Tommy Douglas and the NDP

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Topic spans: 1935 - 2001

Tommy Douglas and the NDP

Tommy Douglas was the most influential politician never to be elected Prime Minister. He pursued his radical ideas relentlessly until they became so mainstream rival politicians claimed them as their own. Called a communist and threatened by in-party fighting, Douglas battled hard to bring the New Democratic Party to legitimacy in its first ten years. He was often criticized for his singular idealism but through it all Douglas was undeterred, convinced that he was helping to create a better, more humane society. In 2004, Douglas was voted number one in CBC's The Greatest Canadian contest.

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A new brand of Canadian social democracy

Broadcast Date: Jan. 1, 1935

J.S. Woodsworth has big plans for his grassroots party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Woodsworth, an ardent pacifist and social democrat crusader, is stirring up talk with his radical political platform as Canada continues to struggle through the Depression. In this campaign speech, Woodsworth describes the swelling ranks of the CCF party and the growing support for a Canadian social welfare program. In the 1935 election the CCF sends seven MPs to parliament including Saskatchewan's Tommy Douglas.

A new brand of Canadian social democracy

• James Shaver Woodsworth was born on July 29, 1874 in Etobicoke, Ont. In 1900 he was ordained by the Baptist ministry. Woodsworth actively dedicated his life to promoting the socialist cause and from 1904 to 1913 worked with immigrants at the All Peoples' Mission in Winnipeg, Man.

• During the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike Woodsworth was arrested for sedition because he had written a series of critical editorials. The charges against Woodsworth were dropped but he was subsequently deemed a hero of the people and began organizing the Manitoba Independent Labour Party. The party's slogan was "Human Needs Before Property Rights." In 1921 Woodsworth was elected to the House of Commons to represent Winnipeg North Centre. He represented this riding in Parliament continuously until his death in 1942.

• When Tommy Douglas began his career as a minister, he wrote to Woodsworth about the abject poverty his parishioners suffered. Woodsworth advised Douglas to convene with another minister, M.J. Coldwell. The two would form a lifelong friendship and would be among the founding members of the CCF and the NDP.

• In 1932 a group of politicians from farming, trade union and academic groups banded together and formed the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Woodsworth was elected leader of the party in 1933.
• In July 1933 the CCF drafted the democratic socialist Regina Manifesto which emphasized protecting human needs over profit, nationalization of core industries, health and welfare insurance and more.

• The closing statement of the Regina Manifesto was often cited by critics as proof of the party's overzealous platform. The passage reads: "No CCF 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 Co-operative Commonwealth."

A new brand of Canadian social democracy

Medium: Radio

Program: CBC Radio News Special

Broadcast Date: Jan. 1, 1935

Guest(s): J.S. Woodsworth

Duration: 25:50

Last updated:
Aug. 24, 2003

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