The Douglas–Coldwell Foundation is a left-wing

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

devoted, in the words of its slogan, to "promoting education and research into

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

." It was founded in 1971, and is based in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

. The Foundation was named for and inspired by

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...

, the first federal leader of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

from 1961 to 1971, and M. J. Coldwell, leader of its predecessor

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialistThe follo ...

from 1942 to 1960. Both had desired a Canadian counterpart to the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

. In 1987, it merged with the Ontario Woodsworth Memorial Foundation of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, named for Coldwell's predecessor as CCF leader, J. S. Woodsworth. The foundation has underwritten biographies of Douglas, Coldwell,

Clarence Gillis Clarence (Clarie) Gillis, MP (October 3, 1895 – December 17, 1960) was a Canadian social democratic politician and trade unionist from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. He was born on Nova Scotia's mainland, but grew up in Cape Breton. He worke ...

Stanley Knowles Stanley Howard Knowles (June 18, 1908 – June 9, 1997) was a Canadian parliamentarian. Knowles represented the riding of Winnipeg North Centre from 1942 to 1958 on behalf of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and again from 1 ...

, and Grace MacInnis, and scholarships and lectureships at Canadian post-secondary institutions. The foundation also gives out yearly grants totalling up to $25,000 for projects supporting its mandate of "promoting education and research in social democracy." The foundation is a registered

charitable The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Etymology The word ''charity'' or ...

foundation, contributions to which are

tax-deductible Tax deduction is a reduction of income that is able to be taxed and is commonly a result of expenses, particularly those incurred to produce additional income. Tax deductions are a form of tax incentives, along with exemptions and tax credits. ...

in Canada; it accepts memberships and solicits donations from individuals and organizations in the general public. While predominantly associated with NDP members and activists, and concerned in part with the history and future of the party, it is an independent group with no administrative connection to any political party. Tommy Douglas was the foundation's first president. Trade unionist

Kalmen Kaplansky Kalmen Kaplansky, (January 5, 1912 – December 10, 1997) was a civil, human rights and trade union activist in Canada. Alan Borovoy described Kaplansky as "the ''zaideh''" (grandfather) of the Canadian human rights movement. Kaplansky was born i ...

led the think tank in the 1980s and 1990s.Tessa Hebb served as president from 1995 to 2005, followed by David Mackenzie, David White and David Mackenzie again until 2016. Former NDP senior advisor

Karl Bélanger Karl Bélanger (born 1975) is the President of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation. He was the interim National Director of the New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada from January 23, 2016 to September 12, 2016. He was principal secretary to NDP Le ...

became president of the foundation in November 2016.The Douglas-Coldwell Foundation elects Karl Bélanger as President
''Douglas-Coldwell Foundation'', November 24, 2016.

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* Charities based in Canada Organizations based in Ottawa Organizations established in 1971 Political and economic research foundations Political and economic think tanks based in Canada Socialist education Socialist think tanks 1971 establishments in Canada {{econ-org-stub