| |
|
The New Brunswick NDP traces its roots to the Fredricton Socialist League founded in 1902. The League had branches throughout the province by World War I.
In 1932 the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation was formed with the proclamation of the Regina Manifesto and in 1933 the Moncton Trades and Labour Council adopted a resolution to create a branch of the CCF in New Brunswick leading to the creation of the New Brunswick CCF in 1933. In 1961 the CCF merged with the labour movement to form the New Democratic Party on both federal and provincial levels.
In the early 1970s the New Brunswick NDP was taken over by the Waffle, a radical wing of the party. The federal NDP responded by temporarily dissolving the provincial wing.
In 1982 the party elected its first MLA since its inception as the CCF but has been unable to expand its presence in the provincial legislature in the subsequent twenty years. Elizabeth Weir has led the party since 1987 and is currently the party's only member in the legislature.
In 1997 the federal NDP elected MPs from New Brunswick for the first time in the history of either the NDP or the CCF. Both MPs were elected in Acadian areas of the province and Yvon Godin was re-elected in 2000, however the provincial NDP has been unable to replicate this advance and has failed to elect MLAs from the same region.