Socialist Party of Canada (Manitoba)
The Socialist Party of Manitoba (SPM) was a short-lived social democratic political party launched in 1902 in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The organisation advanced a moderate programme of social reform legislation. In 1904 the SPM became one of the constituent units founding the Socialist Party of Canada, an organisation which continued until 1925.
Establishment
The Socialist Party of Manitoba was established in 1902.
Included among the planks of the SPM's
Located in a largely rural province, the SPM had a small membership almost entirely contained in the city of Winnipeg.[2]
Socialist Party of Canada in Manitoba
The
During its early years, the Winnipeg SPC was a rival to larger reformist groups such as Arthur Puttee's Winnipeg Labour Party, from which many Socialists members had split. It was active in the local trade unions, and participated in the city's elections.
The party ran John Donald Houston in Winnipeg for the federal election of 1908. He finished third, behind the Liberal and Conservative candidates.
In the 1910 provincial election, the SPC ran candidates in three of Winnipeg's four ridings. They finished a distant third in all three, but may have been responsible for the defeat of reformist Manitoba Labour Party candidate Fred Dixon in Winnipeg Centre. Dixon's loss provoked a backlash against the SPC from Winnipeg's labour unions, weakening the party. Many of its members joined the newly formed Social Democratic Party of Canada, which became stronger in Winnipeg than any other city in western Canada.
In the 1914 provincial election, the SPC ran George Armstrong and Bill Hoop for the two Winnipeg Centre seats, but did not challenge the SDP in Winnipeg North. Both SPC candidates finished a distant third in their ridings. Armstrong ran against Dixon, but could not prevent his election as an independent.
The SPC was further marginalized in the 1915 provincial election. Its only candidate was Armstrong, who again placed third against Dixon. Subsequent events, however, would briefly revive the party's fortunes in the city.
In 1919, the city of
The 1920 election proved to be the party's greatest success in
Recreated Socialist Party of Canada
Armstrong resurfaced as an SPC candidate in the 1932 provincial election, but fared poorly. The party does not appear to have functioned in the city for long after the election.
In 1945, a
Candidates of the Socialist Party of Canada in Manitoba
1910 provincial election:
- W.S. Cummings (Thomas Taylordefeated Dixon by 73 votes. The SPC was blamed for Dixon's loss, and became marginalized in Winnipeg's labour community until 1919. Little is known of Cummings, aside from the fact that he contested this election.