[lbo-talk] NDP and Liberalism

brad bauerly bbauerly at gmail.com
Sat Apr 17 19:38:27 PDT 2010


A Brief History of the Saskatchewan NDP The NDP’s predecessor, the Farmer-Labour Party (renamed Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1934) was formed in 1932 when the Saskatchewan Section of the United Farmers Of Canada joined with the Saskatchewan Independent Labour Party. The Great Depression convinced many in Saskatchewan that neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives were equipped to deal with the crisis and they looked to the new party for solutions. Following its first election in 1934 the CCF formed the Official Opposition. Over the next decade its strength steadily grew and in 1944 the CCF became the first Social Democratic government to be elected in Canada.

Under the leadership of Tommy Douglas and Woodrow Lloyd , the party governed for the next twenty years and established Saskatchewan’s reputation for innovation, balancing sound fiscal policy with enlightened social policy. Crown corporations were used to extend basic utilities, including telephone, power and natural gas throughout the province. The educational system was overhauled and the transportation network expanded. Saskatchewan people were encouraged to take greater economic control over their lives through the expansion of Co-operatives and Credit Unions and perhaps most importantly, Canada’s first Medicare system was established.

V.

Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis, "of freedom"[1]) is the belief in the importance of liberty and equality.[2][3] Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutions, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, free trade, secularism, and the market economy. These ideas are often accepted even among political groups that do not openly profess a liberal ideological orientation. Liberalism encompasses several intellectual trends and traditions, but the dominant variants are classical liberalism, which became popular in the 18th century, and social liberalism, which became popular in the 20th century.



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