New Democratic Party of Manitoba: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the New Democratic Party of Canada, and is a successor to the Manitoba Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. It is currently the governing party in Manitoba.

In 1958, the federal Cooperative Commonwealth Federation was reduced to eight seats in the Canadian House of Commons. The CCF's leadership spent the next three years reconstituting the party, and in 1961 it was formally merged with the Canadian Labour Congress to create the New Democratic Party of Canada.

Most provincial wings of the CCF also dissolved themselves in favour of "New Democratic Party" organizations before the year was over (Saskatchewan was the only exception). There was very little opposition to the change in Manitoba, though ironically future leader Howard Pawley was one of the few party members to speak against it.

The Manitoba NDP was formally constituted as a political entity on November 4, 1961. Outgoing CCF leader Russell Paulley easily won the party's leadership, defeating two minor figures who offered little in the way of policy alternatives.

The reconstituted party did not initially achieve an electoral breakthrough, falling from eleven seats to seven in the provincial election of 1962. They recovered to ten in 1966, but were still unable to present a serious challenge to Dufferin Roblin's centrist Tory government.

Many within the party considered Paulley to be a liability, particularly after the 1966 election. Paulley was essentially an old-style labourite, and was unable to appeal to a broader constituency base. In 1968, he was challenged for the party leadership by Sidney Green, a labour lawyer from north Winnipeg.

The 1968 leadership challenge was unusual, in that most of Paulley's supporters encouraged him to resign the following year, such he could be replaced by centrist federal MP Edward Schreyer instead of the more confrontational Green.

The leadership challenge was also interpreted by some as reflecting ideological divisions in the party, with Green considered as a representative of the radical left. Green denied that this was the case (probably correctly, in the light of later events) but his supporters nevertheless tended to be from the party's youth wing. Paulley, in turn, was supported by the party establishment and organized labour.

Paulley won the challenge by 213 votes to 168, and resigned the following year after making a half-hearted attempt to stay in power. Schreyer defeated Green by 506 votes to 177 in the leadership race which followed.

Most observers were anticipating the NDP to increase its parliamentary strength in the 1969 election, but it was still a surprise when the party won 28 seats out of 57, and formed government after the defection of Liberal MLA Laurent Desjardins. There were a number of factors behind the party's sudden rise to power, many of which revolved around the personalities of the three party leaders.

The Progressive Conservatives chose Walter Weir as their new leader when Roblin moved to federal politics in 1967. Weir was a far more conservative figure than Roblin, and probably alienated many urban and centre-left voters who had previously supported his party. The Liberals, for their part, chose Robert Bend as their leader shortly before the election. Bend, like Weir, was a rural populist, and his "rodeo-theme" campaign seemed anachronistic to most urban voters.

Schreyer, for his part, was a centrist figure within the NDP. Not ideologically committed to socialism, he was in many respects similar to federal Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Schreyer was also the first of Manitoba's social-democratic leaders to be from non-Anglo-Saxon and Protestant background. A German-Austrian Catholic from rural Manitoba, he appealed to constituencies not previously inclined to support the NDP.

Schreyer's first ministry introduced a number of radical changes to Manitoba politics. It amalgamated the city of Winnipeg, introduced public auto insurance, and significantly reduced medicare premiums. Schreyer's cabinet was divided on the issue of state funding for denominational schools (with Green as the most prominent opponent), but resolved the issue with a compromise. The government also continued with Roblin's energy development projects in northern Manitoba.

In 1973, Schreyer's government was re-elected with a majority. His second term was less dramatic than the first, though the government did introduce a new tax on mining resources. In 1977, Schreyer's New Democrats were upset by the Tories under Sterling Lyon.

Schreyer resigned as party leader in 1979, after being appointed Governor-General of Canada. His departure brought to the surface a number of serious divisions within the party. Howard Pawley was chosen over Sidney Green as the party's interim leader at a caucus meeting; Pawley would later defeat Muriel Smith and Russell Doern to win the party's official leadership at a delegated convention. Green left the NDP shortly thereafter, claiming that the NDP was being taken over by "the trade union movement and military feminists" (his exact words). In 1981, Green formed the Progressive Party of Manitoba, and was joined by NDP MLAs Ben Hanuschak and Bud Boyce.

Despite these defections, Pawley's New Democrats were able to win a majority government in 1981. The Pawley government introduced legislation favourable to labour, and re-established french-language services Manitoba's parliament and legal system. An attempt to introduce official bilingualism to Manitoba, however, was withdrawn in the face of popular protest. Russell Doern, who had served as a cabinet minister under Edward Schreyer, left the NDP over this issue in 1984.

The New Democrats were re-elected with a narrow majority in 1986. Over the next two years, the party would suffer a noticeable decline in its popularity. The Manitoba Telephone System made bad investments in Saudi Arabia during the period, and the government was forced to raise taxes to compensate for its losses. Auto insurance premiums also rose significantly during this period. Gary Doer would later claim that an internal party poll had the NDP at only 6% support in early 1988. This may be an exaggeration, but the party's unpopularity at the time was real, and has been confirmed by other party insiders.

Early in 1988, a disgruntled NDP backbencher named Jim Walding voted with the opposition on a motion of confidence (Walding had previously opposed the government's affirmative action policies, and there were suspicions that he was planning to leave the party as early as 1985). Walding's defection resulted in the government's defeat, and Pawley resigned as party leader after calling new elections. At a convention held concurrent with the electoral campaign, Gary Doer narrowly defeated Len Harapiuk to become the NDP's new leader. Doer could have sworn himself in as Premier, but declined for fear of negative publicity.

The NDP suffered a serious defeat in the 1988 election, falling to only 12 seats. Gary Filmon's Tories won 25, and the Liberal Party under Sharon Carstairs won 20 to supplant the NDP as the official opposition. Doer was not personally blamed for the party's poor showing, and remained as leader.

In 1990, Filmon called new elections seeking a majority mandate. He succeeded in achieving this end, but Doer managed to bring the NDP back to official opposition status with 20 seats (benefiting from a national resurgence in popularity for the NDP).

The NDP began the 1995 election well behind the Tories, but received of a last-minute surge in popularity and came very close to forming government. They might have been victorious had it not been for the unpopularity of Bob Rae's NDP government in neighbouring Ontario, and concerns that Doer's party would govern Manitoba in a similar fashion.

Filmon's Tories lost popularity between 1995 and 1999, due to increased unemployment and a vote-manipulation scandal involving the 1995 election. With the Liberals suffering from internal divisions, the NDP were able to present themselves as the only viable alternative. The 1999 election was considered too close to call up until election day, but the NDP benefited from a collapse in Liberal support, and won 32 seats to form a majority government.

The Doer administration has not introduced as many changes as the Schreyer and Pawley governments, though it has retained the NDP's traditional support for organized labour. Manitoba has the lowest unemployment rate in Canada as of 2004, and Doer's government remained generally popular with the electorate. In 2003, it was re-elected with 35 seats and almost 50% of the popular vote (an impressive total in a three-party system). Doer was personally re-elected in his north Winnipeg riding with over 76% of the vote, and the NDP made inroads into traditional Tory bastions in south Winnipeg.

Party Leaders

• 1. Russell Paulley November 4, 1961-June 7, 1969
• 2. Edward Schreyer June 7, 1969-1979
• 3. Howard Pawley 1979-March 30, 1988 (interim leader until November 4, 1979)
• 4. Gary Doer March 30, 1988-