The Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation (formerly known as the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation) is a left-wing Canadian

think tank A think tank, or public 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-governme ...

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

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

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

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. The foundation was initially 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 the seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Bap ...

, the first federal leader of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

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

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...

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

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

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

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, named for Coldwell's predecessor as CCF leader, J. S. Woodsworth. The foundation has underwritten biographies of Douglas, Coldwell, Clarence Gillis, Stanley Knowles, 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 foundation, contributions to which are tax-deductible 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 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 became president of the foundation in November 2016. In January 2022, the foundation changed its name to the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation to honour the deceased federal NDP Leader

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on T ...

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