Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 8-13-2019 1:00 PM 'To Waffleo t the Left:' The Waffle, the New Democratic Party, and Canada's New Left during the Long Sixties David G. Blocker The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Fleming, Keith The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in History A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © David G. Blocker 2019 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Canadian History Commons Recommended Citation Blocker, David G., "'To Waffleo t the Left:' The Waffle, the New Democratic Party, and Canada's New Left during the Long Sixties" (2019). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 6554. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/6554 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Abstract The Sixties were time of conflict and change in Canada and beyond. Radical social movements and countercultures challenged the conservatism of the preceding decade, rejected traditional forms of politics, and demanded an alternative based on the principles of social justice, individual freedom and an end to oppression on all fronts. Yet in Canada a unique political movement emerged which embraced these principles but proposed that New Left social movements – the student and anti-war movements, the women’s liberation movement and Canadian nationalists – could bring about radical political change not only through street protests and sit-ins, but also through participation in electoral politics. The Waffle movement, which formed around the “Manifesto for an Independent and Socialist Canada” and challenged the leadership of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1969 to 1973, represents a dynamic convergence of many of the social movements that comprised the New Left in Canada. The Waffle argued that the NDP should promote socialist measures to combat American economic domination and ensure Canadian independence while simultaneously engaging with extra-parliamentary struggles. NDP and trade-union leaders, reluctant to adopt such a radical approach, expelled the Waffle from the Ontario NDP in 1972. Despite its short life-span, the Waffle had a considerable influence on Canadian politics and the issues that it raised – Canadian economic dependency, Quebec’s right to self-determination, women’s equality, and the decline of the manufacturing sector, among others – continue to resonate to this day. Furthermore, the Waffle’s impact on Canadian nationalism and its legacy in the NDP, labour and women’s movements, radical left and academia remain contested. The Waffle’s successes and failures represent a potentially revealing perspective on Canadian politics and society during a period of rapid social change, the Sixties. While the existing historiography has sketched the outlines of the Waffle’s history, the focus overall has been limited to analyses of internal leadership disputes and the experience of the Ontario Waffle in particular. Abundant research materials now exist to support a wider and more intensive examination. Through an analysis of the Waffle, focusing on grassroots activists as well as the movement’s leadership, this dissertation demonstrates important connections between the Waffle and other New Left social movements. This interconnectivity is particularly significant, as it indicates that the Waffle occupied a unique place in the international New Left, specifically a convergence of social movements which sought to engage with electoral politics through an existing political party, the NDP. The dissertation also revises the movement/party dichotomy which has dominated much of the Waffle/NDP historiography. Finally, my study of the Waffle, a group active from 1969-75, indicates the flaws of applying a declension narrative to the Canadian Sixties, instead demonstrating the value of a “long Sixties” approach. As the clock ticked down on the 1960s, the Canadian New Left neither died nor retreated into cynicism nor lashed out in violence. Instead, its diverse elements, led by the Waffle, nurtured the wild dream of redirecting and leading to triumph an established political party. Keywords: History, Politics, Social movements, New Democratic Party (NDP), New Left, Protest, Nationalism, Sixties, Feminism, Women’s Movement, Unions, Labour Movement, Marxism, Radicalism ii Statement for the Lay Person The Sixties were time of conflict and change in Canada and beyond. Radical social movements and countercultures challenged the conservatism of the preceding decade, rejected traditional forms of politics, and demanded an alternative based on the principles of social justice, individual freedom and an end to oppression on all fronts. Yet in Canada a unique political movement emerged which embraced these principles but proposed that New Left social movements – the student and anti-war movements, the women’s liberation movement and Canadian nationalists – could bring about radical political change not only through street protests and sit-ins, but also through participation in electoral politics. The Waffle movement, which formed around the “Manifesto for an Independent and Socialist Canada” and challenged the leadership of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1969 to 1973, represents a dynamic convergence of many of the social movements that comprised the New Left in Canada. The Waffle argued that the NDP should promote socialist measures to combat American economic domination and ensure Canadian independence while simultaneously engaging with extra-parliamentary struggles. NDP and trade-union leaders, reluctant to adopt such a radical approach, expelled the Waffle from the Ontario NDP in 1972. Despite its short life-span, the Waffle had a considerable influence on Canadian politics and the issues that it raised – Canadian economic dependency, Quebec’s right to self-determination, women’s equality, and the decline of the manufacturing sector, among others – continue to resonate to this day. Furthermore, the Waffle’s impact on Canadian nationalism and its legacy in the NDP, labour and women’s movements, radical left and academia remain contested. iii Acknowledgements Countless people have contributed to this project in the many years it has taken to transform from a notion into a dissertation. My supervisor, Dr. Keith Fleming, has always been generous with his time and counsel. In addition to providing thoughtful and insightful comments on my work he has proven to be a meticulous editor, an excellent adviser and a calm voice throughout the evolution of this dissertation. Dr. Robert Wardhaugh’s encouragement and criticism has been invaluable. I’m grateful to the History Department at Western for providing me with an intellectually stimulating home over the course of my PhD. In particular I benefited from the guidance, support and encouragement of Jonathan Vance, Alan MacEachern, Rob MacDougall, Monda Halpern, and Jeffrey Vacante. The Department’s administrative staff, especially Chris Speed and Kara Brown, have been tremendously helpful throughout my time at Western. Financial support through the History Department, including a research travel grant and the 2018-19 Kenneth Hilborn Doctoral Completion Award, proved vital. Before arriving at Western, teachers and professors too numerous to name encouraged my passion for history and my fascination with left-wing political parties and social movements. In particular, Dr. Marcel Martel was a kind and considerate adviser during my Master’s at York University. Bettina Bradbury, Kathryn McPherson, Mark Stein at York University and Ian Radforth, Michael Wayne, David Rayside and Michael Stein at the University of Toronto each nurtured and supported my development as a student, scholar and author in different ways, and I am grateful to all of them. The opportunity to conduct research on the Waffle allowed me to see many parts of the country – but mostly many different archives. I would like to thank the archivists and staff at Library and Archives Canada, the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections at York University, the William Ready Division of Archives at McMaster University, the Queen’s University Archives, Simon Fraser University Archives and Special Collections, University of British Columbia Special Collections and the Saskatchewan Archives Board in both Regina and Saskatoon who provided invaluable time and assistance. Roberta Lexier generously shared her own research into the Waffle for which I am grateful. And thank you to all the people who, both formally and informally, shared their memories of the Waffle, their thoughts on the NDP, and their recollections of an exciting period of political activism. It would have been financially impossible to complete this dissertation had I not been employed with the Public Service Alliance of Canada for four years, first as president of the teaching assistants’ union at Western and then as an organizer for PSAC. Thank you to Between the Lines Publishing for giving me permission to reproduce the article “Waffling in Winnipeg and London: Canada’s New Left and the NDP, 1965-75,” in Party of Conscience: The CCF, NDP and Social Democracy in Canada, edited by iv Roberta Lexier, Stephanie Bangarth and Jon Weier (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2018), as