 Alderman John Mitchell of Hamilton was elected the first Ontario CCF president in 1934 as part of a reorganization of the party after its provincial council had been suspended by federal leader J. S. Woodsworth for suspected communist infiltration.The reorganization created a new provincial council and central party executive and centralized what had been a loose structure of affiliate organizations and riding clubs.It was accompanied by a purge of party clubs and affiliates suspected of having been infiltrated by Communists and the removal of suspected Communists from senior party positions.