Labrador Party

The Labrador Party is a political party in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The party was founded in 1969, and won its first seat in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in 1971. The newly elected Labrador Party Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) soon defected, and joined the Liberal Party. The party won a second seat in a 1972 by-election [1] , but the MHA retired in 1975, and the party was dissolved.

Feelings among Labradorians that the region has been neglected by the Newfoundland and Labrador government led to the party's refounding in 2003 with Ern Condon as leader. The party nominated candidates in each of Labrador's four ridings in that year's election, with the hope of holding the balance of power in the House of Assembly and being able to trade political support for more services and attention to Labrador.

The party failed to win any seats, though Brandon Pardy came in second in Lake Melville with 32% of the vote. The party received 12% of the vote in Labrador West, 8% in Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, and 5% in Torngat Mountains.

The party chose Ron Barron, the Deputy Mayor of Wabush, as the party leader in preparation for the next provincial election. In a by-election for the riding of Labrador West held on March 13, 2007, Labrador Party candidate Ron Barron came in third, winning 670 of a total of just over 4000 votes cast.

In the fall election in 2007, the Labrador Party decided not to run candidates in each of Labrador's four ridings so the vote between parties opposed to the Progressive Conservatives would not get split. Jimmy Tuttauk earned almost 8 percent of the vote in the district of Torngat Mountains. [http://www.cbc.ca/nlvotes2007/riding/045]

Some believe that the party's advertising and slogan (We Believe In Labrador!, Our Voice... ...Our Time) suggests that the organization is close to being, if it is not already, a secessionist movement seeking territorial status in Canada for Labrador.

Leaders

* Ern Condon 2003-2004
* Ron Barron 2004-

ee also

*List of political parties in Newfoundland and Labrador
*Secessionist movements of Canada