Floyd Albin Johnson (1908–1974) was a Canadian politician who was the last leader of the Alberta Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1957 until 1962. Johnson was born in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. He emigrated to Canada with his family when he was 12 and spent the rest of his youth on the family's homestead in

Wetaskiwin Wetaskiwin ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. The city is located south of the provincial capital of Edmonton. The city name comes from the Cree word , meaning "the hills where peace was made". Wetaskiwin is home to the Reyn ...

, where he became involved with the

United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...

. As an adult, he was a carpenter by trade and studied architecture, ultimately becoming a building contractor. In 1945, after being involved with construction projects in the north during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he co-founded and became president of Dicconson, Johnson and Company, a contracting firm specializing in building housing. He succeeded

Elmer Roper Elmer Ernest Roper (June 4, 1893 – November 12, 1994) was a Canadian businessman, trade unionist and politician. He was an elected member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 1942-1955, as a representative of the Alberta Co-operative C ...

as leader of the Alberta CCF in 1957, and led the party into the 1959 provincial election, in which it lost its only two seats in the

Alberta legislature The Alberta Legislature is the unicameral legislature of the province of Alberta, Canada. The legislature is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor of Alberta, lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada),. and the Legislative A ...

. He remained leader until the founding of the CCF's successor, the

Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party (Alberta NDP; ), is social democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left to left-wing of the political spectrum and is a provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democra ...

, in 1962. Johnson sought the leadership of the new party at its first leadership convention on January 27, 1963 but withdrew before balloting began; Neil Reimer was elected leader. Johnson joined the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...

at its founding in 1932 and stood for office in federal and provincial elections in the 1950s and in the 1960s for the CCF and its successor, the

New Democratic Party of Canada The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

. He was a candidate for the Alberta CCF in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

in the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

and 1955 provincial elections and, as party leader, in

Dunvegan Dunvegan () is a village on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is famous for Dunvegan Castle, seat of the chiefs of Clan MacLeod. Dunvegan is within the parish of Duirinish, Skye, Duirinish. In 2011, it had a population of 386. Name In ''The Nors ...

in 1959 but was defeated in each attempt. He also ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in federal elections for the CCF in Edmonton—Strathcona in the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

and 1957 federal elections, and for the

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

in the

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and 1963 federal elections. He also ran, unsuccessfully, for the Edmonton school board on the Better Education Association ticket in the 1961 civic election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Floyd Albin 1908 births 1974 deaths Leaders of the Alberta CCF/NDP American emigrants to Canada New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons People from South Dakota Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidates for the Canadian House of Commons