Editing Saskatchewan Progress Party (section)

==== Opposition and return to power (1929–1944) ====
Anderson's government took power at the outset of the [[Great Depression in Canada|Great Depression]], which proved to be especially severe for the Prairie provinces and which provided the Liberals with ample opportunity to criticize the government's inability to contend with the crisis. In 1932, Anderson even invited Gardiner's Liberals into his coalition, but Gardiner refused.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waiser |title=Saskatchewan |pages=306}}</ref> At the same time, a new political party was gaining momentum in the province. In 1932, farmers with [[United Farmers of Canada]] voted to formally enter politics, and after a merger with the Independent Labour Party did so under the banner of [[Farmer-Labour Group|Farmer-Labour]]; the new party became a founding member of the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] (CCF) that same year.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Warnock |first=John W. |url=https://archive.org/details/saskatchewanroot0000warn |title=Saskatchewan: The Roots of Discontent and Protest |publisher=Black Rose Books |year=2004 |isbn=1-55164-244-1 |location=Montreal |pages=340-341 |language=en-CA |url-access=registration}}</ref> The party was explicitly socialist, rapidly changing the dynamics of provincial politics.

Gardiner and the Liberals were able to return to power in [[1934 Saskatchewan general election|1934]]; the Conservatives failed to return a single member, and Farmer-Labour became the Official Opposition with five members to the Liberals' fifty. After the election, Farmer-Labour officially adopted the CCF party name. Almost immediately, Gardiner had to contend with the passage through Saskatchewan of the [[On-to-Ottawa Trek]], a 1935 convoy meant to take the concerns of unemployed workers directly to the federal government. Prime Minister [[R.B. Bennett]] declared that the trekkers would not proceed past [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]], which acted as the headquarters to the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]. Gardiner protested, predicting a riot.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waiser |first=Bill |url=https://archive.org/details/allhellcantstopu0000wais |title=All Hell Can't Stop Us: The On-to-Ottawa Trek and Regina Riot |publisher=Fifth House |year=2003 |isbn=1-894004-88-4 |location=Calgary |pages=81 |language=en-CA |url-access=registration}}</ref> He was proven correct on July 1 1935, when the Regina Riot led to two deaths and hundreds of injuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waiser |title=All Hell Can't Stop Us |pages=206-212}}</ref>

The Liberals held on to their majority in the [[1938 Saskatchewan general election|1938 election]], but they lost twelve seats as the Depression continued and the CCF gained further momentum. Although the [[Second World War]] began to relieve Depression conditions, by 1944 the CCF, under new leader [[Tommy Douglas]], appeared poised to take power.