Ontario New Democratic Party
Encyclopedia
The Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP) or (NDP), formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic
political party in Ontario
, Canada
. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party
. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its first breakthrough with its first leader, Donald C. MacDonald
in the 1967 provincial election
, when the party elected 20 Members of Provincial Parliament (MPP) to the Ontario Legislative Assembly. After a leadership convention in 1970, Stephen Lewis
became leader, and guided the party to Official Opposition status in 1975. After the party's disppointing performance in the 1977 provincial election
, that included losing Official Opposition status, Lewis stepped down and Michael Cassidy
became leader in 1978. Cassidy lead the party through one campaign, the 1981 election
. The party did badly again, and Cassidy resigned. In 1982, Bob Rae
was elected leader. During his time as leader the party was either the balance of power, official opposition, or the Governing Party. The 1990 election saw Rae elected as Premier, just when Canada's economy was in a recession. The party lost the 1995 election, and Rae stepped down as leader in 1996. Howard Hampton
became the leader in 1996, and the lead the party through three elections. Hampton's period as leader saw the ONDP lose official party status twice: after the 1999 and 2003 elections. He was able to regain party status first time by getting the government to redefine official party status requirements, and the second time after winning a string of by-elections in the mid-2000s. He stepped down as leader in 2009 and was replaced by the current party leader, Andrea Horwath
. Following the Ontario general election in 2011, there are 17 NDP MPPs in the legislature.
(CCF), was a democratic socialist
political party, founded in 1932. The Ontario CCF in turn was indirectly the successor to the 1919–23 United Farmers of Ontario
–Labour coalition
that formed the government in Ontario under Ernest C. Drury. With Ted Jolliffe
as their first leader, the party nearly won the 1943 Ontario provincial election
, winning 34 seats and forming the official opposition for the first time. Two-years later, they would be reduced to 8 seats. The final glory for the Ontario CCF came in the 1948 election
, when party elected 21 MPPs, and again formed the official opposition. They were even able to defeat Premier George A. Drew in his own constituency, when the CCF's Bill Temple
won in High Park
, even though the Conservatives won another majority government. The breaking point for the Ontario CCF came in 1951. They were reduced to two MPP's in that year's provincial election
, and never really recovered. In the two remaining elections while it existed, the party never had more than five members in the legislature. Jolliffe resigned as leader in 1953.
Donald C. MacDonald
became leader in 1953, and spent the next fifteen years rebuilding the party, from two seats when he took over the party's helm, to ten times that number when he stepped down in 1970. Delegates from the Ontario CCF, delegates from affiliated union locals, and delegates from New Party Clubs took part in the founding convention of the New Democratic Party of Ontario held in Niagara Falls at the Sheraton Brock hotel from 7–9 October 1961 and elected MacDonald as their leader. The Ontario CCF Council ceased to exist formally on Sunday, 8 October 1961, when the newly elected NDP executive officially took over.
The Ontario NDP gradually picked up seats through the 1960s. It achieved a breakthrough in the 1967 election
, when its popular vote rose from 15% to 26%. The party increased its presence in the legislature from 8 to 20 seats. In that election the party ran on the themes of the cost of living, taxes and housing and also promised progressive labour legislation.
took over the party's leadership in 1970, and the NDP's popularity continued to grow. With the 1975 provincial election
, the governing Conservatives were reduced to a minority government
for the first time in thirty years. The charismatic and dynamic Lewis ran a strong election campaign that forced the Tories to promise to implement the NDP's rent control
policies. The NDP overtook the Liberals to became the Official Opposition with 38 seats and 29% of the vote. However, the Tories retained power as a minority government.
Hopes were high that the NDP was on the verge of taking power, but in the 1977 election
, the Tories under Bill Davis
again won a minority government. The NDP lost five seats, and slipped into third place behind the Liberals. A frustrated Lewis resigned shortly afterwards.
Michael Cassidy
was elected leader, but being the most left-wing
of the three leadership candidates, he was not fully trusted by the party establishment. Cassidy's policy advisor in the leadership campaign was James Laxer
, a former leader of The Waffle
NDP faction which Lewis had expelled from the party in 1972. Some members of the NDP caucus considered Cassidy's election as a serious mistake, and encouraged him to resign before contesting an election. Cassidy ignored this advice, and remained as leader. The NDP declined further in the 1981 election
and Cassidy stepped down.
The party's fortunes turned around under the leadership of Bob Rae
. The NDP captured two by-elections at the cost of the Liberals. In late 1984, polls showed Rae's NDP ahead of the David Peterson
-led Liberals.
resulted in a minority legislature: the Tories under Premier
Frank Miller
won 52 seats, the Liberals won 48, and the NDP 25. The New Democrats entered negotiations with both the Tories and the Liberals. The NDP signed a two-year accord with the Liberals, in which the Liberals would form government with the NDP's support in exchange for the implementation of a number of NDP policies. This was not a coalition government
as the NDP declined an offer to sit in Cabinet, preferring to remain in opposition. The governing Tories were defeated by a non-confidence motion and Miller resigned.
When the accord expired in 1987, Premier David Peterson
called an election
and the Liberals were re-elected with a large majority. The NDP lost seats but emerged as the largest opposition party, with Bob Rae
becoming Leader of the Opposition
.
Shortly before the general election of 1990
, the governing Liberals held a solid lead in the polls, though their popularity had tailed off from 1987. However, Peterson's government was soon mired in scandals and many regarded the early election call as cynical. Under Rae, the NDP ran a strong campaign, which was also aided by a successful federal NDP
showing a couple years earlier. Although the NDP finished only three percentage points ahead of the Liberals, they managed to take many seats in the Greater Toronto Area
away from the Liberals. As a result, the NDP won a large majority government of 74 seats while the Liberals suffered the worst defeat in their history.
Bob Rae became Premier of Ontario
during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression
. In government, the NDP disappointed supporters by abandoning much of its ambitious program, including the promise to institute a public auto insurance
system. As the recession
worsened, the NDP implemented what it called the Social Contract
— which represented a shift to fiscal conservatism
that anticipated that of the Labour Party
in the United Kingdom under the leadership of Tony Blair
. This was a package of austerity measures that:
The Social Contract resulted in a major breach in the NDP's alliance with the labour movement
as several trade unions turned against the party. Rae's government passed employment equity legislation and amended the province's labour law to ban the use of replacement workers
during strikes, but this did not win back union support.
At one point, the NDP fell to a low of 6 percent support in polling. An ominous sign for the party came in the 1993 federal election
, in which all of the NDP's Ontario MPs lost their seats. It was obvious by the 1995 election
that Rae's government would not be re-elected. The official opposition Liberals under Lyn McLeod
were initially the beneficiaries of the NDP's unpopularity, but their poor campaign saw the momentum swung to the resurgent Tories under Mike Harris
, who vaulted from third in the legislature to win a large majority. The NDP fell down to 17 seats, third place in the Legislative Assembly. In 1996, Rae stepped down as party leader and resigned his seat in the legislature.
Despite these shortcomings, the Rae years did witness a number of reforms in the field of social welfare
being enacted. In 1991, the Rae government increased basic social assistance rates by 7% and shelter rates by 10%. Single parents were uploaded from the municipalities and all lone parents were raised to the same income standard. In 1992 and 1993, the Rae government implemented successive increases to social assistance.
Rae was succeeded by Howard Hampton
who defeated Frances Lankin
, a member of Rae's inner circle, for the party leadership. Rae has since joined the Liberal Party of Canada
and was an unsuccessful candidate for party leadership in December 2006 and December 2008.
Under Hampton, the party has largely repudiated Rae's policies and renewed its commitment to a moderate form of socialism. Shortly after the 1999 election
, Hampton cited the Swedish
model of social democracy
as closely reflecting his own beliefs. However, the party has never fully healed the breach with organized labour that resulted from the Social Contract, nor has it been able to regain the popularity it enjoyed in the late 1980s.
NDP support fell even further in the 1999 election
, leaving the party with just nine seats. However, this was largely due to tactical voting
in which NDP supporters voted Liberal in hopes of removing Harris and the Tories from power. As a result, Hampton was not blamed for this severe defeat and stayed on as leader.
Under the rules of the Legislative Assembly, a party would receive official party status
, and the resources and privileges accorded to officially-recognized parties, if it had 12 or more seats; thus, it initially appeared the NDP would lose caucus funding and the ability to ask questions in the House. However, the governing Conservatives changed the rules after the election to lower the threshold for party status from 12 seats to 8. The Conservatives had reduced the size of the legislature, so provincial ridings now had the same boundaries as the federal ones, and so the official party status threshold was lowered. Some suggested that the Tories helped the NDP so they could continue to split the vote
with the Liberals, although the Conservatives had stated before the election campaign even began that reducing official party status to eight seats was part of the seat reduction plan from the very beginning.
, the party emphasized their "Public Power Campaign", which had two key issues, primarily publicly-owned electricity generation and distribution, and publicly-run auto insurance. As well, the Public Power Campaign also dealt with rolling-back the social program cuts from the Harris government's Common Sense Revolution
. Many media outlets – including The Globe and Mail
– thought that party leader Howard Hampton performed strongly in the televised leaders' debate. Despite Hampton's debate performance and a 2.4% increase in the popular vote, the party lost two seats, once again losing official party status and their previous speaking privileges and funding. One of the problems that likely affected NDP support was strategic voting, not unlike that of the 1999 election. This voting practice did do damage to the NDP's electoral fortunes because it was interpreted as a call for blanket support for Liberal candidates over NDP candidates, with no real thought to which candidate had a better chance to defeat a Conservative in any individual riding. Several unions, such as the Canadian Auto Workers
(CAW), promoted strategic voting
to their membership and the public, which further added to the party's woes. The newly elected Liberal government offered to give the NDP caucus research funding if their members would accept their status as independents. Hampton refused and disrupted the government Throne Speech in protest.
, was in the riding of Hamilton East
, caused by the untimely death of the riding's MPP, Dominic Agostino
, on 24 March 2004. This tragic event, in conjunction with a recent and unpopular tax increase by the Liberals, provided the NDP with an opportunity to regain party status. A by-election was called for 13 May 2004, in which the new Liberal candidate, Agostino's brother Ralph, was challenged by NDP candidate Andrea Horwath
, a Hamilton
city councillor. In a fight for its political life, the NDP ran an all-out campaign to win the seat, aided by the city's large base of unionized steelworkers. On election night, Horwath took 63.8 per cent of the vote in the seat, bringing the NDP back to eight seats in the Legislature and allowing them to regain official party status.
The NDP's representation in the Legislature was again reduced to seven seats when Marilyn Churley resigned her seat to run in the 2006 federal election
. However, the Liberals reversed their position and declared that the NDP would retain party status even if they lost the upcoming Toronto—Danforth
by-election. Some opposition sources believed the Liberals, mindful of their humiliating defeat to Horwath, had loosened their interpretation of the rules so that whomever ran for the NDP in Toronto—Danforth couldn't use the threat of lost status in a campaign. This issue became moot when, on March 30, 2006, NDP candidate Peter Tabuns
won the by-election in the Toronto—Danforth riding by a 9% margin over the Liberals' Ben Chin
, alleviating another party status crisis.
The NDP scored a surprise victory over the Liberals in the late summer of that year in the riding of Parkdale—High Park
. Liberal Education Minister Gerard Kennedy
resigned on 5 April 2006 to run for the Federal Liberal Party leadership. The government took an unusually long time to call the by-election, waiting until 16 August to drop the writ. It turned into one of the most vicious elections in recent Ontario memory, almost on par with Jolliffe's 1945 "Gestapo" campaign
. This time though, the NDP were not making the accusations; NDP candidate Cheri DiNovo
's credibility was put to the test by what most of the media considered to be unworthy and underhanded personal attacks launched by the Liberals. The tactic backfired; on 14 September 2006, DiNovo defeated Liberal candidate – and incumbent Toronto
city councillor – Sylvia Watson
by taking 41% of the popular vote to Watson's 33%.
In the riding of York South—Weston
, adjacent to Parkdale—High Park and once the seat of former leaders Bob Rae
, Donald C. MacDonald
and Ted Jolliffe, the NDP continued its string of recent by-election successes by taking away another Liberal strong-hold. On 8 February 2007, Paul Ferreira
narrowly defeated Liberal candidate Laura Albanese
by 358 votes, or 2%. This victory increased the NDP caucus' seat total to ten, up by three since the October 2003 general election.
, the party increased its share of the popular vote by two percent but did not make any gains in the Legislature, with the loss of Paul Ferreira
in York South—Weston
being offset by the victory of Paul Miller
in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek
. France Gélinas
also successfully retained the riding of Nickel Belt
, following the retirement of Shelley Martel
. The other eight NDP ridings were all retained by their incumbent MPPs.
Early polling in September 2006 showed the party with 27% support, its highest recorded level since 1992. By early 2007 support had fallen to 17% support, further behind the two front-running parties but still slightly ahead of the party's 15% result in the 2003 election. September 2007 polling had the NDP at 14%, while the September 29th Ipsos poll had them at 17%, meaning that NDP's support has been constant for a year within the margin of error. Though the same Ipsos poll suggested that the NDP would elect 12 members to the Legislature, the party would eventually elect only 10.
On 14 June 2008, Hampton announced he would be stepping down as leader at the forthcoming 2009 Ontario New Democratic Party leadership election
.
was held March 6–8, 2009. Horwath led on the first two ballots, and won on the third ballot with 60.4% of the vote.
In the lead-up to the election, Horwath began to campaign on tax incentives for businesses that create jobs in the province, making investments that improve health-care wait times, and cutting the Harmonized Sales Tax
from necessities such as home-heating and gas. Instead of providing broad corporate tax cuts, Horwath would focus on tax cuts for small businesses and companies that make investments in Ontario. Her campaign also criticized the McGuinty government for not soliciting competitive bids for green energy projects, and pledged to have a public bidding process where preference is given to local providers.
She sought to distance herself from former NDP Premier Bob Rae, now interim leader
of the Federal Liberal Party of Canada
, by mentioning that he is the exception to the rule of NDP Premiers in other provinces who have been able to balance provincial budgets. At the leaders' debate, her political rivals criticized the NDP's handling of the economy in the early 1990s, but Horwath further distanced the New Democratic Party from Mr. Rae by mentioning his current allegiance as a Federal Liberal. Her campaign largely refrained from mudslinging and personal attacks, and she led her party to an increase from 10 seats to 17 seats in the legislature.
2 The Ontario CCF was succeeded by the Ontario NDP in 1961.
3 Bud Wildman
was interim leader
of the NDP in the Ontario legislature from Rae's resignation as an MPP to Howard Hampton's election as party leader.
in the Ontario legislature and is the party's presumed candidate to lead an NDP government should the party be called upon to form a government. The Provincial Secretary
is an employee of the party and manages the day to day party organization outside of the legislature. The Provincial Secretary is hired by the party executive with the ratification of the provincial council.
The party's provincial executive is composed of the party's officers, six men and six women elected on a regional basis, three women and three men elected at large, one woman and one man elected by the Ontario New Democratic Youth, two women representing the Women's Committee, one woman and one man representing the Lesbian, Gay and Trans-identified Committee, one women and one man representing the party's ethnic committees, one woman and one man representing the Disability Rights Committee and one woman and one man representing the Aboriginal Section.
The highest decision making body of the party is the provincial convention held once every two years. The convention is made up of delegates elected by riding associations, sections of the party (ONDY, Women's, LGBT, Ethnic, Aboriginal, Disability), affiliates such as labour unions and other bodies.
The Provincial Council is the next highest decision making level and meets between conventions, usually three or four times a year. the Provincial Council is made up of the provincial executive, two representatives of the party's provincial caucus, two members elected from each riding association
, representatives of regional party bodies, representatives of sections of the party and party affiliates.
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
political party in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its first breakthrough with its first leader, Donald C. MacDonald
Donald C. MacDonald
Donald Cameron MacDonald, CM, O.Ont was a long time Canadian politician and political party leader and had been referred to as the "Best premier Ontario never had." He represented the provincial riding of York South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1982...
in the 1967 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1967
The Ontario general election of 1967 was held on October 17, 1967, to elect the 117 members of the 28th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, when the party elected 20 Members of Provincial Parliament (MPP) to the Ontario Legislative Assembly. After a leadership convention in 1970, Stephen Lewis
Stephen Lewis
Stephen Henry Lewis, is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of the those years as leader, his father David Lewis was simultaneously the leader of the Federal New Democratic Party...
became leader, and guided the party to Official Opposition status in 1975. After the party's disppointing performance in the 1977 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1977
The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, that included losing Official Opposition status, Lewis stepped down and Michael Cassidy
Michael Cassidy
Michael Morris Cassidy is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1984, and in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 1988...
became leader in 1978. Cassidy lead the party through one campaign, the 1981 election
Ontario general election, 1981
The Ontario general election of 1981 was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
. The party did badly again, and Cassidy resigned. In 1982, Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
was elected leader. During his time as leader the party was either the balance of power, official opposition, or the Governing Party. The 1990 election saw Rae elected as Premier, just when Canada's economy was in a recession. The party lost the 1995 election, and Rae stepped down as leader in 1996. Howard Hampton
Howard Hampton
Howard George Hampton, MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, since 1987 as the Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding of Kenora—Rainy River. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, he was also the party's...
became the leader in 1996, and the lead the party through three elections. Hampton's period as leader saw the ONDP lose official party status twice: after the 1999 and 2003 elections. He was able to regain party status first time by getting the government to redefine official party status requirements, and the second time after winning a string of by-elections in the mid-2000s. He stepped down as leader in 2009 and was replaced by the current party leader, Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath , is a Canadian activist and politician. She is the Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party in Canada. She is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Hamilton Centre, and was chosen as the party's leader at its 2009 leadership convention.She is...
. Following the Ontario general election in 2011, there are 17 NDP MPPs in the legislature.
Origins
The NDP's predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth FederationCo-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
(CCF), was a democratic socialist
Democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
political party, founded in 1932. The Ontario CCF in turn was indirectly the successor to the 1919–23 United Farmers of Ontario
United Farmers of Ontario
The United Farmers of Ontario was a political party in Ontario, Canada. It was the Ontario provincial branch of the United Farmers movement of the early part of the 20th century.- Foundation and rise :...
–Labour coalition
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
that formed the government in Ontario under Ernest C. Drury. With Ted Jolliffe
Ted Jolliffe
Edward Bigelow "Ted" Jolliffe, QC was a Canadian social democratic politician and lawyer from Ontario. He was the first leader of the Ontario section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and leader of the Official Opposition in the Ontario Legislature during the 1940s and 1950s...
as their first leader, the party nearly won the 1943 Ontario provincial election
Ontario general election, 1943
The Ontario general election of 1943 was held on August 4, 1943, to elect the 90 Members of the 21st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, winning 34 seats and forming the official opposition for the first time. Two-years later, they would be reduced to 8 seats. The final glory for the Ontario CCF came in the 1948 election
Ontario general election, 1948
The Ontario general election of 1948 was held on June 7, 1948, to elect the 90 members of the 23rd Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, when party elected 21 MPPs, and again formed the official opposition. They were even able to defeat Premier George A. Drew in his own constituency, when the CCF's Bill Temple
William Horace Temple
William Horace Temple , nicknamed "Temperance Bill" or "Temperance Willie", was a Canadian democratic socialist politician, trade union activist, businessman and temperance crusader. As a youth he worked for the railway. During World War I, and World War II he was a soldier in the Royal Naval...
won in High Park
High Park (electoral district)
High Park was a federal electoral district in the west end of the city of Toronto, in the province of Ontario, Canada...
, even though the Conservatives won another majority government. The breaking point for the Ontario CCF came in 1951. They were reduced to two MPP's in that year's provincial election
Ontario general election, 1951
The Ontario general election of 1951 was held on November 22, 1951, to elect the 90 members of the 24th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, and never really recovered. In the two remaining elections while it existed, the party never had more than five members in the legislature. Jolliffe resigned as leader in 1953.
End of the CCF/New Party and revival
Donald C. MacDonald
Donald Cameron MacDonald, CM, O.Ont was a long time Canadian politician and political party leader and had been referred to as the "Best premier Ontario never had." He represented the provincial riding of York South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1982...
became leader in 1953, and spent the next fifteen years rebuilding the party, from two seats when he took over the party's helm, to ten times that number when he stepped down in 1970. Delegates from the Ontario CCF, delegates from affiliated union locals, and delegates from New Party Clubs took part in the founding convention of the New Democratic Party of Ontario held in Niagara Falls at the Sheraton Brock hotel from 7–9 October 1961 and elected MacDonald as their leader. The Ontario CCF Council ceased to exist formally on Sunday, 8 October 1961, when the newly elected NDP executive officially took over.
The Ontario NDP gradually picked up seats through the 1960s. It achieved a breakthrough in the 1967 election
Ontario general election, 1967
The Ontario general election of 1967 was held on October 17, 1967, to elect the 117 members of the 28th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, when its popular vote rose from 15% to 26%. The party increased its presence in the legislature from 8 to 20 seats. In that election the party ran on the themes of the cost of living, taxes and housing and also promised progressive labour legislation.
Official Opposition
Stephen LewisStephen Lewis
Stephen Henry Lewis, is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of the those years as leader, his father David Lewis was simultaneously the leader of the Federal New Democratic Party...
took over the party's leadership in 1970, and the NDP's popularity continued to grow. With the 1975 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1975
The Ontario general election of 1975 was held on September 18, 1975, to elect the 125 members of the 30th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, the governing Conservatives were reduced to a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
for the first time in thirty years. The charismatic and dynamic Lewis ran a strong election campaign that forced the Tories to promise to implement the NDP's rent control
Rent control
Rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the renting of residential housing. It functions as a price ceiling.Rent control exists in approximately 40 countries around the world...
policies. The NDP overtook the Liberals to became the Official Opposition with 38 seats and 29% of the vote. However, the Tories retained power as a minority government.
Hopes were high that the NDP was on the verge of taking power, but in the 1977 election
Ontario general election, 1977
The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, the Tories under Bill Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
again won a minority government. The NDP lost five seats, and slipped into third place behind the Liberals. A frustrated Lewis resigned shortly afterwards.
Michael Cassidy
Michael Cassidy
Michael Morris Cassidy is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1984, and in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 1988...
was elected leader, but being the most left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
of the three leadership candidates, he was not fully trusted by the party establishment. Cassidy's policy advisor in the leadership campaign was James Laxer
James Laxer
James Laxer is a Canadian political economist, professor and author.In 1969, Laxer, along with his father Robert Laxer and Mel Watkins, founded the Waffle, a radical left wing group influenced by the New Left, the anti-Vietnam War movement and Canadian economic nationalism, that tried to win...
, a former leader of The Waffle
The Waffle
The Waffle was a radical wing of Canada's New Democratic Party in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It later transformed into an independent political party, with little electoral success before it permanently disbanded in the mid-1970s...
NDP faction which Lewis had expelled from the party in 1972. Some members of the NDP caucus considered Cassidy's election as a serious mistake, and encouraged him to resign before contesting an election. Cassidy ignored this advice, and remained as leader. The NDP declined further in the 1981 election
Ontario general election, 1981
The Ontario general election of 1981 was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
and Cassidy stepped down.
The party's fortunes turned around under the leadership of Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
. The NDP captured two by-elections at the cost of the Liberals. In late 1984, polls showed Rae's NDP ahead of the David Peterson
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson, PC, O.Ont was the 20th Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years....
-led Liberals.
The Rae years
The 1985 electionOntario general election, 1985
The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
resulted in a minority legislature: the Tories under Premier
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
Frank Miller
Frank Miller (politician)
Frank Stuart Miller, was a Canadian politician, who served as the 19th Premier of Ontario for four months in 1985.-Early life and political career:...
won 52 seats, the Liberals won 48, and the NDP 25. The New Democrats entered negotiations with both the Tories and the Liberals. The NDP signed a two-year accord with the Liberals, in which the Liberals would form government with the NDP's support in exchange for the implementation of a number of NDP policies. This was not a coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
as the NDP declined an offer to sit in Cabinet, preferring to remain in opposition. The governing Tories were defeated by a non-confidence motion and Miller resigned.
When the accord expired in 1987, Premier David Peterson
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson, PC, O.Ont was the 20th Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years....
called an election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
and the Liberals were re-elected with a large majority. The NDP lost seats but emerged as the largest opposition party, with Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
becoming Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)
The Leader of the Opposition in Ontario is usually leader of the largest party in the Ontario legislature which is not the government. The current official opposition is formed by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and Tim Hudak is the current Leader of the Opposition.Ontario's first...
.
Shortly before the general election of 1990
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
, the governing Liberals held a solid lead in the polls, though their popularity had tailed off from 1987. However, Peterson's government was soon mired in scandals and many regarded the early election call as cynical. Under Rae, the NDP ran a strong campaign, which was also aided by a successful federal NDP
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
showing a couple years earlier. Although the NDP finished only three percentage points ahead of the Liberals, they managed to take many seats in the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
away from the Liberals. As a result, the NDP won a large majority government of 74 seats while the Liberals suffered the worst defeat in their history.
Bob Rae became Premier of Ontario
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. In government, the NDP disappointed supporters by abandoning much of its ambitious program, including the promise to institute a public auto insurance
Public auto insurance
Public auto insurance is a government owned and operated system of automobile insurance operated in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec. According to studies by the Consumers' Association of Canada, rates charged for auto insurance in these four provinces...
system. As the recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
worsened, the NDP implemented what it called the Social Contract
Social Contract (Ontario)
The Social Contract refers to a 1993 initiative of the provincial Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae to impose austerity measures on civil service...
— which represented a shift to fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism is a political term used to describe a fiscal policy that advocates avoiding deficit spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider reduction of overall government spending and national debt as well as ensuring balanced budget of paramount importance...
that anticipated that of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in the United Kingdom under the leadership of Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. This was a package of austerity measures that:
- reopened the collective bargainingCollective bargainingCollective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
agreements of public sector unions; - implemented a wage freeze for public servantsCivil serviceThe term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
; and - imposed Rae DaysSocial Contract (Ontario)The Social Contract refers to a 1993 initiative of the provincial Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae to impose austerity measures on civil service...
, which were a schedule of days in which government workers were given days off without pay.
The Social Contract resulted in a major breach in the NDP's alliance with the labour movement
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
as several trade unions turned against the party. Rae's government passed employment equity legislation and amended the province's labour law to ban the use of replacement workers
Scab
Scab can refer to the following:* Scab, a hard coating on the skin formed during the wound healing reconstruction phase* Derogatory term for a strikebreaker, a person who works despite strike action or against the will of other employees...
during strikes, but this did not win back union support.
At one point, the NDP fell to a low of 6 percent support in polling. An ominous sign for the party came in the 1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
, in which all of the NDP's Ontario MPs lost their seats. It was obvious by the 1995 election
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
that Rae's government would not be re-elected. The official opposition Liberals under Lyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1992 to 1996.-Background - Pre...
were initially the beneficiaries of the NDP's unpopularity, but their poor campaign saw the momentum swung to the resurgent Tories under Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
, who vaulted from third in the legislature to win a large majority. The NDP fell down to 17 seats, third place in the Legislative Assembly. In 1996, Rae stepped down as party leader and resigned his seat in the legislature.
Despite these shortcomings, the Rae years did witness a number of reforms in the field of social welfare
Welfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
being enacted. In 1991, the Rae government increased basic social assistance rates by 7% and shelter rates by 10%. Single parents were uploaded from the municipalities and all lone parents were raised to the same income standard. In 1992 and 1993, the Rae government implemented successive increases to social assistance.
Hampton's leadership
Howard Hampton
Howard George Hampton, MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, since 1987 as the Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding of Kenora—Rainy River. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, he was also the party's...
who defeated Frances Lankin
Frances Lankin
Frances Lankin, PC is a former president and CEO of United Way Toronto, and a former Ontario MPP and cabinet minister. On November 30, 2010, Frances Lankin was appointed by the province to co-chair, along with Dr. Munir Sheikh, a comprehensive review of social assistance in Ontario...
, a member of Rae's inner circle, for the party leadership. Rae has since joined the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
and was an unsuccessful candidate for party leadership in December 2006 and December 2008.
Under Hampton, the party has largely repudiated Rae's policies and renewed its commitment to a moderate form of socialism. Shortly after the 1999 election
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, Hampton cited the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
model of social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
as closely reflecting his own beliefs. However, the party has never fully healed the breach with organized labour that resulted from the Social Contract, nor has it been able to regain the popularity it enjoyed in the late 1980s.
NDP support fell even further in the 1999 election
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, leaving the party with just nine seats. However, this was largely due to tactical voting
Tactical voting
In voting systems, tactical voting occurs, in elections with more than two viable candidates, when a voter supports a candidate other than his or her sincere preference in order to prevent an undesirable outcome.It has been shown by the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem that any voting method which is...
in which NDP supporters voted Liberal in hopes of removing Harris and the Tories from power. As a result, Hampton was not blamed for this severe defeat and stayed on as leader.
Under the rules of the Legislative Assembly, a party would receive official party status
Official party status
Official party status refers to the Canadian practice of recognizing political parties in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. The type of recognition and threshold needed to obtain it varies...
, and the resources and privileges accorded to officially-recognized parties, if it had 12 or more seats; thus, it initially appeared the NDP would lose caucus funding and the ability to ask questions in the House. However, the governing Conservatives changed the rules after the election to lower the threshold for party status from 12 seats to 8. The Conservatives had reduced the size of the legislature, so provincial ridings now had the same boundaries as the federal ones, and so the official party status threshold was lowered. Some suggested that the Tories helped the NDP so they could continue to split the vote
Vote splitting
Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate....
with the Liberals, although the Conservatives had stated before the election campaign even began that reducing official party status to eight seats was part of the seat reduction plan from the very beginning.
2003 election: losing official party status
In the 2003 electionOntario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, the party emphasized their "Public Power Campaign", which had two key issues, primarily publicly-owned electricity generation and distribution, and publicly-run auto insurance. As well, the Public Power Campaign also dealt with rolling-back the social program cuts from the Harris government's Common Sense Revolution
Common Sense Revolution
The phrase Common Sense Revolution has been used as a political slogan to describe common sense conservative platforms in Australia and the U.S. state of New Jersey in the 1990s. Based on the Singapore Model of economics, its main goal is to reduce taxes while balancing the budget by reducing the...
. Many media outlets – including The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
– thought that party leader Howard Hampton performed strongly in the televised leaders' debate. Despite Hampton's debate performance and a 2.4% increase in the popular vote, the party lost two seats, once again losing official party status and their previous speaking privileges and funding. One of the problems that likely affected NDP support was strategic voting, not unlike that of the 1999 election. This voting practice did do damage to the NDP's electoral fortunes because it was interpreted as a call for blanket support for Liberal candidates over NDP candidates, with no real thought to which candidate had a better chance to defeat a Conservative in any individual riding. Several unions, such as the Canadian Auto Workers
Canadian Auto Workers
The Canadian Auto Workers is one of Canada's largest and highest profile social unions. While rooted in Ontario's large auto plants of Windsor, Brampton, Oakville, St...
(CAW), promoted strategic voting
Tactical voting
In voting systems, tactical voting occurs, in elections with more than two viable candidates, when a voter supports a candidate other than his or her sincere preference in order to prevent an undesirable outcome.It has been shown by the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem that any voting method which is...
to their membership and the public, which further added to the party's woes. The newly elected Liberal government offered to give the NDP caucus research funding if their members would accept their status as independents. Hampton refused and disrupted the government Throne Speech in protest.
By-elections: regaining official party status
The first by-election in the 38th Legislative Assembly of Ontario38th Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The 38th Legislative Assembly of Ontario was a legislature of the government of the Province of Ontario, Canada. It officially opened November 19, 2003, at Queen's Park in Toronto, and ended on June 5, 2007...
, was in the riding of Hamilton East
Hamilton East (provincial electoral district)
Hamilton East is a former provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1894 to 2007, when it was redistributed between the new ridings of Hamilton Centre and Hamilton East—Stoney Creek...
, caused by the untimely death of the riding's MPP, Dominic Agostino
Dominic Agostino
Dominic Agostino was a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Hamilton East for the Liberal Party in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 until his death in 2004.-Biography:...
, on 24 March 2004. This tragic event, in conjunction with a recent and unpopular tax increase by the Liberals, provided the NDP with an opportunity to regain party status. A by-election was called for 13 May 2004, in which the new Liberal candidate, Agostino's brother Ralph, was challenged by NDP candidate Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath , is a Canadian activist and politician. She is the Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party in Canada. She is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Hamilton Centre, and was chosen as the party's leader at its 2009 leadership convention.She is...
, a Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
city councillor. In a fight for its political life, the NDP ran an all-out campaign to win the seat, aided by the city's large base of unionized steelworkers. On election night, Horwath took 63.8 per cent of the vote in the seat, bringing the NDP back to eight seats in the Legislature and allowing them to regain official party status.
The NDP's representation in the Legislature was again reduced to seven seats when Marilyn Churley resigned her seat to run in the 2006 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
. However, the Liberals reversed their position and declared that the NDP would retain party status even if they lost the upcoming Toronto—Danforth
Toronto—Danforth (provincial electoral district)
Toronto—Danforth is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999...
by-election. Some opposition sources believed the Liberals, mindful of their humiliating defeat to Horwath, had loosened their interpretation of the rules so that whomever ran for the NDP in Toronto—Danforth couldn't use the threat of lost status in a campaign. This issue became moot when, on March 30, 2006, NDP candidate Peter Tabuns
Peter Tabuns
Peter Charles Tabuns is a Canadian politician. He is serving as a member of the Ontario Legislative Assembly where he represents the riding of Toronto-Danforth as a member of the New Democratic Party. He launched a bid to lead the party after the previous leader, Howard Hampton, resigned. A...
won the by-election in the Toronto—Danforth riding by a 9% margin over the Liberals' Ben Chin
Ben Chin
Benjamin Byung Kyu Chin , known for short as Ben Chin, is Vice President, Energy Conservation Incentives at Air Miles for Social Change, and a former Canadian political adviser and television journalist.-Personal life and education:...
, alleviating another party status crisis.
The NDP scored a surprise victory over the Liberals in the late summer of that year in the riding of Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.Peggy Nash of the New Democratic Party was elected the Member of Parliament for the riding on May 2, 2011....
. Liberal Education Minister Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada...
resigned on 5 April 2006 to run for the Federal Liberal Party leadership. The government took an unusually long time to call the by-election, waiting until 16 August to drop the writ. It turned into one of the most vicious elections in recent Ontario memory, almost on par with Jolliffe's 1945 "Gestapo" campaign
LeBel Royal Commission
The LeBel Royal Commission was an Ontario Royal Commission set up on 28 May 1945 to look into charges made against the province's premier George A. Drew that he was operating a secret political police. The charges came from Ontario's Official Opposition Leader Edward Bigelow Jolliffe, during the...
. This time though, the NDP were not making the accusations; NDP candidate Cheri DiNovo
Cheri DiNovo
Cheri DiNovo, MPP, is a Canadian social democratic politician. She is an United Church of Canada minister and previously headed the Emmanuel-Howard Park congregation in Toronto, Ontario. As the New Democratic Party of Ontario candidate in Parkdale–High Park, she was elected to the Legislative...
's credibility was put to the test by what most of the media considered to be unworthy and underhanded personal attacks launched by the Liberals. The tactic backfired; on 14 September 2006, DiNovo defeated Liberal candidate – and incumbent Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
city councillor – Sylvia Watson
Sylvia Watson
Sylvia Watson is a former Canadian politician. She was a Toronto City Councillor for ward 14, part of the riding of Parkdale-High Park from 2003 to 2006 and the candidate for the Liberal Party of Ontario in the 2006 by-election and in the 2007 general election.-Background:Watson and her family...
by taking 41% of the popular vote to Watson's 33%.
In the riding of York South—Weston
York South—Weston
York South—Weston is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.-Electoral district:It is in the west-end of Toronto. The riding has a largely working class and immigrant population...
, adjacent to Parkdale—High Park and once the seat of former leaders Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
, Donald C. MacDonald
Donald C. MacDonald
Donald Cameron MacDonald, CM, O.Ont was a long time Canadian politician and political party leader and had been referred to as the "Best premier Ontario never had." He represented the provincial riding of York South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1982...
and Ted Jolliffe, the NDP continued its string of recent by-election successes by taking away another Liberal strong-hold. On 8 February 2007, Paul Ferreira
Paul Ferreira
Paul Ferreira is a Canadian social democratic politician and one of the first openly gay politicians elected to provincial office in Canada. He also has the distinction of being the very first Azorean-Canadian MPP...
narrowly defeated Liberal candidate Laura Albanese
Laura Albanese
Laura Albanese is a Canadian politician, formerly a news anchor for Italian language news programming on Omni Television. She is the Member of Provincial Parliament in the Ontario Legislative Assembly for the riding of York South—Weston which is situated in the northwest part of Toronto...
by 358 votes, or 2%. This victory increased the NDP caucus' seat total to ten, up by three since the October 2003 general election.
2007 Ontario general election
In the 2007 general electionOntario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...
, the party increased its share of the popular vote by two percent but did not make any gains in the Legislature, with the loss of Paul Ferreira
Paul Ferreira
Paul Ferreira is a Canadian social democratic politician and one of the first openly gay politicians elected to provincial office in Canada. He also has the distinction of being the very first Azorean-Canadian MPP...
in York South—Weston
York South—Weston
York South—Weston is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.-Electoral district:It is in the west-end of Toronto. The riding has a largely working class and immigrant population...
being offset by the victory of Paul Miller
Paul Miller (Canadian politician)
Paul Miller is a politician in Hamilton, Ontario, and Member of Provincial Parliament representing the provincial constituency of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Miller belongs to the Ontario New Democratic Party...
in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek
Hamilton East—Stoney Creek
Hamilton East—Stoney Creek is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004.The riding was formed in 2003 from parts of the former ridings of Hamilton East and Stoney Creek....
. France Gélinas
France Gélinas
France Gélinas is a Canadian politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Nickel Belt in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2007 Ontario election. She is a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party....
also successfully retained the riding of Nickel Belt
Nickel Belt (provincial electoral district)
Nickel Belt is a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Ontario. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The district is located in Northern Ontario and includes much of the eastern and southern parts of the District of Sudbury, as well as most of Greater...
, following the retirement of Shelley Martel
Shelley Martel
Shelley Dawn Marie Martel is a Canadian politician. A former member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, she represented the riding of Sudbury East from 1987 to 1999, and Nickel Belt from 1999 until 2007, as a New Democrat....
. The other eight NDP ridings were all retained by their incumbent MPPs.
Early polling in September 2006 showed the party with 27% support, its highest recorded level since 1992. By early 2007 support had fallen to 17% support, further behind the two front-running parties but still slightly ahead of the party's 15% result in the 2003 election. September 2007 polling had the NDP at 14%, while the September 29th Ipsos poll had them at 17%, meaning that NDP's support has been constant for a year within the margin of error. Though the same Ipsos poll suggested that the NDP would elect 12 members to the Legislature, the party would eventually elect only 10.
On 14 June 2008, Hampton announced he would be stepping down as leader at the forthcoming 2009 Ontario New Democratic Party leadership election
Ontario New Democratic Party leadership election, 2009
The 2009 Ontario New Democratic Party leadership election was held in Hamilton, from March 6 to 8, 2009 to elect a successor to Howard Hampton as leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party . On June 15, 2008, Hampton informed the party's provincial council that he would not stand for re-election as...
.
Horwath leadership
On November 7, 2008, Andrea Horwath officially launched her campaign to win the party's leadership. Andrea Horwath advocated heavy investment in light rail. In party matters she emphasised a closer relationship to unions and the hiring of regional organisers. The leadership electionOntario New Democratic Party leadership election, 2009
The 2009 Ontario New Democratic Party leadership election was held in Hamilton, from March 6 to 8, 2009 to elect a successor to Howard Hampton as leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party . On June 15, 2008, Hampton informed the party's provincial council that he would not stand for re-election as...
was held March 6–8, 2009. Horwath led on the first two ballots, and won on the third ballot with 60.4% of the vote.
In the lead-up to the election, Horwath began to campaign on tax incentives for businesses that create jobs in the province, making investments that improve health-care wait times, and cutting the Harmonized Sales Tax
Harmonized Sales Tax
The Harmonized Sales Tax is the name used in Canada to describe the combination of the federal Goods and Services Tax and the regional Provincial Sales Tax into a single value added sales tax in five of the ten Canadian provinces: Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, British...
from necessities such as home-heating and gas. Instead of providing broad corporate tax cuts, Horwath would focus on tax cuts for small businesses and companies that make investments in Ontario. Her campaign also criticized the McGuinty government for not soliciting competitive bids for green energy projects, and pledged to have a public bidding process where preference is given to local providers.
She sought to distance herself from former NDP Premier Bob Rae, now interim leader
Interim leader
An interim leader, in Canadian politics, is a party leader appointed by the party's legislative caucus or the party's executive to temporarily act as leader when a gap occurs between the resignation or death of a party leader and the election of a formal successor...
of the Federal Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, by mentioning that he is the exception to the rule of NDP Premiers in other provinces who have been able to balance provincial budgets. At the leaders' debate, her political rivals criticized the NDP's handling of the economy in the early 1990s, but Horwath further distanced the New Democratic Party from Mr. Rae by mentioning his current allegiance as a Federal Liberal. Her campaign largely refrained from mudslinging and personal attacks, and she led her party to an increase from 10 seats to 17 seats in the legislature.
Leaders of the Ontario CCF/NDP
- E.B.(Ted) JolliffeTed JolliffeEdward Bigelow "Ted" Jolliffe, QC was a Canadian social democratic politician and lawyer from Ontario. He was the first leader of the Ontario section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and leader of the Official Opposition in the Ontario Legislature during the 1940s and 1950s...
– 1942–1953 - Donald C. MacDonaldDonald C. MacDonaldDonald Cameron MacDonald, CM, O.Ont was a long time Canadian politician and political party leader and had been referred to as the "Best premier Ontario never had." He represented the provincial riding of York South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1982...
– 1953–19702 - Stephen LewisStephen LewisStephen Henry Lewis, is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of the those years as leader, his father David Lewis was simultaneously the leader of the Federal New Democratic Party...
– 1970–1978 - Michael CassidyMichael CassidyMichael Morris Cassidy is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1984, and in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 1988...
– 1978–1982 - Bob RaeBob RaeRobert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
– 1982–19963 - Howard HamptonHoward HamptonHoward George Hampton, MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, since 1987 as the Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding of Kenora—Rainy River. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, he was also the party's...
– 1996–2009 - Andrea HorwathAndrea HorwathAndrea Horwath , is a Canadian activist and politician. She is the Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party in Canada. She is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Hamilton Centre, and was chosen as the party's leader at its 2009 leadership convention.She is...
– 2009–present
2 The Ontario CCF was succeeded by the Ontario NDP in 1961.
3 Bud Wildman
Bud Wildman
Charles Jackson "Bud" Wildman is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament from 1975 to 1999, representing the riding of Algoma, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.-Background:He was...
was interim leader
Interim leader
An interim leader, in Canadian politics, is a party leader appointed by the party's legislative caucus or the party's executive to temporarily act as leader when a gap occurs between the resignation or death of a party leader and the election of a formal successor...
of the NDP in the Ontario legislature from Rae's resignation as an MPP to Howard Hampton's election as party leader.
Structure
The officers of the Ontario NDP are the leader, the party president, six vice-presidents and the treasurer. Apart from the leader, the party officers are elected at the party's biennial convention. The leader is head of the parliamentary party and leads the party caucusCaucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
in the Ontario legislature and is the party's presumed candidate to lead an NDP government should the party be called upon to form a government. The Provincial Secretary
Provincial Secretary
The Provincial Secretary was a senior position in the executive councils of British North America's colonial governments, and was retained by the Canadian provincial governments for at least a century after Canadian Confederation was proclaimed in 1867...
is an employee of the party and manages the day to day party organization outside of the legislature. The Provincial Secretary is hired by the party executive with the ratification of the provincial council.
The party's provincial executive is composed of the party's officers, six men and six women elected on a regional basis, three women and three men elected at large, one woman and one man elected by the Ontario New Democratic Youth, two women representing the Women's Committee, one woman and one man representing the Lesbian, Gay and Trans-identified Committee, one women and one man representing the party's ethnic committees, one woman and one man representing the Disability Rights Committee and one woman and one man representing the Aboriginal Section.
The highest decision making body of the party is the provincial convention held once every two years. The convention is made up of delegates elected by riding associations, sections of the party (ONDY, Women's, LGBT, Ethnic, Aboriginal, Disability), affiliates such as labour unions and other bodies.
The Provincial Council is the next highest decision making level and meets between conventions, usually three or four times a year. the Provincial Council is made up of the provincial executive, two representatives of the party's provincial caucus, two members elected from each riding association
Riding association
In Canadian politics a riding association , officially called an electoral district association is the basic unit of a political party, that is it is the party's organization at the level of the electoral district, or "riding"...
, representatives of regional party bodies, representatives of sections of the party and party affiliates.
Election results
| Year of election | Candidates elected | # of seats available | # of votes | % of popular vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 Ontario general election, 1963 The Ontario general election of 1963 was held on September 25, 1963, to elect the 108 members of the 27th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
7 | 108 | n.a. | 15.5% |
| 1967 Ontario general election, 1967 The Ontario general election of 1967 was held on October 17, 1967, to elect the 117 members of the 28th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
20 | 117 | n.a. | 25.9% |
| 1971 Ontario general election, 1971 The Ontario general election of 1971 was held on October 21, 1971, to elect the 117 members of the 29th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
19 | 117 | n.a. | 27.1% |
| 1975 Ontario general election, 1975 The Ontario general election of 1975 was held on September 18, 1975, to elect the 125 members of the 30th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
38 | 125 | n.a. | 28.9% |
| 1977 Ontario general election, 1977 The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
33 | 125 | n.a. | 28.0% |
| 1981 Ontario general election, 1981 The Ontario general election of 1981 was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
21 | 125 | n.a. | 21.2% |
| 1985 Ontario general election, 1985 The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada... |
25 | 125 | 865,507 | 23.8% |
| 1987 Ontario general election, 1987 The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority... |
19 | 130 | 970,813 | 25.7% |
| 1990 Ontario general election, 1990 The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada.... |
74 | 130 | 1,509,506 | 37.6% |
| 1995 Ontario general election, 1995 The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada... |
17 | 129 | 854,163 | 20.6% |
| 1999 Ontario general election, 1999 An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
9 | 103 | 551,009 | 12.6% |
| 2003 Ontario general election, 2003 The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
7 | 103 | 660,730 | 14.7% |
| 2007 Ontario general election, 2007 The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular... |
10 | 107 | 741,043 | 16.8% |
| 2011 Ontario general election, 2011 The 40th Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011 to elect members of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party will form a minority government, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario serving as the Official Opposition and the Ontario New... |
17 | 107 | 980,204 | 22.73% |
See also
- List of articles about Ontario CCF/NDP members
- Ontario CCF/NDP leadership elections
- Ontario New Democratic Party Shadow Cabinet of the 40th Legislative Assembly of OntarioOntario New Democratic Party Shadow Cabinet of the 40th Legislative Assembly of OntarioThe Ontario New Democratic Party Shadow Cabinet for the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario was announced on October 25, 2011.-See also:*Executive Council of Ontario*Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario...
- List of Ontario political parties
- Metro New Democratic PartyMetro New Democratic PartyThe Metro New Democratic Party was a political party in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It supported candidates for election to the municipal councils and school boards of the six municipalities that made up Metro Toronto...
– Municipal NDP in Toronto in the 1970s and 1980s