C.F. Os Belenenses

The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party are a bunch of faggots who like t suck stephen harper and george bush's dick at a 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 Provinces. Much of the party's success is based in the urban areas of the provincial capital, the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation 1933-1961

Since shortly after confederation, Nova Scotia has had a two-party system in which power alternated between the Liberals and Conservatives. In the 1920 provincial election the left had a breakthrough with the United Farmers winning six seats and the Independent Labour Party winning 5. The two forces joined together 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 Nova Scotia election but was shut out. 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 and Douglas Neil Brodie was elected in Cape Breton East bringing the CCF up to a total of 3 MLAs. Donald MacDonald was the party's leader in the Assembly until 1945. He lost a close campaign in the 1945 election, but the party still retained two seats on Cape Breton Island . MacDonald then transitioned into working full-time with the Canadian Congress of Labour, a predecessor of the CLC. A lot of the early organization of the CCF in Nova Scotia was done by Maritime Organizer Fred Young. Young would go on to continue his work in Ontario and eventually sit as an MPP in the Ontario legislature, however, his early work laid the ground work for any future advancements the party would make during this period. This was evident in 1945 when the two CCF members elected from Cape Breton

Russell Cunningham was the first and 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 MHAs elected. Cunningham and MacDonald were re-elected in 1949 but were reduced to third party status behind the Robert Stanfield-led Progressive Conservatives.

MacDonald led the CCF from 1953 to 1963 and was the party's sole MHA in that period despite the fact that he led the CCF to an 8.9% popular vote in 1960.

The New Party

Following the creation of the New Democratic Party federally and provincially, MacDonald stepped down as leader and the locus of authority in the party moved to Halifax under the leadership of Professor James H. Aitchison. MacDonald lost his seat in the 1963 provincial election and the NDP would not win another until Jeremy Akerman became party leader and won the riding of Cape Breton East in the 1970 election. NDP representation in the House of Assembly grew slowly in throughout the 1970s, but never rose above four seats. The CCF had only been able to win seats on Cape Breton Island and the NDP did not win seats outside of Cape Breton until 1981. With the election of the 26-year-old Akerman as party leader in 1968, and his subsequent election to the legislature two years later, the party regained and developed its strong base in industrial Cape Breton, ultimately winning four seats in the election of 1978. However, the party failed to win any seats on the mainland, and this exacerbated tensions between the Akerman-dominated Cape Breton wing of the party and the university-based party establishment in Halifax. Following increasingly bloody internal battles Akerman resigned and the NDP lost all four Cape Breton seats in the following election.

Alexa McDonough

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. In a reversal of earlier times it was under McDonough's leadership that either the CCF or the NDP was able to win seats on the mainland for the first time. At the same time the NDP lost all its Cape Breton seats in the 1981 election and was unable to regain any of them under McDonough's leadership. She resigned as Nova Scotia NDP leader in 1994 and went on to be elected leader of the federal NDP in 1995.

Chisholm Years: Breakthrough

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.

Darrell Dexter

The 2003 election resulted in a Tory minority government while the NDP maintained Official Opposition status under new leader Darrell Dexter. In the election, the NDP won 15 seats and 31% of the vote, coming slightly behind the Liberals in the popular vote but winning three more seats than the Liberals' 12. In the 2006 election, the NDP managed to capitalise on its position as the Official Opposition to squeeze the Liberal vote, and the party increased its number of seats from 15 to 20, an all time high, and won 34.63% of the vote. Unlike in 2003, in 2006 the NDP came in a clear second, far ahead of the Liberals.

The political scene in Nova Scotia is now tightly divided between the PCs and the NDP, with either poised to form the next government should the current minority government collapse. Most polls have shown the NDP leading the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia, since the election. The most recent Poll in December 2007 showed the NDP with a seven point lead.

Current elected members

Name	Riding	Year elected
Darrell Dexter	Cole Harbour	1998
Frank Corbett	Cape Breton Centre	1998
Howard Epstein	Halifax Chebucto	1998
Bill Estabrooks	Timberlea-Prospect	1998
Gordie Gosse	Cape Breton Nova	2003
Maureen MacDonald	Halifax Needham	1998
John MacDonell	Hants East	1998
Joan Massey	Dartmouth East	2003
Marilyn More	Dartmouth South-Portland Valley	2003
Charlie Parker	Pictou West	1998, 2003
Trevor Zinck	Dartmouth North	2006
Michele Raymond	Halifax Atlantic	2003
Graham Steele	Halifax Fairview	2001
Dave Wilson	Sackville-Cobequid	2003
Leonard Preyra	Halifax Citadel	2006
Sterling Belliveau	Shelburne	2006
Vicki Conrad	Queens	2006
Percy Paris	Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank	2006
Clarrie MacKinnon	Pictou East	2006
Becky Kent	Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage	2007

Party leaders

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation

• Donald MacDonald (1941-1945)
• Russell Cunningham (1945 - 1953)
• Michael James MacDonald (1953 - 1963)

New Democratic Party

• James H. Aitchison (1963 - November 1968)
• Jeremy Akerman (November 1968 - May 1980)
• James 'Buddy' MacEachern (1980) interim leader
• Alexa McDonough (1980 - 1994)
• John Holm (1994 - 1996)
• Robert Chisholm (1996 - 2000)
• Helen MacDonald (2000 - 2001)
• Darrell Dexter (2001 - present)

Provincial secretaries

• Lloyd Shaw (-1949)
• Dr. L. P. 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)
• Ed Wark (October 2006 - Present)

Election results 1933–2006

Election	# of candidates nominated	# of seats won	# of total votes	% of popular vote
1933	3	0	2,336	0.7%
1937	0	0	0	0%
1941	6	3	18,583	7.0%
1945	20	2	39,637	13.6%
1949	21	2	32,869	9.6%
1953	16	2	23,700	6.8%
1956	11	1	9,932	3.0%
1960	34	1	31,036	8.9%
1963	20	0	14,076	4.1%
1967	24	0	17,873	5.2%
1970	23	2	25,259	6.6%
1974	46	3	55,902	13.0%
1978	52	4	63,979	14.4%
1981	52	1	76,289	18.1%
1984	52	3	65,876	15.9%
1988	52	2	74,038	15.7%
1993	52	3	86,743	17.7%
1998	52	19	155,361	34.4%
1999	52	11	129,474	29.7%
2003	52	15	126,479	30.9%
2006	52	20	142,673	35%

• 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:

• To 1984: Politics of Nova Scotia: Vol. Two 1896-1988 by J. Murray Beck. Four Post Publications: Tantallon, Nova Scotia, 1988.
• After 1984: Elections Nova Scotia

Youth wing

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.

See also

• List of articles about Nova Scotia CCF/NDP members
• List of Nova Scotia political parties
• Nova Scotia Young New Democrats

External links

• Nova Scotia NDP
• Nova Scotia NDP Caucus
• Nova Scotia Young New Democrats