The (formerly known as the '''Ontario Co-operative Commonwealth Federation''') is a
Social Democratic political party in
Ontario ,
Canada . It is a section of the federal
New Democratic Party .
The NDP was founded in 1932 as the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a
Democratic Socialist political party. The Ontario CCF saw itself as the successor to the 1919-1923
United Farmers Of Ontario -
Labour Coalition that formed the government in Ontario under
Ernest C. Drury .
While United Farmer
Members Of The Legislative Assembly (MLAs) joined the
Ontario Liberal Party , the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO), as an organization, participated in the formation of the Ontario CCF, and was briefly affiliated with the party. It decided to withdraw in
1935 , alleging
Communist influence in the new party. Many active members of the UFO remained supporters, including
Agnes Macphail , who served as president of the Ontario CCF until 1935 when, as a UFO
Member Of Parliament (MP), she was forced to officially resign from the CCF when the UFO withdrew from the party. She was elected to the
Legislative Assembly Of Ontario as a CCF
Member Of Provincial Parliament (MPP)
1 in 1943.
Other prominent CCFers were
Graham Spry who was the Ontario CCF's chairman from
1934 to
1936 and
Elmore Philpott , a former
Liberal Philpott joined the CCF in
1933 and became president of the Ontario Association of CCF Clubs before resigning from the party and rejoining the Liberals in
1935 .
The CCF contested its first Ontario provincial was elected in
Hamilton East. The Ontario CCF failed to win any seats in the
1937 Election .
1 In 1938, Members of the Ontario Legislative Assembly (MLAs) passed a motion to adopt the title "Members of Provincial Parliament" (MPP).
The party achieved a major breakthrough under its first leader,
Ted Jolliffe , in the
1943 Election , forming the
Official Opposition with 32% of the vote and 34 seats. The CCF was just four seats short of
George Drew 's
Progressive Conservatives ("Tories"), who formed a
Minority Government .
The Tories remained in government for 42 years. The prosperity of the 1950s, combined with the
Anti-Communist hysteria of the
Cold War , caused the CCF's fortunes to decline in the 1950s. The party lost its position as the Official Opposition in the
1951 Election to the Liberal Party, and was reduced to just two seats.
Donald C. MacDonald became leader in 1953, and spent the next fifteen years rebuilding the party. The CCF changed its name to the New Democratic Party in 1961, when it formed a formal alliance with the
Labour Movement .
The Ontario NDP gradually picked up seats through the 1960s. It achieved a breakthrough in the
1967 Election , when its popular vote rose from 15% to 26%. The party increased its presence in the legislature from 8 to 20 seats.
Stephen Lewis took over the party's leadership in 1970, and the NDP's popularity continued to grow. With the
1975 Provincial Election , the governing Conservatives were reduced to a minority government for the first time in thirty years. The NDP became the Official Opposition with 38 seats and 29% of the vote as the result of a brilliant election campaign that forced the Tories to promise to implement the NDP's
Rent Control policies.
Hopes were high that the NDP was on the verge of taking power, but in the
1977 Election , the Tories under
Bill Davis again won a minority government. The NDP lost five seats, and slipped into third place behind the Liberals.
The NDP declined further in the
1981 Election under
Michael Cassidy , but the party's fortunes turned around under the leadership of
Bob Rae .
The
Frank Miller won 52 seats, the Liberals won 48, and the NDP 25. The New Democrats entered negotiations with both the Tories and the Liberals. The NDP signed a two-year accord with the Liberals, in which the Liberals would form government with the NDP's support in exchange for the implementation of a number of NDP policies.
Miller resigned, opening the way for Liberal leader
David Peterson to form a government. This was not a coalition government as the NDP declined an offer to sit in
Cabinet , preferring to remain in opposition.
When the accord expired in 1987, the Liberals called an
Election and were re-elected with a majority. The NDP returned as the second largest party with Bob Rae becoming
Leader Of The Opposition .
In the
General Election Of 1990 , the party was elected to government for the first time by defeating the Liberal government.
Bob Rae became
Premier Of Ontario during the worst economic downturn since the
Great Depression . In government, the NDP disappointed supporters by abandoning much of its ambitious program, including the promise to institute a public auto insurance system. As the
Recession worsened, the NDP implemented what it called the
Social Contract — which represented a shift to the right that echoed that of
Tony Blair 's
Labour Party in the
United Kingdom . This was a package of austerity measures that;
- reopened the collective bargaining agreements of public sector unions;
- implemented a wage freeze for public servants; and
- imposed Rae Days , which were a schedule of days in which government workers were given days off without pay.
The Social Contract resulted in a major breach in the NDP's alliance with the labour movement as several unions turned against the party. This split has not yet fully healed, and contributed to the party's defeat in the
1995 Election at the hands of
Mike Harris and the Progressive Conservatives. As a result of that election, the NDP again returned to third party status.
Howard Hampton succeeded Rae in 1996. NDP support fell even further in the
1999 Election , leaving the party with just 9 seats. Under the rules of the legislature, a party would receive "official party status", and the resources and privileges accorded to officially-recognized parties, if it had 12 or more seats; thus, the NDP would lose caucus funding and the ability to ask questions in the House. However, the governing Conservatives changed the rules after the election to lower the threshold for party status from 12 seats to 8. The Tories argued that their decision was made due the new legislature's smaller size. Others argued that the Tories were only helping the NDP so they could continue to
Split The Vote with the Liberals.
In the
2003 Election , the party alienated some traditional supporters with an over-reliance on sophomoric photo ops. It won over some new supporters by emphasizing a few key issues, primarily "public" hospitals and "public" electricity. Despite a slight increase in raw vote, the party won only seven seats in the Ontario
Legislature . The NDP once again lost official party status and the concommitant speaking privileges and funding. The new Liberal government refused to change the rules as the Tories had done. However, the NDP regained party status when
Andrea Horwath won a massive victory a
By-election in
Hamilton East on
May 13 ,
2004 .
The NDP's representation in the Legislature was again reduced to seven seats when
Marilyn Churley resigned her seat to run in the
2006 Federal Election . However, the Liberals reversed their position and declared that the NDP would retain party status even if they lost the upcoming
Toronto—Danforth by-election. Some opposition sources believed the Liberals, mindful of their humiliating defeat to Horwath, had loosened their interpretation of the rules so that whomever ran for the NDP in Toronto-Danforth couldn't use the threat of lost status in a campaign. This issue became moot when
Peter Tabuns won the seat for the NDP comfortably by 9% over the Liberal's
Ben Chin .
The Ontario NDP has retained its commitment to moderate socialist principles under Hampton's leadership. Shortly after the
1999 Election , Hampton cited the
Swedish model of
Social Democracy as closely reflecting his own beliefs.
2 The Ontario CCF became the Ontario NDP in 1961.
3 Bud Wildman was
Interim Leader of the NDP in the Ontario legislature from Rae's resignation as an MPP to Howard Hampton's election as party leader.
See also:
Ontario CCF/NDP Leadership Conventions
