Ontario New Democratic Party Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | ONDP |
| Leader | Marit Stiles |
| President | Janelle Brady |
| Provincial director | Kevin Beaulieu |
| Deputy leader(s) | Doly Begum Sol Mamakwa |
| House leader | John Vanthof |
| Founded | October 8, 1961 |
| Preceded by | Ontario CCF |
| Headquarters | 2069 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Youth wing | Ontario New Democratic Youth |
| Ideology | Social democracy |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| National affiliation | New Democratic Party |
| International affiliation | Progressive Alliance |
| Colours | Orange |
| Seats in legislature | 28 / 124 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP; French: Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario)[1] is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left[2] of the political spectrum and currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following the 2018 general election. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party.
It was formed in October 1961 from the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section) (Ontario CCF) and the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL).
For many years, the Ontario NDP was the most successful provincial NDP branch outside the national party's western heartland. It had its first breakthrough under its first leader, Donald C. MacDonald in the 1967 provincial election, when the party elected 20 Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) to the Ontario Legislative Assembly. After the 1970 leadership convention, Stephen Lewis became leader, and guided the party to Official Opposition status in 1975, the first time since the Ontario CCF did it twice in the 1940s. After the party's disappointing performance in the 1977 provincial election, that included losing second party status, Lewis stepped down and Michael Cassidy was elected leader in 1978. Cassidy led the party through one campaign, the 1981 election. The party did poorly again, and Cassidy resigned.
In 1982, Bob Rae was elected leader. Under his leadership, in 1985, the party held the balance-of-power with the signing of an accord with the newly elected Ontario Liberal Party minority government. After the 1987 Ontario general election, the ONDP became the Official Opposition again. The 1990 Ontario general election surprisingly produced the ONDP's breakthrough first government in 1990 (when the election was called it looked like the Liberals would win a second majority government). The victory produced the first NDP provincial government east of Manitoba. But it took power just when Canada's economy was in a recession, and as a result of unpopular economic and social policies it was defeated in 1995. Rae stepped down as leader in 1996.
Howard Hampton was elected leader in at the 1996 Hamilton convention, and led 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 the first time after the governing Progressive Conservatives revised party status requirements in accordance with that election's reduction in the number of seats in the legislature, and the second time after winning a string of by-elections in the mid-2000s. The party maintained party status after the 2007 Ontario general election and he stepped down as leader in 2009.
Andrea Horwath replaced him after she was elected leader at the 2009 leadership convention in Hamilton. Under her leadership in the 2011 Ontario general election, the party elected 17 MPPs to the legislature and in the 2014 Ontario general election, the party elected 21 MPPs. Under Horwath, the party achieved its second highest seat count (other than forming government in 1990) when it formed the Official Opposition with 40 MPPs after the 2018 Ontario general election. This dropped to 31 MPPs after the 2022 Ontario general election, with Horwath announcing her resignation as leader. Marit Stiles replaced her after she was acclaimed leader at the 2023 leadership election.
- ^ "Ontario New Democratic Party".
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- Nergis Canefe (2013). "Home in Exile: Politics of Refugeehood in the Canadian Muslim Diaspora". In Keith Banting; John Myles (eds.). Inequality and the Fading of Redistributive Politics. UBC Press. p. 385. ISBN 978-0-7748-2601-3.
- Rodney Haddow; Thomas Richard Klassen (2006). Partisanship, Globalization, and Canadian Labour Market Policy: Four Provinces in Comparative Perspective. University of Toronto Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-8020-9090-4.