The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) is a
social-democratic political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in the
Canadian province of
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in 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 the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
. It currently forms the
official opposition, but has been a dominant force in Saskatchewan politics since the 1940s. The party is the successor to the Saskatchewan section of the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), and is affiliated with the federal
New Democratic Party.
History
Precursors
![Towards the Dawn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Towards_the_Dawn.jpg)
The origins of the party began as early as 1902. In that year a group of farmers created the
Territorial Grain Growers' Association
The Territorial Grain Growers' Association (TGGA) was a farmer's association that was active in Western Canada at the start of the 20th century, in what was then the Northwest Territories and later became Saskatchewan and Alberta. It provided a voi ...
. The objective of this group was to lobby for farmer's rights with the
grain trade and the railways. The name was changed to the
Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association (SGGA) when Saskatchewan became a province in 1905.
In 1921 a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
splinter group left the SGGA to form the ''Farmer's Union''. However, the two groups reconciled in 1926 and reformed as the
United Farmers of Canada (Saskatchewan Section)
The United Farmers of Canada was a radical farmers organization. It was established in 1926 as the United Farmers of Canada (Saskatchewan Section) as a merger of the Farmers' Union of Canada and the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association.MacPhe ...
(UFC). The first leader of the UFC was
George Williams.
The
Progressive Party of Saskatchewan
The Progressive Party of Saskatchewan was a provincial section of the Progressive Party of Canada and was active from the 1920s to the mid-1930s. The Progressives were an agrarian, social democratic political movement. It was originally dedicated ...
, a farmers' movement, elected six MLAs in the
1921 provincial election as well as in the
1925 election and five in 1929 but were never able to field candidates in more than half a dozen of the province's 63 ridings. After the
1929 provincial election returned a Liberal
minority government, the Progressives joined with the
Conservatives
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 in ...
to defeat the Liberals and form a
coalition government dominated by the Tories. The Progressives disappeared over the course of the next four years and were largely absorbed by the Tories.
The rightward drift of the Progressives prompted the UFC-SS to decide, in 1930, to run its own candidates in the following election. In 1931, the UFC participated in the ''March on Regina'' to protest against government indifference to the farmer's plight during the depression. During that event the UFC met with the ''Independent Labour Party'', led by
M.J. Coldwell, to discuss their options. From that meeting they agreed to form the ''Farmer-Labour Group'' (FLG) with Coldwell as the leader. The new party acquired its first member in the Saskatchewan legislature when
Jacob Benson
Jacob "Jake" Benson (March 13, 1892 – 1987) was an English-born farmer and politician in Saskatchewan. He represented Last Mountain in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 1929 to 1934 as a Progressive Party member and from 1938 ...
, elected as a Progressive in 1929, joined to become a Farmer-Labour MLA.
The FLG participated in the
1934 provincial election and won five seats and became the official opposition to the Liberals. Coldwell failed to win a seat but remained as leader.
Founding of the CCF
Following the election, the Farmer-Labour Group officially became the Saskatchewan section of the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), although it had been known unofficially as the CCF's Saskatchewan wing before that.
In 1935, Coldwell ran for federal office in the
1935 federal election and was elected. Williams took over as party leader. Williams' radicalism caused moderates in the party to believe that the CCF could not form government with him as leader while his unwavering support for the war alienated pacifists, one of whom, Professor Carlyle King, unsuccessfully challenged Williams for the party presidency (but not the leadership) in 1940 gaining one third of the vote.
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 ...
, a charismatic federal CCF MP, was persuaded to challenge Williams for the leadership and succeeded in defeating him for the party presidency in 1941 and for the party leadership in 1942.
CCF in provincial government
In the
1944 election, the Saskatchewan CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, swept to power. They took 47 out of 52 seats to form the first socialist government in Canada or the United States. In the process, they handed the Liberals the second-worst defeat that a sitting government has ever suffered in Saskatchewan. Since that election, the CCF/NDP has won 12 out of 19 elections and held power for 47 of 73 years (as of 2017).
Arguably, the party's greatest accomplishment was the introduction of North America's first comprehensive system of
public medical insurance or
Medicare. The fight to introduce Medicare in the province was intense, due to the opposition of the province's doctors who were backed by the
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016.
The AMA's sta ...
. The AMA feared that public health care would spread to other parts of the continent if introduced in one part. In July 1962 the doctors staged the 23-day
Saskatchewan doctors' strike The Saskatchewan doctors' strike was a 23-day labour action exercised by medical doctors in 1962 in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in an attempt to force the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government of Saskatchewan to drop its program ...
. But despite a concerted attempt to defeat the controversial Medical Care Insurance Act, the strike eventually collapsed and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan agreed to the alterations and terms of the "Saskatoon Agreement". The program was introduced and became so popular it was soon adopted across Canada.
After doing much of the preliminary work on Medicare, Douglas resigned as party leader and
Premier of Saskatchewan
The premier of Saskatchewan is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The current premier of Saskatchewan is Scott Moe, who was sworn in as premier on February 2, 2018, after winning the 2018 Saskatc ...
in 1961 to become the founding leader of the
New Democratic Party (NDP). The NDP had been formed by a coalition of the CCF and the
Canadian Labour Congress. In the same year, the party adopted the awkwardly naming of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, Saskatchewan Section of the New Democratic Party or NDP-CCF for short. At the convention in November 1967, the current name was adopted after some heated discussions.
The turmoil of the Medicare fight took its toll, however, and the NDP-CCF government of Douglas' successor
Woodrow S. Lloyd was defeated by
Ross Thatcher
Wilbert Ross Thatcher, (May 24, 1917 – July 22, 1971) was the ninth premier of Saskatchewan, serving from May 22, 1964 to June 30, 1971. He led the Saskatchewan Liberal Party in four general elections, in 1960, 1964, 1967 and 1971. Thatcher ...
's
Saskatchewan Liberal Party
The Saskatchewan Liberal Party is a liberal political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
The party was the provincial affiliate of the Liberal Party of Canada until 2009. It was previously one of the two largest parties in the provi ...
in the
1964 election.
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party
The NDP rebuilt itself and went through a painful confrontation between a left-wing movement dubbed "
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 elec ...
" (a name possibly derived from Toronto leftist economist
James Laxer's quip that if he was perceived to be "waffling" on a policy question, then he'd "rather waffle to the left than waffle to the right") and the more centrist-oriented party establishment. The party returned to power in the
1971 election, under
Allan Blakeney
Allan Emrys Blakeney (September 7, 1925April 16, 2011) was the tenth premier of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982, and leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP).
Early life and career
Born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Blakeney took his ...
, embarking on a programme of
nationalizing the province's natural resources. This saw the creation of parastatal or Crown corporations that drilled for oil (
Saskatchewan Oil & Gas Corporation or SaskOil), mined potash (the
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan
The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, also known as PotashCorp, was a company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The company merged with Calgary-based Agrium to form Nutrien, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018.
The company was th ...
) and sought hard-rock minerals (
the Saskatchewan Mining Development Corp.). Blakeney's government was heavily defeated in the
1982 election by the
Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan
The Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan is a conservative political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Prior to 1942, it was known as the Conservative Party of Saskatchewan. Members are commonly known as Tories.
History
...
, led by
Grant Devine
Donald Grant Devine, SOM (born July 5, 1944) was the 11th premier of Saskatchewan from May 8, 1982 to November 1, 1991.
Early life
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, he received a BSc in Agriculture degree specializing in Agricultural Economics i ...
. The NDP was cut down to only nine seats, the worst defeat a sitting CCF/NDP government had suffered in Saskatchewan.
Despite the size of the defeat, Blakeney continued to lead the NDP in opposition. In the
1986 election, the NDP not only regained much of what it had lost four years earlier, but actually won the popular vote. However, much of the NDP's margin was wasted on large margins in Regina and Saskatoon; while the party won eight seats each in the province's two largest cities, it only won nine seats in the rest of the province. This left the NDP eight seats short of making Blakeney premier again. In a sense, this marked a turning point for a party that had begun as a voice for rural discontent.
Blakeney resigned in early 1987 and was succeeded by
Roy Romanow
Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician and the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001.
Early life
Romanow was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Tekla and Michael Romanow, who were Ukrainian immigrants from Or ...
, who led the party back to power in 1991. The Romanow government was more
fiscally conservative
Fiscal conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and ''laissez-faire'' economics.M. O. Dickerson et al., '' ...
than previous CCF/NDP governments, and instituted a program of hospital closures, program cuts, and
privatization
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
s to eliminate the budget deficit and reduce debt inherited from previous governments. Romanow later quipped that he was a supporter of
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
's
Third Way
The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from ...
concept before it even existed, and there were many who doubted the party's continued commitment to
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 ...
. The NDP's Third Way alienated some of its left-wing members, who left the party and merged with the
Green Party supporters to form the
New Green Alliance.
Recent history
In the
1999 provincial election, Romanow's NDP received slightly less popular support as a share of the vote than the
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 in ...
opposition
Saskatchewan Party led by
Elwin Hermanson
Elwin Norris Hermanson (born August 22, 1952) was a Canadian politician, best known for being the first full-time leader of the Saskatchewan Party.
In 1993 he was elected as a Reform Member of Parliament in the Saskatchewan riding of Kindersl ...
, a former
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest ...
MP. Romanow and his government formed a
coalition government with the three elected Liberal MLAs; one, Jack Hillson, subsequently left cabinet to sit as an independent Liberal in opposition.
Jim Melenchuk
James Williams Melenchuk (born June 24, 1953) is a Canadian former politician. He represented the electoral district of Saskatoon Northwest in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 1999 to 2003.
He was educated at the University of Re ...
and
Ron Osika
Ronald (Ron) Osika (born February 27, 1939) is a Canadian former politician, who served in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 1995 to 2003.
The son of Polish immigrants, he was born on a homestead near Hafford, Saskatchewan, and educ ...
remained in the coalition and ran under the NDP banner in the 2003 provincial election, where both were defeated.
Romanow retired in 2001 and was succeeded by
Lorne Calvert
Lorne Albert Calvert (born December 24, 1952) was the 13th premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert served as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2001 to June 6, 2009, when he was succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter.
Ea ...
, who led the party into the
2003 general election. In an upset, the NDP not only retained power, but was able to form a government on its own with a majority in the
Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, in the na ...
of two seats (30–28). However, in what proved to be a harbinger of things to come, all of the NDP's federal MPs from Saskatchewan lost their seats in the
2004 federal election. They had been steadily losing support at the federal level since 1993, when much of their rural support bled to the
Reform Party. The federal NDP didn't win any federal seats in the province again until
2015, when the
2012 federal electoral redistribution allowed them to pick up three seats.
The party's tenure in office ended with the
2007 general election, when the Saskatchewan Party under leader
Brad Wall
Bradley John Wall (born November 24, 1965), is a Canadian former politician who served as the 14th premier of Saskatchewan from November 21, 2007 until February 2, 2018. He is the fourth longest-tenured premier in the province's history. His so ...
won 38 of the 58 seats. Reduced to official opposition leader, Calvert said he had no immediate plans to step down as NDP leader, but would likely not lead the party into the next election.
In 2008, Calvert announced his intention to leave the leadership of the Saskatchewan NDP and a leadership race commenced with declared candidates including Moose Jaw MLA
Deb Higgins
Debra Elaine Higgins is a Canadian politician. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan for the constituency of Moose Jaw Wakamow from 1999 to 2011 and served as the mayor of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan from 2012 to 2016.
Polit ...
, former Deputy Premier and farmer,
Dwain Lingenfelter
Dwain Lingenfelter (born February 27, 1949) is a businessman, farmer, politician and former Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party. Lingenfelter won the leadership of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party on June 6, 2009. He resigne ...
, doctor and community activist
Ryan Meili
Ryan Meili (born April 11, 1975) is a Canadian physician and politician from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He previously served as the MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin from 2017 to 2022 and as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2018 to 2 ...
and former party President and Regina lawyer,
Yens Pedersen
Yens Pedersen is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who served in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 2018 to 2020 representing the constituency of Regina Northeast. He is a former candidate in the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party lea ...
. Lingenfelter was elected party leader June 6, 2009.
The
2011 election proved a heavy blow for the party. The Saskatchewan Party consolidated its grip on power, winning the third-largest majority government in the province's history. Lingenfelter lost his own seat, thus becoming the first CCF/NDP leader in 60 years to have not served as premier. The NDP was reduced to nine seats, its worst showing in 30 years. With deputy leader Higgins having lost her seat as well,
John Nilson was named interim leader. A permanent leader was chosen on March 9, 2013; with Nilson bowing out of the race; second-term MLA
Cam Broten
Cameron Paul Broten (born April 29, 1978) is a Canadian politician. He represented the constituency of Saskatoon Massey Place in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 2007 to 2016 and served as the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democrat ...
was elected the party's new leader.
After the
2016 election, the Saskatchewan NDP only captured one additional seat from the previous election, giving them ten seats opposed to the nine the party won in 2011. The disappointing election results as well as Cam Broten's loss in
Saskatoon Westview resulted in his resignation as leader on April 11, 2016. On April 15, 2016,
Trent Wotherspoon was chosen by the NDP caucus to be the leader of the Official Opposition for the 28th
Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, in the na ...
, and was later elected as the party's interim leader on April 23, 2016. On June 20, 2017, Wotherspoon stepped down as interim leader to enter the
leadership election
A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party.
Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...
, and was succeeded by
Nicole Sarauer
Nicole Sarauer is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2016 provincial election. She represents the electoral district of Regina Douglas Park as a member of the Saskatchewan New Democratic P ...
who held both roles (Opposition leader and interim party leader) until March 3, 2018, when
Ryan Meili
Ryan Meili (born April 11, 1975) is a Canadian physician and politician from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He previously served as the MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin from 2017 to 2022 and as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2018 to 2 ...
, MLA for
Saskatoon Meewasin
Saskatoon Meewasin is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. The district includes the neighbourhoods of River Heights, Richmond Heights, City Park, North Park, and Kelsey-Woodlawn.
As of the ...
and runner-up in the 2009 and
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
leadership elections, was elected leader over Wotherspoon with 55% of the vote. Meili, a Saskatoon family doctor, had been elected MLA in a by-election one year and one day before being elected leader.
At the
2020 provincial election, the
Saskatchewan Party was re-elected to its fourth consecutive majority government. The NDP won three additional seats in Saskatoon and Regina and once again formed the Official Opposition. Ryan Meili was re-elected in his district of
Saskatoon Meewasin
Saskatoon Meewasin is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. The district includes the neighbourhoods of River Heights, Richmond Heights, City Park, North Park, and Kelsey-Woodlawn.
As of the ...
, becoming the first leader to retain his seat since former Premier
Lorne Calvert
Lorne Albert Calvert (born December 24, 1952) was the 13th premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert served as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2001 to June 6, 2009, when he was succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter.
Ea ...
in 2007.
In February 2022,
Ryan Meili
Ryan Meili (born April 11, 1975) is a Canadian physician and politician from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He previously served as the MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin from 2017 to 2022 and as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2018 to 2 ...
resigned as party leader. A
leadership election
A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party.
Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...
was held on June 26 in Regina pitting
Carla Beck
Carla Beck is a Canadian politician who has served as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party since 2022. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2016 provincial election. She represents the electoral district ...
against
Kaitlyn Harvey. Beck was elected as the first female leader of the party at this convention. The party is said to face a challenging
general election as membership decreased markedly from the previous leadership convention. The
2018 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party leadership election revealed that there were 13,414 party members, with 10,837 members voting. The most recent convention revealed that there were 7,294 party members, with 4,741 members voting.
Party membership decreased by over 6,000, with less total votes cast in 2022 than were cast in 2018 for the second place candidate.
Party leaders
† denotes acting or interim leader
Bold denotes position as Premier
CCF
NDP
Election results
(Results shown are for Farmer-Labour Group in 1934, CCF from 1938 to 1960, CCF-NDP in 1964, NDP since 1967.)
Current Saskatchewan New Democrat MLAs
Wings
Saskatchewan Young New Democrats (SYND)
The Saskatchewan Young New Democrats (SYND) is the official youth wing of the Saskatchewan NDP. All party members from the ages of 13 to 30 are automatically recognized as a member of the Saskatchewan Young New Democrats. The elected executive and general members meet on a regular basis and work to establish social change.
They also have an annual convention during which they elect the executive members and discuss policies relating to their concerns.
See also
*
List of articles about Saskatchewan CCF/NDP members
*
Saskatchewan CCF/NDP leadership elections
*
List of political parties in Saskatchewan
*
Politics of Saskatchewan
Politics of Saskatchewan relate to the Canadian federal political system, along with the other Canadian provinces. Saskatchewan has a lieutenant-governor, who is the representative of the Crown in right of Saskatchewan; premier, Scott Moe, lead ...
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Saskatchewan NDP caucus site*
{{Authority control
Political parties established in 1932
Social democratic parties in Canada
Organizations based in Regina, Saskatchewan