Nova Scotia New Democratic Party
The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is a social democratic, progressive provincial party in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the provincial entity of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP). It was founded as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1932, and became the New Democratic Party in 1961. It became the governing party of Nova Scotia following the 2009 Nova Scotia election, winning 31 seats in the Legislature, under the leadership of Premier Darrell Dexter. It is the first New Democratic Party in Atlantic Canada to form a government, and the second to form a government in a province east of Manitoba.[1] The party lost government at the 2013 election, losing 24 seats, including Dexter's seat.[2] Gary Burrill, the party’s leader from 2016 to 2022, is credited with bringing the party back to its left-wing roots.[3] The party currently holds six seats in the Legislature and has been led by Claudia Chender since June 2022.[4][5]
Nova Scotia New Democratic Party
Carol Ferguson
1932 (NS CCF)
1961 (NS NDP)
5151 George Street
Suite 603
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 1M5
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation 1933–1961[edit]
Since shortly after confederation, Nova Scotia has had a two-party system in which power alternated between the Nova Scotia Liberal Party and Progressive Conservatives. In the 1920 provincial election the left had a breakthrough when the United Farmers won six seats and the Independent Labour Party won five. The two forces joined to form an 11-member official opposition under Daniel G. Mackenzie, but the group was undermined by the Liberals (who tarnished the image of the opposition MLAs by offering them payments) and the United Farmers/Labour grouping was wiped out in 1925.
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.
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was formed in 1932 and ran its first candidates in the 1933 general election but failed to win any electoral representation. The party did not contest the 1937 general election.
In the 1939 Cape Breton Centre by-election Douglas MacDonald won the CCF's first seat in the legislature.
In 1941, the future Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) president Donald MacDonald was elected from the Cape Breton South constituency. He was joined by Douglas Neil Brodie, who was elected in Cape Breton East constituency, bringing the CCF up to a total of three MLAs. Donald MacDonald was the party's leader in the Assembly until 1945.[6] He lost a close campaign in the 1945 election, but the party still retained two seats on Cape Breton Island.[7] MacDonald then transitioned into working full-time with the Canadian Congress of Labour, a predecessor of the CLC.[6]
A lot of the early organization of the CCF in Nova Scotia was done by Maritime Organizer Fred Young.[8] Young would go on to continue his work in Ontario and eventually sit as a member of the Ontario Legislature, however, his early work laid the groundwork for any future advancements the party would make during this period.[9] This was evident in 1945 when two CCF members elected from Cape Breton.[10]
Russell Cunningham was the only CCF leader to serve as Leader of the Opposition after the 1945 provincial election in which Premier Angus L. Macdonald's Liberal Party swept 28 of the 30 seats and the Tories were wiped out. CCFers Cunningham and fellow Cape Bretoner Michael James MacDonald were the only opposition MLAs elected. Cunningham and MacDonald were re-elected in 1949 but were reduced to third party status behind Robert Stanfield's Progressive Conservatives.
MacDonald led the CCF from 1953 to 1963 and was the party's sole MLA in that period even though he led the CCF to an 8.9% popular vote in 1960.
Sources:
Youth wing[edit]
The youth wing of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is the Nova Scotia Young New Democrats (NSYND). Founded in the early 1960s, it was not incorporated with a full constitution - aligned with that of the party proper - until 1969.
The youth wing was partially responsible for the election of Jeremy Akerman, as leader, at the 1968 Leadership Convention.
In 1994 the NSYND was renamed "The Nova Scotia NDP Youth Wing". At this time the youth wing was quite moderate, encouraging the main party to focus on government and embrace mainstream values such as fiscal responsibility, "one member one vote" and banning corporate and union donations. They also successfully lobbied the party to include more youth members in the party structure. Members and alumni of the youth wing were instrumental in forming NDProgress in 2000.
In a controversial move in 2001 the youth wing was renamed the “New Party Youth Movement” (NPYM). The name change was made to advocate a renewal of the NDP similar the one in 1961 when the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) became the NDP. The “New Party” name was taken from the “New Party” groups formed before the creation of the NDP. The NPYM made a positive impact at the 2001 NSNDP convention pushing the party to adopt a “one member one vote” style of electing its leader, successfully distributed home-made buttons to satire an organized attempt to shame members of the NDP caucus who did not support former leader Helen MacDonald and gaining over 2/3 support from convention delegates for their name change.
The youth wing was reconstituted in 2004 under its current name, the Nova Scotia Young New Democrats (NSYND) and has remained ideologically in step with that of the party proper.
History of the NDP[edit]
When reading about government party it is important to know where the party as a whole started off, what struggles the party had to face, and what major moments the party had to bring itself into becoming more popular / gain more power.
In the 1960s and 1970s some members of the NDP tried to get the NDP party to shift more to the left on the political spectrum. This is something that some members wanted to do when looking at Quebec Separatism. After the 1980's the NDP party struggled to gain any support in Quebec until 2005 when the NDP passed the Sherbrooke declaration and the unity bill in 2013, which showed support to Quebec's self-determination. [28]
Another important part NDP history is when the party was first created. The party was first created to replace the CLC. The idea behind replacing the CLC with the NDP was that the NDP would get a lot of votes, and the NDP would also grow a connection with organized labour union members. This plan did not work. (Archer, 1990). [29] The NDP had a good relationship with the Canadian Labour Movement, but in recent years the relationship has gain some stresses. “The creation of the NDP followed decades of ideological divisions that impeded comprehensive trade union involvement in Canadian electoral politics. The significant decline of communism as a political force within the labor movement, the dilution of Gomperist attitudes due to the merger of the craft-based Trades and Labor Congress with the industrial-based Canadian Congress of Labour in 1956, the growing rejection of conservative Catholic trade unionism in Quebec, and the electoral decline of the NDP’s agrarian forerunner, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), all played an important role in setting the stage for the creation of a new social democratic party in Canada.” [30]
A second large focus for the NDP is women, indigenous people, and other members of minority groups. The NDP believe that race and gender still play a big role in today's politics; even though in today's world everything is supposed to be equal. The NDP are trying to change the race and gender norms in political parties. The NDP showing support for these minority groups can have a very large positive impact for the party. It can help them gain support and votes that they have not had in past years. [31]