New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party
Nouveau Parti démocratique
AbbreviationNDP
NPD[a]
LeaderJagmeet Singh
PresidentMary Shortall
National directorLucy Watson[1]
Deputy leaderAlexandre Boulerice
House leaderPeter Julian
FoundedAugust 3, 1961 (63 years ago) (1961-08-03)[2]
Preceded by
HeadquartersOttawa, Ontario
Youth wingCanada's Young New Democrats
Membership (2017)Increase 124,620[3][needs update]
Ideology
Political position[under discussion]
Centre-left to left-wing
International affiliationProgressive Alliance[4]
Union affiliateCanadian Labour Congress
Colours  Orange
Senate
0 / 105
House of Commons
25 / 338
Provincial and territorial premiers
2 / 13
Provincial and territorial
legislative assemblies
180 / 772
Website
ndp.ca Edit this at Wikidata

The New Democratic Party (NDP; French: Nouveau Parti démocratique; NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,[5] the party sits at the centre-left[10] to left-wing[17] of the Canadian political spectrum,[under discussion] with the party generally sitting to the left of the Liberal Party.[20] The party was founded in 1961 by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).[21]

The federal and provincial (or territorial) level NDPs are more integrated than other political parties in Canada, and have shared membership (except for the New Democratic Party of Quebec).[22] The NDP has never won the largest share of seats at the federal level and thus has never formed government. From 2011 to 2015, it formed the Official Opposition; apart from this, it has been the third or fourth-largest party in the House of Commons. However, the party has held the balance of power, and with it considerable influence, during periods of Liberal minority governments. Sub-national branches of the NDP have formed the government in six provinces (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia) and the territory of Yukon. The NDP supports a mixed economy, broader welfare, LGBT rights, international peace, environmental stewardship, and expanding Canada's universal healthcare system to include dental care, mental health care, eye and hearing care, infertility procedures, and prescription drugs.

Since 2017, the NDP has been led by Jagmeet Singh, who is the first visible minority to lead a major federal party in Canada on a permanent basis. Following the 2021 Canadian federal election, it is the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons, with 24 seats.


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  1. ^ cbc.ca [bare URL]
  2. ^ Neville, William (August 3, 1961). "Douglas Leads New Party, 'Democratic' Tag in Name". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver. UPI. p. 1. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
  3. ^ Éric Grenier (August 29, 2017). "NDP triples its membership to 124,000 in run-up to party's leadership vote". Cbc.ca. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  4. ^ "Parties & Organisations of the Progressive Alliance". progressive-alliance.info. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  5. ^ The party is widely described as social democratic:
  6. ^ David McGrane (2018). "Electoral competition in Canada among the centre-left parties: liberal versus social democrats". In Rob Manwaring; Paul Kennedy (eds.). Why the Left Loses: The Decline of the Centre-Left in Comparative Perspective. Policy Press. pp. 39–52. ISBN 978-1-4473-3266-4.
  7. ^ "Canada's New Democrats elect Jagmeet Singh as party leader". BBC News. October 2, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  8. ^ How Canada's politics are different to Australia's. ABC. Author – Annabelle Quince. Published 16 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  9. ^ Death of Jack Layton Weakens Canada's Political Opposition. The New York Times. Author – Ian Austen. Published August 22, 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2019
  10. ^ [6][7][8][9]
  11. ^ Gauvin, Jean-Philippe; Chhim, Chris; Medeiros, Mike (May 16, 2016). "Did They Mind the Gap? Voter/Party Ideological Proximity between the BQ, the NDP and Quebec Voters". Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique. 49 (2). Cambridge: 289–310. doi:10.1017/S000842391600038X. Retrieved September 19, 2024. Given that the BQ and NDP are left-wing parties, both being socially progressive and economically leftist, it is not surprising to see similar trends on these dimensions.
  12. ^ Cochrane, Christopher (2010). "Left/Right Ideology and Canadian Politics". Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique. 43 (3). Canadian Political Science Association: 583–603. doi:10.1017/S0008423910000624.
  13. ^ Kiss, Simon; Polacko, Matt; Graefe, Peter (October 24, 2023). "Educated voters in Canada tend to vote for left-leaning parties while richer voters go right". The Conversation. The Conversation. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  14. ^ Honderich, Holly (September 4, 2024). "Canada's NDP pulls support for Trudeau's Liberals". BBC. BBC. Retrieved September 4, 2024. Canada's left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) has pulled the plug on a two-and-a-half-year-old agreement with Justin Trudeau's Liberals that had helped keep his minority government in power.
  15. ^ a b Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant (2013). Gendered News: Media Coverage and Electoral Politics in Canada. UBC Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-7748-2625-9.
  16. ^ a b Andrea Olive (2015). The Canadian Environment in Political Context. University of Toronto Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-4426-0871-9.
  17. ^ [11][12][13][14][15][16]
  18. ^ David Martin Thomas; David Biette (2014). Canada and the United States: Differences that Count, Fourth Edition. University of Toronto Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-4426-0908-2.
  19. ^ Rodney P. Carlisle (2005). Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right. SAGE Publications. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-4522-6531-5.
  20. ^ [15][16][18][19]
  21. ^ Pamela Behan (2012). Solving the Health Care Problem: How Other Nations Succeeded and Why the United States Has Not. SUNY Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-791-48135-6.
  22. ^ Marc Guinjoan (2014). Parties, Elections and Electoral Contests: Competition and Contamination Effects. Ashgate. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4724-3910-9.