- New Brunswick New Democratic Party
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New Brunswick New Democratic Party
Nouveau Parti démocratique du Nouveau-BrunswickActive provincial party Leader Dominic Cardy President Leigh Sprague Founded 1933 as the New Brunswick branch of the CCF, renamed New Brunswick NDP in 1962 Headquarters 924 Prospect Street, Suite 2
Fredericton, New Brunswick
E3B 2T9Ideology Social democracy Political position Centre-left International affiliation Socialist International Official colours Orange Seats in Legislature 0 / 55Website www.nbndp.ca Politics of New Brunswick
Political parties
ElectionsThe New Brunswick New Democratic Party (French: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Nouveau-Brunswick) is a social-democratic provincial political party in New Brunswick, Canada linked with the federal New Democratic Party (NDP).
Contents
Origins and early history
The New Brunswick NDP traces its roots to the Fredericton Socialist League, which was founded in 1902. The League had branches throughout the province by World War I.
In 1933, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a democratic socialist federal political party, was formed with the proclamation of the Regina Manifesto. In 1933, the Moncton Trades and Labour Council adopted a resolution to create a branch of the CCF in New Brunswick. This led to the creation of the New Brunswick CCF that year.
Despite its early formation, the New Brunswick CCF was slow at establishing itself on the provincial political scene. It ran only one candidate in the 1939 election, Joseph C. Arrowsmith in the riding of Saint John City, winning 712 votes. The fortunes of the New Brunswick CCF rose in tandem with the fortunes of the national CCF during World War II. In the 1944 provincial election the CCF won 11.7 percent of the vote under the leadership of J. A. Mugridge, a trade unionist and the chief electrician at the Saint John Drydock and Shipbuilding Company. In that election, the CCF ran on a twelve-point program that included a promise public ownership and full development of all natural resources including electricity, oil and gas and other public utilities.
The 1944 election proved to be a high-point for CCF strength in New Brunswick however. A combination of anti-CCF propaganda, the increasing adoption of somewhat progressive policies by the New Brunswick Liberals and Conservatives, and a general trend of post-war decline for the CCF nationally all contributed to weaken the New Brunswick CCF in the 1948 provincial election, this time under Arrowsmith's leadership, in which they received half the votes they won in 1944 and again won no seats. In the 1952 provincial election, the CCF ran only 12 candidates and received only 1.3% of the vote and no seats. The CCF ran no candidates in the 1956 and 1960 provincial elections.
In 1961, the CCF merged with the Canadian Labour Congress to form the New Democratic Party (NDP) at both federal and provincial levels. The New Brunswick NDP was formed in 1962. The party spent the remainder of the decade getting itself organized and established, including forging links with some of the labour movement. The party was not in a position to run candidates in the 1963 provincial election, and ran only three candidates in 1967.
In 1971, the New Brunswick NDP was taken over by The Waffle, a radical wing of the party, precipitating a bitter two-month split in the party. The federal NDP responded by temporarily dissolving the provincial wing until non-Waffle leadership was re-established. The Waffle episode had the effect of promoting greater labour involvement in the party, via concern that the party would fall under the sway of radicals without it. During the late 1970s, under the leadership of John LaBossiere, the party increasingly adopted policy positions that reflected feminist and environmentalist concerns, namely opposition to the construction of the Point Lepreau nuclear plant. This stance soured relations with some labour supporters. The party also saw its membership grow and its organisational abilities improve during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Along with traditional social-democratic NDP planks, the party also began to attack government patronage and poor fiscal management. Relations with the labour movements and women's movement improved further after George Little became party leader in 1980.
Leaders
New Brunswick CCF
- J. A. Mugridge 1944 election
- Joseph C. Arrowsmith 1948 election
- Claude P. Milton 1952 election
New Brunswick NDP
- Jack Currie, 1965-1968
- post vacant, 1968-1970
- J. Albert Richardson, 1970-1971
- Pat Callaghan, 1971 (Waffle faction leader)
- J. Albert Richardson, 1971-1976
- John LaBossiere, 1976-1980
- George Little 1980-1988
- Elizabeth Weir 1988-2005
- Allison Brewer 2005-2006
- Pat Hanratty (interim) 2006-2007
- Roger Duguay 2007-2010
- Jesse Travis (interim) 2010-2011
- Dominic Cardy 2011-present
Electoral record
General election # of candidates # of elected candidates # of ridings % of popular vote 1939 1 0 48 0.1% 1944 41 0 48 11.7% 1948 20 0 52 6.0% 1952 12 0 52 1.3% 1956 0 0 52 0.0% 1960 0 0 52 0.0% 1963 0 0 52 0.0% 1967 3 0 58 0.3% 1970 31 0 58 2.8% 1974 35 0 58 2.9% 1978 36 0 58 6.5% 1982 54 1 58 10.2% 1987 58 0 58 10.6% 1991 58 1 58 10.8% 1995 55 1 55 9.7% 1999 55 1 55 8.8% 2003 55 1 55 9.7% 2006 48 0 55 5.1% 2010 55 0 55 10.4% - Results prior to 1963 are for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)
NDP members of the NB Legislative Assembly
There are currently no New Democrats in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick. In the past, three separate individuals have been elected as New Democrats and they are as follows:
- Bob Hall, Tantramar; 1982 to his defeat in the 1987 election
- Peter Trites, East Saint John; 1984 by-election until joining the Liberals in 1987
- Elizabeth Weir, Saint John South (1991-1995), Saint John Harbour (1995-2005); 1991 to 2005
The NDP's predecessor, the CCF never won a seat in the New Brunswick legislature. In the 1920 general election nine United Farmers and two Farmer-Labour MLAs were elected.
See also
- List of New Brunswick political parties
- New Brunswick New Democratic Party leadership election, 2005
- New Brunswick New Democratic Party leadership election, 2007
- New Brunswick New Democratic Party leadership election, 2011
External links
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