New Democratic Party

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New Democratic Party
Nouveau Parti démocratique
New Democratic Party
NDP-NPD Canada.svg
Jagmeet Singh
Party leader Jagmeet Singh

President
Marit Stiles
Secretary General Robert Fox
Emergence Merger of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
with the New Party
founding 3rd August 1961
Headquarters 300-279 Laurier Avenue,
Ottawa , Ontario
Youth organization New Democratic Youth
of Canada
Alignment Social democracy
Colours) orange
House of Commons
44/338
senate
0/105
Number of members 128,351 (2012)
International connections Progressive Alliance
Socialist International
Website www.ndp.ca

The New Democratic Party ( English New Democratic Party , NDP ; French Nouveau Parti démocratique , NPD ) is a social democratic political party in Canada . In the country's political spectrum , it is the furthest left of the parties represented in the lower house . For a long time the party was the third strongest force in the House of Commons and has occasionally supported minority governments from the two larger liberal and conservative parties. Between 1993 and 2011, the party was only fourth strongest, then by 2015 with the historic result of 30.62% and 102 seats for the first time the second strongest party and opposition leader. In the election on October 19, 2015, it won 44 of 338 seats, with a share of the vote of 19.71%. The second best parliamentary representation in the party's history meant a return to third place. Jagmeet Singh has been the party chairman since 2017 .

Positions

The NDP has populist , agrarian and social democratic roots. Today she is a member of the Socialist International and maintains close relationships with non-governmental organizations and trade unions . Although the party is secular and pluralistic, it has long had ties to the Christian left and the social gospel movement, particularly the United Church of Canada . Positions of the New Left are also taken into account.

The New Democrats are involved in the following areas: environmental protection , protection of human rights , expansion of public transport and tertiary education , expansion of the state health system, tax progression , equal rights for both sexes, homosexuals and minorities. She also advocates electoral reform (abolition of the appointed Senate and introduction of proportional representation ), the introduction of a minimum wage, the decriminalization of " soft drugs ", more rights for indigenous people and the renegotiation of the North American free trade agreement .

history

Tommy Douglas

The NDP was formed in 1961 from the merger of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labor Congress . Tommy Douglas , longtime CCF Prime Minister of Saskatchewan Province , was elected first party leader. Northern Canadian CCF members in particular, who were relatively successful in elections for the House of Commons, such as Arnold Peters or Douglas Fisher, tried to prevent this merger because they did not trust the liberal and apathetic trade unionists of the Canadian Labor Congress to make any significant contribution to the CCF. Under the leadership of David Lewis , the NDP supported Pierre Trudeau's liberal minority government from 1972 to 1974 , although the parties never formed an official coalition. Together they passed several reforms in social legislation and founded the state-owned petroleum company Petro-Canada .

In 1974 the NDP sided with the progressive conservative party , supported their vote of no confidence and forced a new election. However, the Liberals then won an absolute majority, mostly at the expense of the NDP. Lewis lost in his own constituency and resigned as chairman. Under the chairmanship of Ed Broadbent , the NDP played a crucial role during Joe Clark's minority rule 1979-80. With a vote of no confidence, it forced the resignation of the progressive-conservative government and a new election in which the Liberal Party came back to power.

In the 1988 election, the NDP achieved the highest percentage of voters in its history with 20.38% and won 43 seats, more than ever before. Weakened by internal party disputes, the NDP lost over two-thirds of its voters in the 1993 election and only sent nine MPs. One of the reasons was the unpopularity of the NDP governments in their strongholds of British Columbia under Michael Harcourt and in Ontario under Bob Rae .

Under Alexa McDonough , the party tried to open itself to the middle of the political spectrum in the late 1990s, using the Third Way of British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a model. This strategy failed because of the lack of support from the trade unions and after the party convention in 2001 in Winnipeg , the NDP again took a clearer left-wing course. Under the newly elected chairman Jack Layton in 2003 , the party managed to almost quadruple its share of the vote within a few years. In the election on May 2, 2011, the NDP increased its share of the vote from 18% to 30% and the number of its parliamentary seats from 34 to 102. The party almost tripled its previous record result from the 1980s and thus overturned the Liberal Party as a classic opponent of the Conservatives. Observers therefore spoke of a historical shift in the Canadian party system. Layton passed away three months after this success; the MP Nycole Turmel was from July 2011 interim party chairman. Thomas Mulcair took over this office in March 2012. This development could not be confirmed in 2015, the NDP lost seats and the Liberals gained an absolute majority.

Election results

Jack Layton

Results of the House of Commons elections :

choice seats
total 		candidates
data 		Weighted
seats 		be right proportion of
1962 265 217 19th 1,044,754 13.57%
1963 265 232 17th 1,044,701 13.24%
1965 265 255 21st 1,381,658 17.91%
1968 265 263 22nd 1,378,263 16.96%
1972 264 252 31 1,725,719 17.83%
1974 264 262 16 1,467,748 15.44%
1979 282 282 26th 2,048,988 17.88%
1980 282 280 32 2,165,087 19.77%
1984 282 282 30th 2,359,915 18.81%
1988 295 295 43 2,685,263 20.38%
1993 295 294 9 939,575 06.88%
1997 301 301 21st 1,434,509 11.05%
2000 301 298 13 1,093,868 8.51%
2004 308 308 19th 2,116,536 15.69%
2006 308 308 29 2,589,597 17.48%
2008 308 308 37 2,509,148 18.13%
2011 308 308 102 4,508,474 30.62%
2015 338 338 44 3,460,288 19.71%
2019 338 338 24 2,849,214 15.93%

Party leader

Provinces and territories

Unlike most other Canadian parties, the provincial and territorial parties are an integral part of the national party. Every member of such a party is automatically a member of the party at the federal level. This makes it impossible for one person to support different parties at the provincial and national levels (which is often the case with other political groups). There is no party system in Nunavut or the Northwest Territories; the national NDP is supported by its constituency organizations as each territory includes only one lower house constituency.

The Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec (NPDQ) and the national NDP decided in 1989 to completely separate their organizational ties, since the provincial party is striving for greater independence for the French-speaking province of Québec. The national NDP has a section in Québec (Nouveau Parti démocratique – Section Québec), which only competes in national lower house elections. Its members are free to choose which party they support in provincial elections.

The New Democrats are in government in the following provinces:

Opposition party:

Without parliamentary representation:

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Azoulay, Dan (1997): "Keeping the Dream Alive: The Survival of the Ontario CCF / NDP, 1950-1963", McGill-Queen's Press. P. 171 ff.
  2. ^ Ingar Solty (2011): Laytongrad in Harperland? Conservative election victory and historical shifts in the party system in Canada. In: Sozialismus, 6/2011 [1] . 
  3. ^ Results of past general election - Elections Canada