Communist Party of Canada (Ontario)

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.[2]

Communist Party of Canada (Ontario)
Parti communiste du Canada (Ontario)
Active provincial party
LeaderDrew Garvie
PresidentDave McKee[1]
Founded1940 (1940)
Headquarters290A Danforth Ave
Toronto, Ontario
M4K 1N6
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
Political positionFar-left
National affiliationCommunist Party of Canada
ColoursRed
Website
communistpartyontario.ca

MacLeod and Salsberg served as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) from 1943 until 1951 and 1955 respectively. A third LPP member, Alexander A. Parent, who was also president of UAW Local 195, was elected as the Liberal-Labour MPP for Essex North in 1945. In January 1946, Parent announced he was breaking with the "reactionary" Liberals and sat the remainder of his term in the legislature as a Labour representative while voting with LPP MPPs MacLeod and Salsberg.[3][4] He did not run for re-election in 1948.

The party has not been able to win any seats at the provincial level since Salsberg's defeat in 1955. The party continued to run under the Labor-Progressive banner up to the 1959 provincial election, after which it again identified itself as the Communist Party.

Individual members of the party have been elected to school boards in the past few decades, but have done so as independents rather than as "Communist Party" candidates. Since 2019, the party has been led by Drew Garvie.

Election results
Year of election Leader # of candidates # of seats won # of votes % of popular vote
1943 N/A
6 / 90
1
2 / 90
 N/A N/A
1945 Leslie Morris
31 / 90
2[5]
2 / 90
 N/A 2.4%
1948 A. A. MacLeod
2 / 90
[6]
2 / 90
 N/A 1.0%
1951 Stewart Smith
6 / 90
[7]
1 / 90
 N/A N/A
1955
23 / 98
[8]
0 / 98
 N/A N/A
1959 Bruce Magnuson
9 / 98
[9]
0 / 98
 N/A N/A
1963
6 / 108
[10]
0 / 108
 N/A N/A
1967
2 / 117
[11]
0 / 117
 N/A N/A
1971 William Stewart
5 / 117
[12]
0 / 117
 N/A N/A
1975
33 / 125
[13]
0 / 125
 N/A N/A
1977
32 / 125
0 / 125
 7,995 0.24%
1981 Mel Doig
17 / 125
0 / 125
 5,296 0.16%
1985 Gordon Massie
10 / 125
0 / 125
 3,696 0.1%
1987
9 / 130
0 / 130
 3,422 0.09%
1990 Elizabeth Rowley
4 / 130
0 / 130
 1,139 0.03%
1995 Darrell Rankin
5 / 130
0 / 130
 1,015 0.03%
1999 Hassan Husseini
4 / 103
0 / 103
 814 0.02%
2003 Elizabeth Rowley
6 / 103
0 / 103
 2,187 0.05%
2007
8 / 107
0 / 107
 1,715 0.04%
2011
9 / 107
0 / 107
 1,163 0.03%
2014
11 / 107
0 / 107
 2,290 0.04%
2018 Dave McKee
12 / 124
0 / 124
 1,471 0.03%
2022 Drew Garvie
13 / 124
0 / 124
 2,101 0.04%

Source: Elections Ontario Vote Summary[14]

  • September 6, 2012 provincial by-elections: Kitchener—Waterloo, 87 votes (0.19%), seventh out of ten candidates.

Notes

1Ran under the label "Labour" or "Socialist-Labour"[15]

2In addition, in 1945, the Labor-Progressive Party and Liberal Party of Ontario jointly endorsed 6 Liberal-Labour, 3 of whom were elected, in an effort to marginalize the CCF.

Party leaders

Constituency associations

The party has three constituency associations registered with Elections Ontario:

  • Davenport
  • Hamilton Centre
  • Ottawa Centre

Party financing
Financing of the Communist Party of Canada (Ontario)
YearParty levelRiding levelTotal
Contributions receivedNumber of contributors over $100Contributions receivedNumber of contributors over $100Contributions received
2007$13,585.0032$1,5303$15,115
2008$39,085.2963$3,60010$46,685.29
2009$40,175.2553$8,63020$48,805.25
2010$40,032.8059$6,02013$46,052.80
2011$19,619.8036$4001$20,019.80
2012$48,385.1164$6353$49,020.11
2013$35,708.7061$1700$35,878.70
Total$236,591.95368$20,98550$261,576.95

Source: Elections Ontario, Yearly Financial Statements, Political Parties, Constituency Associations[20]

See also

References
  1. "Registered Political Parties". Elections Ontario. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  2. COMMUNISTS WOULD BE ALLIES OF C.C.F. GROUP: Labor Progressive Party ... The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); August 23, 1943; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 4
  3. "Parent Quits Liberal Party", Globe and Mail, 14 January 1946: 8
  4. "Breaks With Liberals", Toronto Daily Star, 2 February 1946: 6
  5. 317 in Field For 90 Seats The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); May 29, 1945; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 1
  6. PC's Lead Field With Candidate In Every Riding for June 7 Vote The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); June 1, 1948; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 8
  7. Ontario Votes Today: 49-Day Campaign Ends as 271 Seek Legislature Seats Bain, George The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); November 22, 1951; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 1
  8. Latest Ontario Election Results The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); June 10, 1955; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 2
  9. Twilight of a Party The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); June 13, 1959; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 6
  10. 35 Years a Communist Young, Scott The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); September 23, 1963; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 6
  11. 366 hopefuls file papers for election The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); October 5, 1967; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 8
  12. Higher majority for Davis: TORIES SWEEP ONTARIO Nixon re-elected, Lewis in fight Munro, Ross H. The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont] October 22, 1971: 1.
  13. 725 seats in legislature: Record 454 candidates nominated for 125 Ontario seats The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); September 5, 1975; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 40
  14. http://www.elections.on.ca/content/dam/NGW/sitecontent/2014/historical-results/2014/Summary%20of%20Valid%20Ballots%20Cast.pdf Archived June 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine 2014 Elections Ontario
  15. 277 Men and Six Women File Nomination Papers For Wednesday Election: ... The Globe and Mail (1936–Current); July 29, 1943; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 4
  16. "The Windsor Daily Star – Google News Archive Search". google.com.
  17. "The Windsor Star – Google News Archive Search". google.com.
  18. "The Windsor Star – Google News Archive Search". google.com.
  19. "Communist Party of Canada – Toronto Clubs". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  20. http://www.elections.on.ca/en/political-entities-in-ontario/financial-statements/yearly-financial-statements.html Archived October 1, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Yearly Financial Statements
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