Social Democratic Party of Canada
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The Social Democratic Party was a
The SDP was based in
The SDP's official platform, as put forth in their newspaper Canadian Forward:
As a means of preparing the minds of the working class for the inauguration of the Co-operative commonwealth, the Social-Democratic Party of Canada will support any measure that will tend to better conditions under capitalism, such as:
(1) Reduction of hours of labor.
(2) The elimination of child labor.
(3) Universal adult suffrage without distinction of sex or regard to property qualifications.
(4) The Initiative, Referendum, and right of Recall.
It was perceived as being a radical leftist group by the federal government, especially during the World War I. The Canadian Director of Public Safety identified them as the publisher of the largest amount of anti-war propaganda during the war. Isaac Bainbridge, the editor of the Canadian Forward and Dominion Secretary of the SDP, was imprisoned on numerous occasions for the "seditious material."
In 1918, the SDP was briefly outlawed by an Order-in-Council of the Borden administration, but that was quickly rectified shortly thereafter. However, its newspaper Canadian Forward was outlawed permanently, which persecution helped to contribute to the party's downfall.
The SDP joined the Federated Labour Party of Canada in 1920 and its successors such as the Independent Labour Party.
Many former members of the SDP joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation when it was formed in 1932.
References
- The Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. Macmillan Publishers. p. 68.
Further reading
- Ian Angus, Canadian Bolsheviks: The Early Years of the Communist Party in Canada. Montreal: Vanguard Publications, 1981.
- C.H. Cahan, Socialistic Propaganda in Canada: Its Purposes, Results and Remedies. Toronto, ON: OISE, 1918.
- Ian McKay, Rebels, Reds, Radicals: Rethinking Canada's Left History. Toronto: Between the Lines, 2005.
See also
- social democracy
- List of political parties in Canada
- Social Democratic Party of Canada in Manitoba
- Labour candidates and parties (Canada))