The is a
Social Democratic party in
Nova Scotia ,
Canada . It is aligned with the federal
New Democratic Party . Originally founded as the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1932, it became the NDP in 1961. It is currently the official opposition and is considered to be the most successful New Democratic Party in the Atlantic.
Since shortly after
Confederation , Nova Scotia has had a two-party system. Power alternated between the
Liberals and
Conservatives .
Though the CCF/NDP has a long history in Nova Scotia, it was unable to break the
Two-party System and win more than a handful of seats (if any) in the Nova Scotia
House Of Assembly until the 1990s. In 1945, however, the two CCF members elected from Cape Breton became the unofficial opposition party when Premier
Angus L. Macdonald 's Liberal Party swept 28 of the 30 seats.
When the CCF became the NDP in 1961, it was unsuccessful in winning seats in the legislature until 1967. The election of party leader Jeremy Akerman returned the party to the legislature. Its representation grew slowly in throughout the 1970s, but never rose above four seats.
After decades in the wilderness the Nova Scotia NDP was revitalized by a competition between its
Cape Breton Island and
Halifax bases in the late 1960's. With the election of the 26-year-old
Jeremy Akerman as party leader in 1968, and his subsequent election to the legislature two years later, the party developed a strong base in Industrial Cape Breton, ultimately winning four seats in the election of 1978. But the party failed to win any seats on the Mainland, and this exacerabated tensions between the Akerman dominated Cape Breton party and the party establishment in Halifax. Following increasingly bloody internal battles Akerman resigned and the NDP lost all four Cape Breton seats in the following election.
In 1980, Haligonian
Alexa McDonough became leader of the Nova Scotia NDP, the first female leader of a major party in Canada. While she was the only NDP member of the legislature elected in 1981, and had at most a
Caucus of three
Members Of The Legislative Assembly (MLAs), she raised the party's profile and become a well known advocate for the poor and disadvantaged. McDonough resigned as provincial leader in 1994 and went on to be elected leader of the federal NDP in 1995.
Under
Robert Chisholm 's leadership, in 1998 the party vaulted from third place to ahead of the Conservatives and won 19 seats in the House of Assembly, the same number as the Liberals. The Liberals formed a
Minority Government with the support of 14 Progressive Conservatives (Tories), the latter who had also improved their standings. The prospect of an NDP government seemed imminent.
However, the party was unable to improve on its standings in the 1999 election. But with 11 seats in the legislature with 29.9% of the vote, it edged out the Liberals and were able to retain "Official Opposition" status when the Tories formed a
Majority Government under
John Hamm . Chisholm's unexpected resignation immediately following the election led to a period of internal party strife, with new leader Helen MacDonald, a former Cape Breton MLA, resigning after barely a year.
The
2003 Election resulted in a Tory minority government. The NDP maintained Official Opposition status under new leader
Darrell Dexter . The NDP won 15 seats and 31% of the vote.
The political scene in Nova Scotia remains tightly divided among the three parties, with any poised to form government.
- Lloyd Shaw (-1949)
- Dr. Rutherford (1949 - 1950)
- Florence E. Welton (1950 - 1961)
- John McKinnon (1961 - 1963)
- Nancy Doull (1963 - 1965)
- Rae Gilman (1965 - 1969)
- Peggy Prowse (1969 - 1971)
- Gordon Flowers (1971 - 1974)
- Karen Vance (1974 - 1977)
- Bev Ivan (1978)
- Serena Renner (1979 - 1981)
- Mary Morrison (1982)
- Brian MacNaulty (1983)
- Rod Dickinson (1984 - 1986)
- Gayle Cromwell (1986 - 1987)
- Dennis Theman (1987 - 1990)
- Sandra Houston (1990 - 1992)
- Ross Fisher (1992 - 1996)
- Ron Cavalucci (1996 - 1997)
- Bruce Cox (1997 - 1999)
- Joe Fraser (1999 - 2001)
- Matthew Hebb (2001 - June 2005)
- Karen Haslam (October 2005 - March 2006)
- Election results between 1933 and 1963 represent the party during its time as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Since 1963, the party has been called the New Democratic Party.
''Sources:''
The youth wing of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is the
Nova Scotia Young New Democrats .
