Fonds paa-6466 - Alberta New Democrats fonds

The Alberta New Democrats had two predecessor bodies, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP). The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was founded in Calgary, Alberta on August 1, 1932. It was a democratic socialist party under the leadership of J.S. Woodsworth. The first Alberta CCF president was William Irvine. The party brought together a number of farmer, labour and socialist parties in Western Canada and was most popular during World War II ( (1939-1945). In 1942 the Alberta Labour Party amalgamated with the Alberta CCF clubs to form the Alberta section of the CCF. The New Democratic Party of Canada was founded at a convention in Ottawa, Ontario in the summer of 1961. The NDP brought together the CCF and affiliated unions of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) under the leadership of T.C. Douglas. Several months later, the Alberta NDP was organised at a convention held on January 20-21, 1962 at the Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton, Alberta. Neil Reimer was elected the first president and party leader and Grant Notley became the party secretary. The Alberta NDP became the Alberta New Democrats in 1987.