This is a list of members of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), and its successor, the New Democratic Party (NDP), social democratic political parties in Canada.
See also List of Labour MPs (Canada), List of Progressive/United Farmer MPs
Articles on former and current Members of Parliament
1932 party founding
MPs who joined the CCF at its founding in 1932 were members of the Ginger Group.
George Gibson Coote – accountant, Macleod, Alberta – United Farmers of Alberta MP (elected 1921, 1925 Progressive Party, 1926, 1930 UFA, def CCF 1935) Robert Gardiner – farmer, Acadia, Alberta – United Farmers of Alberta MP (elected 1921, 1925 Progressive Party, 1926, 1930 UFA, def CCF 1935) Ted Garland – farmer, Bow River, Alberta – United Farmers of Alberta MP (elected 1921, 1925 Progressive Party, 1926, 1930 UFA, def CCF 1935) William Irvine – author, clergyman, farmer, Wetaskiwin, Alberta – United Farmers of Alberta MP (elected 1917, 1921, 1925 Labour, 1926, 1930 UFA, def CCF 1935) Donald MacBeth Kennedy – farmer, Peace River, Alberta – United Farmers of Alberta MP (elected 1921, 1925 Progressive Party, 1926, 1930 UFA, def CCF 1935) Michael Luchkovich – teacher, Vegreville, Alberta – United Farmers of Alberta MP (elected 1926, 1930 UFA, def CCF 1935) Alfred Speakman – farmer, Red Deer, Alberta – United Farmers of Alberta MP (elected 1921, 1925, 1926, 1930 UFA, def CCF 1935) Henry Elvins Spencer – farmer, printer, publisher, Battle River, Alberta – United Farmers of Alberta MP (elected 1921, 1925 Progressive Party, 1926, 1930 UFA, def CCF 1935) Angus MacInnis – auto mechanic, street car driver, union leader, school trustee, alderman – Vancouver East – Independent Labour MP 1930, 1935, CCF MP 1935, 1940, 1945, 1949, 1953 (retired, CCF won Harold Edward Winch) Abraham Albert Heaps – upholsterer – Winnipeg North – Labour MP 1925, 1926, 1930, 1935, CCF MP 1935 (ran. 1940, CCF lost) James Shaver Woodsworth – minister, lecturer – Labour MP Winnipeg Centre 1921, Winnipeg North Centre 1925, 1926, 1930, CCF MP Winnipeg Centre 1935 Winnipeg North Centre 1940 (died 1942, CCF won Stanley Knowles) Agnes Macphail – teacher, president of the Ontario CCF – Progressive – Grey-Bruce – (elected 1921, 1925, 1926, 1930 Progressive Party, 1935 United Farmers of Ontario-Labour def. 1940) Macphail was never elected as a CCF MP but sat with the CCF caucus. Later elected CCF MPP to the Ontario legislature 1943–1945 and 1948–1951
1935 general election
Seven MPs were elected as CCFers were elected in the 1935 election. In addition to incumbent MPs A.A. Heaps, Angus MacInnis and J.S. Woodsworth four new MPs are elected. As well, Agnes Macphail, was elected as a "United Farmers of Ontario–Labour" MP but sat with the CCF caucus. Many of these MPs were formerly members of the Ginger Group J.S. Woodsworth re-elected A.A. Heaps re-elected Angus MacInnis re-elected James Samuel Taylor – assistant/secretary – CCF – Nanaimo, B.C. – MP elected 1935, became an independent in 1937, did not run 1940, CCF lost) Charles Grant MacNeil – assistant/secretary – CCF – Vancouver Centre – MP 1935 (ran 1940 in Vancouver North, CCF lost) Major James Coldwell – teacher – CCF – Rosetown-Biggar, Saskatchewan – MP 1935, 1940, 1945, 1949, 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Tommy Douglas – minister/clergyman – CCF – Weyburn, Saskatchewan – MP 1935, 1940 (resigned 1944 to lead Saskatchewan CCF, CCF won Eric Bowness McKay), Burnaby-Coquitlam 1962 (by-election), 1963, 1965, (ran 1968, NDP lost), Nanaimo-Cowichan-the Islands 1969 (by-election) – 1972, 1974 (retired 1979, NDP lost)
Additionally, Percy John Rowe was elected as a Social Credit MP in Athabasca in 1935 but ran for re-election under the CCF banner in 1940 and was defeated.
1940 general election
Four CCFers were elected for the first time in the 1940 election, and four (Woodsworth, MacInnis, Coldwell, Douglas) were re-elected, for a total of eight MPs: George Hugh Castleden – teacher – CCF – Yorkton, Saskatchewan – MP 1940, 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) returned 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Clarence Gillis – miner/union official – CCF – Cape Breton South – MP 1940, 1945, 1949, 1953, (ran 1957, CCF lost) Alexander Malcolm Nicholson – clergyman/farmer – CCF – Mackenzie, Saskatchewan – MP 1940, 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost), 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Percy Ellis Wright – farmer – CCF – Melfort, Saskatchewan – MP 1940, 1945, 1949 (Ridings merged and Wright ran in Melville (electoral district), CCF lost)
1942 by-elections
Three CCFers were elected for the first time in by-elections in 1942, for a total of ten MPs in House of Commons. By-election in Winnipeg North Centre caused by death of Woodsworth. William Bryce – farmer – CCF – Selkirk, Manitoba – MP 1942, 1945, 1949 (ran 1953, CCF lost) by-election – 1954, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Stanley Knowles – minister, printer & organizer – CCF – Winnipeg North Centre – MP 1942, 194, 1949, 1953, 1957, (ran 1958) ret. 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979, 1980 (retired 1984, NDP Won) Joseph Noseworthy – teacher – CCF – York South, Ontario – MP 1942 (def. 1945, CCF lost), returned 1949, 1953 (died 1956, CCF lost in 1957 g.e.)
1943 by-election
One CCFer was elected for the first time in a by-election in 1943, for a total of eleven MPs: Joseph William Burton – farmer, former MLA – CCF – Humboldt, Saskatchewan – MP 1943, 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost)
1945 general election
Twenty CCFers were elected for the first time in the 1945 election. With the nine who were re-elected, the party won a total of 29 seats including one "Independent CCF" MP). James Herbert Matthews – minister/clergyman – CCF – Kootenay East, BC – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) Herbert Wilfred Herridge – tree farmer/former MLA – Independent CCF (beating official CCFer) 1945 – Kootenay West, BC – MP re-elected as CCF and later NDP 1949, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1965 (retired 1968, NDP won Randolph Harding) Harry Grenfell Archibald – seaman – CCF – Skeena, BC – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) Ronald Moore – active service military – CCF – Churchill, Manitoba – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) Fred Zaplitny – teacher – CCF – Dauphin, Manitoba – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost), returned 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Alistair McLeod Stewart – accountant – CCF – Winnipeg North – MP 1945, 1949, 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Edward George McCullough – farmer – CCF – Assinibola, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (1949, ridings merged, ran in different riding, CCF won Assinbola Hazen Argue, but McCullough lost), Moose Mountain 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Frank Eric Jaenicke – barrister – CCF – Kindersley, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) Duncan John McCuaig – farmer – CCF – Maple Creek, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (retired 1949, Ridings merged, CCF lost) Ross Thatcher – merchant – CCF – Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan – MP 1945, 1949, Moose Jaw-Lake Centre 1953 (became an independent 1955, ran as Liberal in another riding in 1957, CCFer Louis Lewry won old riding) Frederick Townley-Smith – farmer – CCF – North Battleford, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (retired 1949, Ridings Merged, CCF lost) Edward LeRoy Bowerman – farmer – CCF – Prince Albert, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) Gladys Strum – housewife – CCF – Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) John Oliver Probe – teacher – CCF – Regina City, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) Robert Ross (Roy) Knight – teacher – CCF – Saskatoon City, Saskatchewan – MP 1945, Saskatoon 1949, 1953 (ran 1957, CCF lost) Thomas Bentley – agriculturist – CCF – Swift Current, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) Max Campbell – manager – CCF – the Battlefords, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (ran 1949, CCF lost) returned 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Eric Bowness McKay – teacher – CCF – Weyburn, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 (1949, riding merged with Maple Creek, ran, CCF lost) Hazen Argue – farmer – CCF – Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan – MP 1945 Assiniboia 1949, 1953, 1957, 1958 (Switched to the Liberals in 1961 after he lost the NDP leadership race, re-elected as a Liberal in 1962 but defeated by the Progressive Conservatives in 1963 and 1965) also William Irvine, a former Progressive and United Farmers of Alberta MP (1917–1935) and founding member of the CCF who was defeated in 1935 returns to Parliament, this time as a British Columbia MP, marking the first time he is elected as a CCFer – editor – CCF – Cariboo – MP 1945–1949 (ran, CCF lost)
1948 by-elections
Three CCFers were elected for the first time in by-elections in 1948, for a total of 32 MPs: Rodney Young – student – CCF – Vancouver Centre, BC – MP 1948 (ran 1949, CCF lost) Owen Lewis Jones – merchant – CCF – Yale, BC – MP 1948, 1949, Okanagan Boundary 1953 (ran 1957, CCF lost) Arthur Henry Williams – trade union organizer – CCF – Ontario, Ontario – MP 1948 (ran 1949, CCF lost)
1949 general election
The party was reduced to 13 seats in the 1949 election, gaining no new MPs.
1953 general election
The party won 23 seats in the 1953 election. Three members had previously been elected but were not incumbents. Thirteen were re-elected. Seven new members:
Erhart Regier – teacher – CCF/NDP – Burnaby-Coquitlam – MP 1953, 1957, 1958, 1962 (gives up seat after 1962 g.e. for Tommy Douglas, which he won in a by-election) Thomas Speakman Barnett – millworker – CCF/NDP – Comox-Alberni – MP 1953, 1957, (ran 1958, CCF lost) returned as NDP 1962, 1963, 1965, (ran 1968, NDP lost, result voided) returned in by-election 1969, 1972 (retired 1974, NDP lost) Colin Cameron – pipe fitter/political economist/former MLA – CCF – Nanaimo, BC – MP 1953, (ran 1957, CCF lost) returned in Nanaimo-Cowichan-the Islands – MP 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968 (died 1969, riding assoc. offers seat to Tommy Douglas who wins by-election) Harold Edward Winch – electrician/former BC CCF leader – CCF – Vancouver East, BC – MP 1953, 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, (retired 1972, NDP won [C. Paddy Neale]) Hugh Alexander Bryson – farmer – CCF – Humboldt-Melfort, Saskatchewan – MP 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Merv Johnson – farmer – CCF – Kindersley, Saskatchewan – MP 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Alfred Claude Ellis – teacher – CCF – Regina City, Saskatchewan – MP 1953, 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost)
1954 by-election
One CCFer (William Scottie Bryce in Selkirk, Manitoba), who had previously been elected, won a by-election in 1954 to give the party a total of 24 MPs.
1957 general election
The party won 25 seats in the 1957 election, including seven new members Frank Howard – logger/union official/former MLA – CCF/NDP – Skeena, BC – MP 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1972 (ran 1974, NDP lost, subsequently a BC NDP MLA 1979–1986) Alex MacDonald – barrister & solicitor – CCF – Vancouver-Kingsway, BC – MP 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Jake Schulz – farmer – CCF – Springfield, Manitoba – MP 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost) Doug Fisher – teacher – CCF/NDP – Port Arthur, Ontario – MP 1957, 1958 NDP 1962, 1963 (retired 1965, NDP lost) Arnold Peters – representative – CCF/NDP – Timiskaming, Ontario – MP 1957, 1958 NDP 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979 (ran 1980, NDP lost) Murdo Martin – fire fighter – CCF/NDP – Timmins, Ontario – MP 1957, 1958, NDP 1962, 1963, 1965 (ran 1968, NDP lost) Louis Lewry – reporter – CCF – Moose Jaw-Lake Centre, Saskatchewan – MP 1957 (ran 1958, CCF lost)
1958 general election
The party was reduced to 8 seats in the 1958 election. No new MPs were elected.
1960 general election
One CCFer, running as a candidate of the New Party, won a by-election in 1960, giving the party a total of nine MPs. Walter Pitman – teacher, later MPP; New Party; Peterborough, Ont.; MP 1960 (ran 1962, NDP lost)
1962 general election
Now called the "New Democratic Party", the party won a total of 19 seats in the 1962 election, including nine members elected for the first time: Bob Prittie – teacher – NDP – Burnaby Richmond – MP 1962, 1963, 1965, (ran 1968, NDP lost)