The (French: ''Fédération du commonwealth coopératif'', then ''Parti social démocratique du Canada'') was a
Canadian political party founded in 1932 in
Calgary, Alberta , by a number of
Socialist , farm,
Co-operative and
Labour groups, and the
League For Social Reconstruction . In 1961, it disbanded and was replaced by the
New Democratic Party . The full, but little used, name of the party was '''Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Farmer-Labour-Socialist)'''.
The CCF aimed to alleviate the suffering of the
Great Depression through economic reform and public "co-operation". Many of the party's first
Members Of Parliament (MPs) were former members of the
Ginger Group of left-wing
Progressive and
Labour MPs.
The decision to launch the CCF was made shortly after the
1930 Federal Election at a meeting in
United Farmers Of Alberta MP
William Irvine 's office. According to author Margaret Stewart, the meeting consisted of Irvine and several other left-wing MPs:
- Agnes Macphail , MP, the militant farm spokesperson from Grey southeast in Ontario; Elected on the United Farmers Of Ontario (UFO) ticket, but sat with the CCF in Parliament
- Ted Garland , MP, one of the old Progressives;
- Humphrey Mitchell , MP, a trade unionist;
- W.T. Spencer , a Conservative ‘ Red Tory ’; -->
- Abraham Albert Heaps , MP, who had gone to jail for his support of the unionists in the Winnipeg Strike;
- Angus MacInnis , MP, then generally described as a Marxist Socialist; and
- J.S. Woodsworth , MP, the charismatic figure who could persuade others to shelve, or split their differences. (Stewart, ''Ask No Quarter; a Biography of Agnes Macphail'', p.98)
Also involved in the plans to found a new party were members of the
League For Social Reconstruction .
At its founding convention in 1932, the CCF selected J.S. Woodsworth as party leader. Woodworth 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 the
Regina Manifesto as the party's program. The manifesto outlined a number of goals, including:
It concluded that "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 the establishment in Canada of the Co-operative Commonwealth."
In its first election in , and this upset many supporters of the Canadian war effort. After Woodsworth died in 1942, a new leader,
Major Coldwell , was elected, and threw the party's support behind the war. The party won a critical
York South By-election in 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.
However, the party was to have its greatest success in provincial politics in the 40s. In 1943, the
Ontario CCF became the official opposition in that province, and in 1944, the
Saskatchewan CCF formed the first socialist government in
North America with
Tommy Douglas as
Premier . Douglas introduced
Universal Healthcare to
Saskatchewan , a policy that was soon adopted by other provinces and implemented nationally by the
Liberals under
Lester B. Pearson .
Federally, during the
Cold War , the CCF was accused of having communist, dictatorial 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 Election , winning only eight seats.
After much discussion, the CCF and the
Canadian Labour Congress decided to join forces to create a new political party, which could make
Social Democracy more popular with Canadian voters. In 1961, the CCF became the
New Democratic Party .
The CCF had a song, which would be later popularized by the movie ''''
First verse:
A call goes out to Canada
It comes from out the soil—
Come and join the ranks through all the land
To fight for those who toil
Come on farmer, soldier, labourer,
From the mine and factory,
And side by side we'll swell the tide—
, MP for
Cape Breton South ; , National Secretary;
M.J. Coldwell , National Leader, MP for
Rosetown—Biggar ; Percy E. Wright, MP for
Melfort ; and
Frank Scott , National Chairman.]]
