Two MPs Reflect on Sixty Years of Canada’s New Democratic Party
As Canada’s NDP marks its sixtieth anniversary, we talk to two of the party’s MPs about its past, present, and future prospects.
Current New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh and his wife Gurkiran Kaur react to a crowd of NDP supporters in Vancouver, BC, Canada during a campaign stop on October 19, 2019. Don MacKinnon / AFP via Getty Images
In July-August 1961, the New Democratic Party held its founding convention in Ottawa as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation merged with the Canadian Labour Congress. Tommy Douglas, premier of Saskatchewan, winner of five consecutive majority governments, and father of Medicare became the party’s first leader.
With a probable federal election this fall, two current NDP members of parliament spoke to David Moscrop for Jacobin on the party’s accomplishments and ideological direction.
David Moscrop
Let’s start by looking back. Over the last six decades, what has defined the NDP?
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