Just two months ago, the federal Conservatives were sailing towards an easy election. The Liberals were crumbling under Justin Trudeau, and Poilievre’s victory seemed so inevitable that right-wing ideologue Jordan Peterson hosted a triumphant interview titled “Canada’s Next Prime Minister.”
But with the election of Trump, the US-Canada tariff war, and the replacement of Trudeau with Mark Carney, the tables have turned. Poilievre has struggled to pivot and the Conservatives have lost support, while the Liberals have surged ahead in the polls. The fear of Poilievre has turned into hope that Carney can beat him. But Carney is no alternative. He has spent his career bailing out banks, profiting from the housing market collapse and basically ruling on behalf of the one percent.
Poilievre, on the other hand, claims to represent workers and stand up to corporations. But behind his populist rhetoric and claims to challenge the elites lies a bully whose only answers are to increase military spending, criminalise immigrants through greater border controls, cutting taxes, slashing social programs, build prisons and harsher penalties, and let the “free market” run wild.
The collapse of the NDP is largely explained by their support of the Liberals in opposition to Poilievre. But there is very little daylight between Carney and Poilievre. Both support tax cuts for the wealthy and oppose government spending on social programs, which will increase wealth inequality; the Liberals have moved quickly to adopt much of the big points of Poilievre’s campaign and are promising to be “less woke” and more tough on crime and migrants.
Socialists and elections
As socialists, we should be clear about elections. Working class confidence and struggle matters more than elections, but who wins them does matter. Working class people fought hard for the right to vote. For many today, voting seems their only chance to have a say in how the system is run—despite often thinking that it won’t change very much. Most people are disillusioned with parliament. This is reflected in the low level of voter turnout. But governments can raise taxes on the rich or lower them. They can invest more money in hospitals or cut funding. They can bring in laws to restrict women’s access to abortion, or they can liberalise the laws.Election seasons are when the largest number of people are thinking about politics and they are moments where we can and should intervene to change the political terrain to be as favourable for our side as we can.
These things have a real impact on the lives of ordinary people. For example, a Conservative win will demoralise many working people while NDP victories (where they happen) can boost the morale of many of our comrades in the labour movement, community activist groups, and elsewhere to feel like they can resist the Liberal or Conservative cuts and demand a little bit more. That is why Spring does think it matters who you vote for and why we would call for a vote for the NDP with no illusions that it will be a shortcut to socialism.
It is important to recognize both the limitations of elections to bring real change and the possibilities of elections as important tactical opportunities. When millions are talking politics and when discussing political change is temporarily encouraged, socialist ideas can find larger audiences.This shapes how socialists can intervene in elections.
Revolutionaries don’t think we can bring about socialism by electing left-wingers to parliament. But we can use elections to highlight the failings of mainstream politicians and the system they defend. The election allows socialists to raise demands that challenge the ruling class’s priorities. They can do these things even if they don’t win. Socialists can intervene in elections to amplify the movements outside Parliament that can push the whole terrain on which parties are campaigning further to the left both during and after the election.
This is where we come in. Socialists must strive to create the biggest and most effective possible movement. To do that, we need straightforward agitational slogans and demands that are relatively narrow and connect with the immediate concerns of millions. In the current situation, the Justice For Workers movement (something Spring members have been deeply involved in for years now) has launched the No One Left Behind campaign in response to the tariff war. The demands include status for all, income and EI supports, and moratorium on evictions and rent increases. These simple proposals will resonate with huge numbers of people. Advancing these issues while canvassing, making them items that the media and leaders’ debates have to cover, can play a role in isolating the Conservatives, exposing the Liberals and pushing the NDP further to the left.
Beyond the election
Whichever party wins this election, the problems of Canadian capitalism will not disappear. We need to build a socialist movement that is rooted in campaigns across the country, and which can amplify and connect these campaigns. This includes using elections as a tactic, but the overall strategy is to build movement and organizational power outside of the colonial and capitalist institution of Parliament, to build working class power and to lay the foundation for a different kind of democracy all together.
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