The Regina Manifesto was the programme of the

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 socialism, democra ...

(CCF) and was adopted at the first national convention of the CCF held in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, in 1933. The goal of the Regina Manifesto was to eradicate the system of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and replace it with a planned socialist economy. The CCF was a Canadian

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...

party founded in 1932 by farmers, workers, and socialist groups against the backdrop of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. The manifesto was largely written by members of the

League for Social Reconstruction The League for Social Reconstruction (LSR) was a circle of Canadian socialists officially formed in 1932. The group advocated for social and economic reformation as well as political education. The formation of the LSR was provoked by events such ...

, particularly

Frank Underhill Frank Hawkins Underhill, Medal of Service of the Order of Canada, SM, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, FRSC (November 26, 1889 – September 16, 1971) was a Canadians, Canadian journalist, essayist, historian, cultural critic, social c ...

and F. R. Scott, and called for "a planned and socialized economy in which our natural resources and principal means of production and distribution are owned, controlled and operated by the people." Specifically it called for the

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 transportation, communications, electrical power and other services. It called for a

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 ...

and a national banking system that would be "removed from the control of private profit-seeking interests." It advocated the ability to organize in

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s and called for a National Labour Code "to secure for the worker maximum income and leisure, insurance covering illness, accident, old age, and unemployment". The Regina Manifesto proposed social service programs such as

publicly funded health care Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are se ...

, supported peace, promoted

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

enterprises, and vowed that "No C.C.F. Government will rest content until it has eradicated capitalism and put into operation the full programme of socialized planning which will lead to the establishment in Canada of the

Cooperative Commonwealth 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 ...

." The Regina Manifesto remained the CCF's official programme until 1956 when, in the face of the strong

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

sentiment of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, it was replaced by the more moderate Winnipeg Declaration which substituted

Keynesian economics Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output an ...

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Further reading