Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
|
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif Parti social démocratique du Canada |
|
|---|---|
 Former federal political party |
|
| Leader |
J. S. Woodsworth, M.J. Coldwell, Hazen Argue |
| Chairman | J. S. Woodsworth, M. J. Coldwell, F. R. Scott, Percy Wright, David Lewis |
| Secretary | M. J. Coldwell, David Lewis, Lorne Ingle, Carl Hamilton |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Dissolved | 1961 |
| Preceded by | Ginger Group, Independent Labour Party |
| Succeeded by | New Democratic Party |
| Headquarters | Ottawa, Ontario |
| Ideology |
Social democracy Democratic socialism Agrarianism |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| Colours | Green and Yellow |
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) (French: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, from 1955 the Parti social démocratique du Canada) was a social-democratic and democratic socialist political party in Canada. The CCF was founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, agrarian, co-operative, and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction. In 1944, the CCF formed the first social-democratic government in North America when it was elected to form the provincial government in Saskatchewan. In 1961, the CCF was succeeded by the New Democratic Party (NDP). The full, but little used, name of the party was Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Farmer-Labour-Socialist).
The CCF aimed to alleviate the suffering that workers and farmers, the ill and the old endure under capitalism, seen most starkly during the Great Depression, through the creation of a Co-operative Commonwealth, which would entail economic co-operation, public ownership of the economy, and political reform.
The Co-operative Commonwealth was defined as a "community freed from the domination of irresponsible financial and economic power in which all social means of production and distribution, including land, are socially owned and controlled either by voluntarily organized groups of producers and consumers or - in the case of major public services and utilities and such productive and distributive enterprises as can be conducted most efficiently when owned in common - by public corporations responsible to the people's elected representatives." Many of the party's first Members of Parliament (MPs) were members of the Ginger Group, composed of United Farmers of Alberta, left-wing Progressive, and Labour MPs. These MPs included United Farmers of Alberta MPs William Irvine and Ted Garland, Agnes Macphail (UFO), Humphrey Mitchell, Abraham Albert Heaps, Angus MacInnis, and Labour Party MP J. S. Woodsworth. Also involved in founding the new party were members of the League for Social Reconstruction (LSR), such as F. R. Scott and Frank Underhill. It can be said that the CCF was founded on May 26, 1932, when the Ginger Group MPs and LSR members met in William Irvine's office, the unofficial caucus meeting room for the Ginger Group, and went about forming the basis of the new party. J. S. Woodsworth was unanimously appointed the temporary leader until they could hold a founding convention. The temporary name for the new party was the Commonwealth Party.
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