth, Coldwell suggested that the CCF create a research foundation, and Woodsworth House

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1888-529: The UFA were defeated due to the unpopularity of the UFA government and the rising popularity of William Aberhart's Social Credit movement.. In 1936, William Irvine , a CCF founder and defeated UFA Member of Parliament , was elected the Alberta CCF's first president. In 1937, the UFA decided to leave electoral politics entirely and, in 1938, the CCF committed itself to run candidates in the next provincial and elections setting up local riding clubs for that purpose. In 1939, former UFA/CCF MLA Chester Ronning became

1947-441: The day-to-day organizing of the party. The national secretary was the only full-time employee at the party's national headquarters until 1943, when a research director, Eugene Forsey , and an assistant to the leader were hired. The CCF song would be later popularized by the movie Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story . First verse: Aylmer Liesemer Aylmer John Eggert Liesemer (November 27, 1905 – January 4, 1995)

2006-449: The economy through infrastructure spending and maintaining public services. Most new programs, such as school lunches, were introduced cautiously through pilot programs. Despite ostensibly being a party of labour, the NDP froze wages and generally took the side of management in labour disputes, and a higher minimum wage was phased in relatively slowly. Labour code changes were generally incremental, though an update to labour standards on farms

2065-426: The economy, and political reform. The object of the political party as reported at its founding meeting in Calgary in 1932 was "the federation [joining together] of organizations whose purpose is the establishment in Canada of a co-operative commonwealth, in which the basic principle of regulating production, distribution and exchange will be the supplying of human needs instead of the making of profit." The goal of

2124-636: The establishment in Canada of the Co-operative Commonwealth." The party affiliated itself with the Socialist International . In line with Alberta's important role in founding the CCF, it is said that the first CCF candidate elected was Chester Ronning in the Alberta provincial constituency of Camrose, in October 1932. The UFA, under whose banner he contested the election, formalized its already-strong connection to

2183-430: The governing United Farmers of Alberta party and the Labour Party. While some UFA Members of Parliament supported the CCF and ran unsuccessfully as CCF candidates in the 1935 federal election, most UFA leaders and members were ambivalent. The CCF did not run candidates in the 1935 provincial election due to its ties with the UFA and Labour Party. The UFA lost all its seats in the election, and CCF candidates associated with

2242-575: The late 1940s, the CCF had official or unofficial weekly newspapers in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan; twice-monthly papers in Ontario and Manitoba; and a bimonthly in the Maritimes. A French-language paper in Quebec was also attempted at various times. The party also produced many educational books, pamphlets, and magazines, though these efforts declined in the 1950s. The national chairman

2301-495: The late 1970s and early 1980s due to its association with the unpopular federal Liberal Party government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau . The decline of Social Credit and the unpopularity of the Liberals allowed the New Democrats to become the main opposition to the Lougheed-led Conservatives. Under Grant Notley ’s leadership from 1968 to 1984, the NDP's popularity gradually increased. It grew from 10% in

2360-659: The long-standing stronghold of the Tories, and gained 16 more seats across the rest of Alberta, mostly in the northern and central regions. The Notley Government was characterized by a small cabinet and an intense focus on the economy. At the time of the early election call Alberta was sinking into a deep recession caused by the collapse of world oil prices. As a result of the province's dependence on oil royalties over more traditional revenue sources, Alberta's deficit soared. After reversing prior budget cuts, Notley mostly shied away from major wealth redistribution and preferred to stimulate

2419-579: The mayor. Aylmer Liesemer first ran as a Labor politician in the 1935 Alberta general election and was badly defeated finishing 15th out of 20 candidates. Liesemer attempted to run for federal politics in the 1940 Canadian federal election in the Bow River electoral district. He ran as the Cooperative Commonwealth candidate finishing 4th out of 5 candidates losing to incumbent Charles Edward Johnston . Liesemer would run again in

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2478-495: The party was Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Farmer-Labour-Socialist) . In 1961, the CCF was succeeded by the New Democratic Party (NDP). The CCF aimed to alleviate the suffering that workers and farmers, the ill and the old endured under capitalism, seen most starkly during the Great Depression , through the creation of a Co-operative Commonwealth, which would entail economic co-operation, public ownership of

2537-512: The people's elected representatives". Many of the party's first Members of Parliament (MPs) were members of the Ginger Group , composed of United Farmers of Alberta, left-wing Progressive , and Labour MPs. These MPs included United Farmers of Alberta MPs William Irvine and Ted Garland , Agnes Macphail (UFO), Humphrey Mitchell , Abraham Albert Heaps , Angus MacInnis , and Labour Party MP J. S. Woodsworth . Founding groups included

2596-629: The previous decade. The NDP was dealt a severe blow when the PCs and Wildrose merged to form the United Conservative Party , which immediately ascended to a large lead in opinion polling. In the 2019 election , the NDP suffered a significant defeat to the UCP. Despite receiving more votes compared to the previous election, the NDP lost a majority of their seats, ending with only 24 seats. The party performed well in Edmonton but struggled in

2655-518: The rest of the province, winning only a few seats in Calgary, the Edmonton suburbs, and Lethbridge. This was the first time in Alberta's history that an incumbent government has been defeated after one term. Rachel Notley remained popular within the NDP and continued as the Leader of the Opposition, leading the largest opposition caucus in Alberta since 1993. In the 2023 election , the NDP received

2714-482: The vote province-wide. In the 2008 election , the party was reduced to two seats. Brian Mason was re-elected as was newcomer Rachel Notley . Ray Martin and David Eggen were narrowly defeated. The party received 8.5% of the popular vote. At its 2008 provincial convention, the party overwhelmingly rejected a proposal by the Environment Caucus recommending a party task force be mandated to "investigate

2773-641: Was a Canadian politician and teacher. Liesemer was born in Didsbury , Alberta in 1905. He received all of his early public grade school in Didsbury with the exception of 1 year in Calgary. In 1921 and 1922, Liesemer attended Normal School in Calgary at what became the Administration Building for the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology . He was one of the first class of graduates from that school. Liesemer became

2832-586: Was a federal democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Canada . The CCF was founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta , by a number of socialist , agrarian , co-operative , and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction . In 1944, the CCF formed one of the first social-democratic governments in North America when it was elected to form the provincial government in Saskatchewan . The full, but little used, name of

2891-519: Was a significant influence on the CCF. At its founding convention in 1932 in Calgary, the party settled on the name "Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Farmer-Labour-Socialist)" and selected J. S. Woodsworth as party leader. Woodsworth had been an Independent Labour Party MP since 1921 and a member of the Ginger Group of MPs. The party's 1933 convention, held in Regina, Saskatchewan , adopted

2950-458: Was also a title the leader held, as both Woodsworth and Coldwell held the title when they held seats in the House of Commons. In 1958, after Coldwell lost his seat, the position of national chairman was merged formally into the president's title and was held by David Lewis. The national secretary was a staff position (initially part-time, and then full-time beginning 1938) which was responsible for

3009-451: Was defeated after a single term in the 2019 election by the United Conservative Party —the first time that a governing party in Alberta had been unseated after a single term. 53°32′56″N 113°31′05″W  /  53.5488°N 113.5181°W  / 53.5488; -113.5181 The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was founded in Calgary on 1 August 1932. However, it faced challenges in Alberta due to lack of support from

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3068-494: Was divided with the outbreak of World War II : Woodsworth was a pacifist , while many party members supported the Canadian war effort. Woodsworth had a physically debilitating stroke in May 1940 and could no longer perform his duties as leader. In October, Woodsworth wrote a letter to the 1940 CCF convention, in essence asking to retire from the leadership. Instead, the delegates created the new position of Honorary President, abolished

3127-464: Was established in Toronto for that purpose. The party won a critical York South by-election on 8 February 1942, and in the process prevented the Conservative leader, former Prime Minister Arthur Meighen , from entering the House of Commons. In the 1945 election , 28 CCF MPs were elected, and the party won 15.6% of the vote. In the 1949 election , 13 CCF candidates were elected. This

3186-521: Was extremely divisive in rural Alberta. However, Notley moved forwards with a carbon pricing scheme and plans for sustainability and energy transitions early in her term. Controversially such plans were framed around creating a social license for pursuing oil sand expansion, and she championed the creation of pipelines and partnered heavily with the oil industry. As a result plans to raise oil royalties were scrapped, and tax increases on corporations and higher income brackets were modest. Eventually this led to

3245-551: Was followed by 23 elected in the 1953 election and a disappointing eight elected in the 1958 election. (In that election the party took almost ten percent of the vote so was due about 26 MPs proportionally.) The party had its greatest success in provincial politics. In 1943, the Ontario CCF became the official opposition in that province. In 1944 , the Alberta CCF took almost a quarter of all votes cast but due to lack of PR, were held to winning just two seats. In 1944,

3304-607: Was founded on May 26, 1932, when the Ginger Group MPs and LSR members met in William Irvine's office, the unofficial caucus meeting room for the Ginger Group, and went about forming the basis of the new party. J. S. Woodsworth was unanimously appointed the temporary leader until they could hold a founding convention. The temporary name for the new party was the Commonwealth Party. The Social Gospel

3363-475: Was joined in the legislature by Aylmer Liesemer , a Calgary schoolteacher. The rise of support for the CCF after 1942 mobilized the business community to pull out of efforts to build an anti-Social Credit party and instead back the Social Credit government, now led by Ernest Manning , after William Aberhart's death in 1943, as a bulwark against socialists. Unlike the Saskatchewan CCF , which won office in

3422-485: Was succeeded by Raj Pannu . The party retained its two seats in the 2001 election . In 2004, the party reverted to the traditional "NDP" abbreviation and the colour orange. That same year Raj Panu resigned as leader and was replaced by Brian Mason . In the 2004 Alberta general election the party doubled its seats from two to four—which re-elected then leader Brian Mason and Raj Pannu, returning former leader Ray Martin, and newcomer David Eggen . The party received 10% of

3481-438: Was the equivalent of party president in most Canadian political parties and was sometimes referred to as such, in that it was largely an organizational role. In the case of the CCF, the national chairman oversaw the party's national council and chaired its meetings. Following an initial period in which Woodsworth held both roles, it was usually distinct from and secondary to the position of party leader. National president originally

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