Independent Labour Party (Manitoba, pre-1920)

Last updated

Before World War I, there were at least two organizations in Winnipeg calling themselves the Independent Labour Party. The first of these was set up in 1895, [1] and collapsed soon thereafter.[ citation needed ]

The second was created in 1906, following a visit to the city from Ramsay MacDonald. The party received support from members of Arthur Puttee's Winnipeg Labour Party, which had been moribund since 1904.

Like other groups of the same name, this Independent Labour Party was a reformist organization. It was opposed by members of the more radical Socialist Party of Canada.

The ILP nominated Kempton McKim to contest the riding of Winnipeg West in the provincial election of 1907. [2] McKim called for labour standards legislation and the public ownership of utilities. [ citation needed ] He was defeated by Thomas Johnson, a popular figure from the left wing of the Liberal Party. [2]

In 1908, some members agitated for the ILP to officially declare itself as socialist. They were opposed by another group, led by moderate reformer Fred Dixon (later a member of the provincial legislature). The controversy split the party, which ceased to exist as a viable organization after June 1908. The reformist faction of the ILP regrouped as the Manitoba Labour Party for the 1910 provincial election.

In 1914-15, candidates nominated by the Labour Representation Committee officially ran for the "Independent Labor Party", even though no formal organization of that name seems to have existed at the time. [3] [4] [ citation needed ]

J.S. Woodsworth helped launch a new Independent Labour Party in 1919. He would be elected as MP under that banner in 1921. This ILP went on to be one of the founding organizations of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party, a predecessor to the New Democratic Party. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Co-operative Commonwealth Federation</span> Canadian political party from 1932 to 1961

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a federal democratic socialist and social-democratic 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 one of the first social-democratic governments in North America when it was elected to form the provincial government in Saskatchewan.

There have been various groups in Canada that have nominated candidates under the label Labour Party or Independent Labour Party, or other variations from the 1870s until the 1960s. These were usually local or provincial groups using the Labour Party or Independent Labour Party name, backed by local labour councils made up of many union locals in a particular city, or individual trade unions. There was an attempt to create a national Canadian Labour Party in the late 1910s and in the 1920s, but these were only partly successful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. S. Woodsworth</span> Canadian cleric, politician, and labour activist (1874–1942)

J. S. Woodsworth was a Canadian Methodist minister, politician, and labour activist. He was a pioneer of the Canadian Social Gospel, a Christian religious movement with social democratic values and links to organized labour. A long-time leader and publicist in the movement, Woodsworth served as an elected member of the federal parliament from 1921 until his death in 1942. In 1932, he helped to found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a socialist political party which was the predecessor to the New Democratic Party (NDP).

The Winnipeg Labour Party was a reformist organization in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, representing labour interests. Founded in 1896, it was based on an earlier Winnipeg organization known as the Independent Labour Party.

The Socialist Party of Manitoba (SPM) was a short-lived social democratic political party launched in 1902 in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The organisation advanced a moderate programme of social reform legislation. In 1904 the SPM became one of the constituent units founding the Socialist Party of Canada, an organisation which continued until 1925.

The Labour Representation Committee was a reformist labour organization in Manitoba, Canada, and was the ideological successor to groups such as the Winnipeg Labour Party, the Independent Labour Party and the Manitoba Labour Party. It was founded in late 1912, and was based on a British organization of the same name.

The Dominion Labour Party (DLP) was a reformist labour party, formed in Canada in 1918. The party enjoyed its greatest success in the province of Manitoba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Dixon (politician)</span> Canadian politician

Frederick John (Fred) Dixon was a Manitoba politician, and was for several years the dominant figure in the province's mainstream labour and Henry George Single Tax Georgist movements. A proponent of proportional representation, he also served as an MLA in the Manitoba Legislature from 1914 to 1923.

The Independent Labour Party was the leading social-democratic party in the Canadian province of Manitoba prior to the emergence of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Several of its candidates were elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and it counted federal Members of Parliament J. S. Woodsworth and A. A. Heaps among its members.

John Queen was a labour activist and Manitoba politician who was a leader of the Winnipeg General Strike, for which he served a year in prison.

Seymour James Farmer was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as Winnipeg MLA from 1922 to 1949. During this time he also served as mayor of Winnipeg 1923-1924 and later as city councillor in the late 1920s and in the 1930s. He was the leader of the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1935 to 1947. He served as a cabinet minister in Manitoba's World War I coalition government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Manitoba)</span> Political party in Canada

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Manitoba) (CCF), known informally as the Manitoba CCF, was a provincial branch of the national Canadian party by the same name. The national CCF was the dominant social-democratic party in Canada from the 1930s to the early 1960s, when it merged with the labour movement to become the New Democratic Party. The Manitoba CCF, created in 1932, played the same role at the provincial level.

The Canadian Labour Party (CLP) was an early, unsuccessful attempt at creating a national labour party in Canada. Although it ran candidates in the federal elections of 1917, 1921, 1925, and 1926, it never succeeded in its goal of providing a national forum for the Canadian labour movement. In most provinces, the CLP ceased to exist after 1928–1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Puttee</span> Canadian politician

Arthur W. Puttee was a British-Canadian printer and politician. Puttee was the first Labour Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada, sitting as Winnipeg MP from 1900 to 1904.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Ivens</span> Canadian politician (1878–1957)

William Ivens was a religious and political figure in Manitoba, Canada. He was a leading figure in the Winnipeg General Strike, and subsequently served as a Labour member of the Manitoba legislature from 1920 to 1936.

Marcus Hyman, M.A., LL.B. was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1932 to 1938, representing the Independent Labour Party.

The 1932 Manitoba general election was held on June 16, 1932 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. A Liberal-Progressive majority government was elected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert B. Russell</span>

R.B. Russell was a Canadian trade unionist, labour organizer, and politician. He was a prominent figure in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 and was later the leader of Winnipeg's One Big Union.

The 1907 Manitoba general election was held on March 7, 1907 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.

The Socialist Party of British Columbia (SPBC) was a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada, from 1901 to 1905. In 1903, the SPBC won seats in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

References

  1. "Manitoba History: Labour in Brandon Civic Politics: A Long View". mhs.mb.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  2. 1 2 "Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial Election (1907)". www.mhs.mb.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  3. "Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial Election (1914)". www.mhs.mb.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  4. "Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial Election (1915)". www.mhs.mb.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  5. "James Shaver Woodsworth". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2023-11-19.