The Left Caucus was an Ontario-based left-wing pressure group within the
New Democratic Party of Canada
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:
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and the
Ontario New Democratic Party from the late 1970s to early 1990s.
The Caucus was formed several years after the demise of
The Waffle
The Waffle (also known as the Movement for an Independent Socialist Canada) was a radical wing of Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It later transformed into an independent political party, with little elect ...
, an earlier left-wing faction which had been forced to leave the NDP in the mid-1970s.
It was formed by 150 to 200 members
["Left Caucus fills Waffle shoes in battling NDP" by Kirk Makin, Globe and Mail, November 24, 1979] in the lead up to the NDP's 1979 federal convention to which it proposed a series of radical resolutions promoting greater
public ownership of the economy and other socialist and left-wing measures.
John Rodriguez
John R. Rodriguez (February 12, 1937 – July 5, 2017) was a Canadian politician. He served as the mayor of Greater Sudbury, Ontario from 2006 to 2010 and previously represented the electoral district of Nickel Belt in the House of Commons of ...
, Member of Parliament for
Nickel Belt, was the leading spokesperson for the caucus.
[ Another notable founding member of the Left Caucus was Ontario NDP MPP and future provincial finance minister ]Floyd Laughren
Floyd Laughren (born October 3, 1935) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 who represented the northern Ontario riding of Nickel Belt. He served in ca ...
.
Rodriguez said the caucus different from the Waffle in that its ultra-left elements were a minor part and as it was willing to abide by the final resolutions of the convention, whether it agrees with them or not. However, Rodriguez warned that the Left Caucus would be outspoken if resolutions it favours passed the convention but were ignored by the party's leadership.[
The only one of the caucus' resolutions to be approved by the 1979 convention, however, was one protesting the jail sentence handed to ]Jean-Claude Parrot
Jean-Claude Parrot (born 24 July 1937) was National President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers between 1977 and 1992, and its chief negotiation, negotiator for eighteen years. Parrot led the union through several national postal strikes an ...
, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW; french: Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des postes TTP}) is a public-sector trade union representing postal workers including letter carriers, rural and suburban mail carriers, postal clerk ...
for leading a wildcat strike
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...
.["NDP convention finds radicals in left field" by Jeffrey Simpson, Globe and Mail, November 26, 1979]
In 1981, the Left Caucus opposed Bob Rae
Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...
's successful candidacy for the leadership of the Ontario NDP backing MPP Richard Johnston instead.
Prior to the 1983 federal convention, the Left Caucus again pushed for the party to adopt an economic policy focussed on nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
of industry and issued a document decrying "the half-measures of a mixed economy" and calling for "a socialist industrial strategy based on public sector ownership of the decisive sectors of the economy." The caucus unsuccessfully opposed the adoption of a new "statement of principles" by the NDP in 1983 which watered down the party's commitment to 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 ...
and the planned economy
A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, part ...
.
In the mid-1980s the Caucus was involved with the Campaign for an Activist Party which attempted unsuccessfully to elect a slate led by Judy Rebick
Judy Rebick (born August 15, 1945) is a Canadian writer, journalist, political activist, and feminist.
Early life
Born in Reno, Nevada, Rebick and her family moved to Toronto when she was 9. She became a socialist activist in the 1970s, joining th ...
to the executive of the Ontario NDP.
Simon Rosenblum, later a vice-president of the ONDP and chief of staff to provincial finance minister Floyd Laughren
Floyd Laughren (born October 3, 1935) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 who represented the northern Ontario riding of Nickel Belt. He served in ca ...
, was a leader of the caucus in the early 1980s and authored a resolution that called on an NDP government to use "the central role of public ownership in the development of our primary resource industries". By the end of the 1980s the Left Caucus was led by members of the "Forward" Group such as Gord Doctorow, Wayne Roberts, Harry Kopyto and George Ehring.
The Caucus declined from 1990 to 1995 while the Ontario NDP was in government under Bob Rae
Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...
with publication of the ''Left Caucus Newsletter'' ceasing in 1994. In 1993, leading Left Caucus members Harry Kopyto, Gord Doctorow and Lois Bedard organised an open letter signed by 11 party members including three dissident MPPs criticising the Rae government for being too close to corporate interests and alienating itself from labour.["Anti-Rae letter forces others to back Premier Presidents of CAW, NDP distance selves from Kopyto-authored attack" by Richard Mackie, ''Globe and Mail'', March 1, 1993]
References
External links
Draft Manifesto for the NDP Submitted by the Ontario Left Caucus
March 1983
{{NDP
1979 establishments in Ontario
Political movements in Canada
Socialist parties in Canada
History of the New Democratic Party (Canada)
Political party factions in Canada