The Communist Party of Canada is a federal political party in Canada. Founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality, it is the second oldest active political party in Canada, after the Liberal Party of Canada. Although it does not currently have any parliamentary representation, the party's candidates have previously been elected to the House of Commons, the Ontario legislature, the Manitoba legislature, and various municipal governments across the country.
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.
The Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) (French: Parti communiste du Canada (Ontario)) is the Ontario provincial wing of the Communist Party of Canada. Using the name Labor-Progressive Party from 1943 until 1959, the group won two seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario: A.A. MacLeod and J.B. Salsberg were elected in the 1943 provincial election as "Labour" candidates but took their seats as members of the Labor-Progressive Party, which the banned Communist Party launched as its public face in a convention held on August 21 and 22, 1943, shortly after both the August 4 provincial election and the August 7 election of Communist Fred Rose to the House of Commons in a Montreal by-election.
John C. Turmel is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and according to the Guinness World Records holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost, having contested 110 elections and lost 109. The other contest was a by-election that was pre-empted by a general election call.
The Liberal–Labour banner has been used several times by candidates in Canadian elections:
Elizabeth Rowley is the current leader of the Communist Party of Canada. A long-time politician, writer, and political activist, Rowley served as a school trustee in the former Toronto borough of East York. Before becoming leader of the Communist Party of Canada, Rowley was leader of the Communist Party of Ontario. She has been a member of the Central Executive of the Communist Party of Canada since 1978 and has campaigned for office many times at the municipal, federal and provincial levels. Rowley was elected the leader of the Communist Party of Canada by the party's Central Committee in January 2016, following the retirement of Miguel Figueroa. She is the first female leader of the Communist Party of Canada.
The Green Party of Canada ran a full slate of 308 candidates in the 2004 federal election. Some of these candidates have separate biography pages; relevant information about other candidates may be found here.
Robert Warren (Bob) Mackenzie was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1995, and a prominent cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.
The 1926 Ontario general election was the 17th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on December 1, 1926, to elect the 112 Members of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs").
Eric Gordon Cunningham was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1984.
The Communist Party of Canada - Marxist-Leninist ran several candidates in the 2004 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found on this page.
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) ran 65 candidates in the 1997 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found on this page.
The Conservative Party of Canada ran a full slate of 308 candidates in the 2006 Canadian federal election. Some of these candidates have separate biography pages; relevant information about other candidates may be found here.
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) (CPC-ML) fielded 71 candidates in the 2006 federal election. Some of these candidates have their own biography pages. Information about others may be found here.
Wendell Fields was a Canadian veteran anti-poverty activist in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was director of Hamilton Against Poverty, and twice campaigned for the House of Commons of Canada as a candidate of the Communist Party of Canada - Marxist-Leninist (CPC-ML). He died on March 1, 2017, following a short battle with cancer.
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) fielded 84 candidates in the 2000 federal election, none of whom were elected.
Paul David Miller is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 provincial election until his defeat in the 2022 Ontario general election.
The 2009 Ontario New Democratic Party leadership election was held in Hamilton, from March 6 to 8, 2009 to elect a successor to Howard Hampton as leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP). On June 15, 2008, Hampton informed the party's provincial council that he would not stand for re-election as leader at the next party convention in a year's time. While a leadership vote was held at each biennial convention of the Ontario NDP until and including the last regular convention in 2007, there is normally not a contested vote unless there is a vacancy, therefore, the 2009 vote was the party's first leadership convention since Hampton was elected in 1996 to succeed Bob Rae.
The Canadian Renewal Party was an unregistered political party in Canada, established in 1993. It was closely aligned with the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist).
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist) is a federal political party in Canada. It was founded in 1970 by Hardial Bains, a staunch Stalinist and anti-revisionist. The CPC(M-L) has been registered with Elections Canada as the Marxist–Leninist Party of Canada (MLPC) since 1974, as the party is prohibited from using the name "Communist Party of Canada" in Canadian elections to avoid confusion among voters. The party is not an offshoot of the Communist Party of Canada; its early membership came from student-led organizations active in the 1960s. After a period of alignment with Maoism and China, the CPC(M-L) pursued a Hoxhaist, pro-Albanian line until the early 1990s. At present, the party directs most of its public support to Cuba and North Korea.
