The or '''Alberta NDP''' is a
Social Democratic Political Party in
Alberta ,
Canada , that was founded as the Alberta section of the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). From the mid-1980s to 2004, the party abbreviated its name as "New Democrats" or "ND".
The CCF was founded on August 1, 1932, and included the merger of the Labour Party of Alberta led by
Elmer Roper into the new party. The party did not run in Alberta elections until the
1940 Election , except for a joint nomination in a Calgary by-election. The party had links with the
United Farmers Of Alberta . Once the UFA was wiped out in the
1935 Provincial Election and withdrew from politics, the way was clear for the CCF to run its own candidates provincially. However, the CCF was unable to win the support of the UFA's conservative supporters, or put a dent in the support of Alberta's
Social Credit movement.
Though the party received 11% of the vote in 1940, the CCF was unable to win any seats in the
Legislative Assembly Of Alberta . In 1942,
Elmer Roper won an upset victory in a
By-election and won the CCF's first seat in the legislature.
In the
1944 Election , the CCF received 24% of the vote, but was able to won only 2 seats, due to the dominance of Social Credit. Social Credit received over 50% of ballots cast.
Through the 1940s and 1950s, the CCF's percentage of the vote declined, eventually falling under 10% of the vote, and they were never able to win more than the two seats they managed in 1944. The party was kept to two MLAs through the 1950s. Roper lost his seat in 1955 and the party's two MLAs were both defeated in 1959 leaving it shut out of the legislature.
The CCF merged with the
Labour Movement in 1961, becoming the
New Democratic Party of Canada. In Alberta, the NDP was founded in 1962 under the leadership of
Neil Reimer who had been national director of the Energy and Chemical Workers Union. The NDP was unable to build on the CCF's provincial base, and, with the exception of a 1966 by-election victory, 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 election of the
Alberta Progressive Conservatives in 1971, Social Credit gradually collapsed. The
Alberta Liberal Party suffered due to its links with the federal
Liberal Party Of Canada government of
Pierre Trudeau , which was very unpopular in Alberta.
The decline of Social Credit and unpopularity of the Liberals gave the New Democrats an opportunity to become the focus of opposition to the
Lougheed Tories . Popularity of the NDP gradually increased under leader
Grant Notley , who led the party from 1968 until his tragic death in a plane crash in 1984, and was the party's sole MLA until 1982.
In 1971, the NDP surpassed the 10% barrier, climbing to 18.75% in the
1982 Election . The party became the
Official Opposition in 1982, though with only two seats.
Notley was leading the NDP to what many thought would be a major breakthrough when he was killed in an airplane crash in 1984.
In the
1986 Election , under
Ray Martin , the party, now known as the "NDs" to distinguish itself from the federal
New Democratic Party (NDP) (this change did not reflect an ideological separation, as both the federal and provincial parties remained committed to
Democratic Socialism ). The party won almost 30% of the vote and 16 seats. This was to be the apex of New Democrat support.
With the departure of
Pierre Trudeau from the federal scene, the Alberta Liberals began a revival. The New Democrats were unable to gain any additional seats in the
1989 Election . However, though they were still the Official Opposition in the legislature by virtue of having more seats than the Liberals, the NDs' popular support fell behind the Liberals (26% to the Liberal's 28%) for the first time in decades. The Liberals became the focus of renewed interest for those opposing the governing
Tories .
The Liberal Party became the new hope for leading an anti-Tory coalition in the early 1990s, at a time when support for the New Democratic Party was declining across Canada. In the
1993 Election , their popular vote fell by more than half to 11%, and they lost all their seats in the
Legislature .
The party was able to regain their foothold in the legislature winning two seats in the
1997 and
2001 Elections , but have been unable to break the 10% popular vote barrier, or regain their position as Official Opposition.
In 2004, the party reverted to the traditional "NDP" abbreviation. The current leader of the Alberta NDP is
Brian Mason , a former city councillor. He was elected leader in September 2004, while serving as interim leader after the resignation as leader of former professor
Raj Pannu . All of the party's leaders since Notley have represented
Edmonton Ridings .
In the
2004 Alberta General Election the party doubled its seats from two to four, all within the city limits of
Edmonton - the re-elected Mason and Pannu, returning former leader Ray Martin, and newcomer
David Eggen . The party received 9.7% of the vote province-wide.
