The Ginger Group was not a formal political party in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, but a
faction
Faction or factionalism may refer to:
Politics
* Political faction, a group of people with a common political purpose
* Free and Independent Faction, a Romanian political party
* Faction (''Planescape''), a political faction in the game ''Planes ...
of radical
Progressive and
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
who advocated
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
. The term
ginger group also refers to a small group with new, radical ideas trying to act as a catalyst within a larger body.
The Ginger Group split with the Progressive Party in 1924 when Progressive leader
Robert Forke
Robert Forke, (April 6, 1860 – February 2, 1934) was a Canadian politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Brandon in 1921. In 1922, he replaced Thomas Crerar as leader of the Progressive Party of Canada. Forke served as a cab ...
proved too eager to accommodate the Liberal government of
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...
and agreed to support the government's budget with only minimal concessions.
J. S. Woodsworth
James Shaver Woodsworth (July 29, 1874 – March 21, 1942) was a pre–First World War pioneer of the Canadian Social Gospel, a Christian religious movement with social democratic values and links to organized labour. He was a long-time leader ...
, using his right as the leader of the Independent Labour MPs, moved a stronger amendment to the budget based on demands the Progressives had made in earlier years but had since abandoned. The Progressive and Labour MPs who broke with their Progressive colleagues to support Woodsworth became the "Ginger Group".
It was made up of
United Farmers of Alberta
The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...
MPs
George Gibson Coote,
Robert Gardiner,
Edward Joseph Garland
Edward Joseph Garland (March 16, 1887 – December 19, 1974) was a farmer, diplomat and a Canadian federal politician. He was born in Dublin, Ireland and attended Belvedere College and Trinity College Dublin.
Political career
Garland, an act ...
,
Donald MacBeth Kennedy and
Henry Elvins Spencer as well as
United Farmers of Ontario
The United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) was an agrarian and populist provincial political party in Ontario, Canada. It was the Ontario provincial branch of the United Farmers movement of the early part of the 20th century.
History
Foundation and r ...
MP
Agnes Macphail. The group was later joined by
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
MPs J. S. Woodsworth,
William Irvine,
Abraham Albert Heaps
Abraham Albert Heaps (December 24, 1885 – April 4, 1954), known as A. A. Heaps, was a Canadian politician and labour leader. A strong labourite, he served as MP for Winnipeg North from 1925 to 1940.
Born in Leeds, England, Heaps emig ...
and
Angus MacInnis
Angus MacInnis (September 2, 1884 – March 3, 1964) was a Canadian socialist politician and parliamentarian.
MacInnis, a trade unionist who had served for five years as a Vancouver Alderman, was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada ...
, independent MP
Joseph Tweed Shaw
Joseph Tweed Shaw (August 30, 1883 – July 12, 1944) was a Canadian politician. He served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1921 to 1925 as an independent Labour Member of Parliament (MP), and later became an MLA and leader of the Albert ...
and
Progressive MPs
Milton Neil Campbell,
William John Ward
William John Ward (October 25, 1880 – August 18, 1971) was a Canadian politician, farmer, insurance agent, and real estate agent from Dauphin, Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = ...
,
William Charles Good
William Charles Good (February 24, 1876 – November 16, 1967), also known as W. C. Good, was a Canadian politician and leader of the farmers' and co-operative movement in Canada.
Good the executive of the Farmers' Association in 1904. A ...
, and
Preston Elliott
Preston Elliott (May 1, 1875 – January 12, 1939) was a Canadian farmer and politician from Ontario. Born in Chesterville, Ontario to William Elliott and Mary Agnes Rae, he served in the House of Commons of Canada for the Dundas electoral dis ...
.
Members of the Ginger Group played a role in forming the Cooperative 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 ...
in 1932, with Woodsworth becoming the new party's leader.[
The only sitting United Farmers of Alberta who did not join the CCF at its founding was ]William Thomas Lucas
William Thomas Lucas (1875–1973) was a Canadian farmer and a federal politician.
He was born in Bailieboro, Ontario, on July 26, 1875, to John William and Margaret (née Fair) Lucas, both of Irish descent. He attended public schooling in the ...
who ran for re-election unsuccessfully as a Conservative in 1935.
The name Ginger Group was also used to refer to a group of Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
MPs who, in 1917 opposed Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Robert Borden
Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known for his leadership of Canada during World War I.
Borde ...
's use of the Military Service Act to introduce conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
during the Conscription Crisis of 1917
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 (french: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also b ...
.[
]
See also
*List of political parties in Canada
This article lists political parties in Canada.
Federal parties
In contrast with the political party systems of many nations, Canadian parties at the federal level are often only loosely connected with parties at the provincial level, despite ha ...
References
{{Canadian federal political parties
1924 establishments in Canada
Agrarian parties in Canada
Nationalist parties in Canada
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Federal political parties in Canada
Labour history of Canada
Political party factions in Canada
Political schisms
Progressivism in Canada
Social democratic parties in Canada
Socialist parties in Canada
United Farmers