Victory At What Cost?

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Passing the post with a minority, the Liberals have just secured another four years in government. As the close victory over the Conservatives is celebrated across the country, a shadow looms over the future of the Canadian left. We must ask ourselves: in compromising with the centre to defeat the right, have we consequently destroyed the left?

There is no question a Conservative victory would have been a disaster for working class Canadians. With the rise of far right sentiment across the world, a government led by a pompous cultural crusader intent on kowtowing to fascists and reactionaries would undoubtedly only fuel the further collapse of our democratic institutions. But are these institutions truly safe under Carney’s Liberal? I’ve elaborated on the shortcomings of the Trudeau government in a past article, notably our former prime minister’s vulnerability to flattery and bribery which led him down a number of corruption scandals. Given Carney’s background as governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis and the Bank of England in the era of Brexit and COVID-19, there’s no doubt his age and experience will be a welcome change from his predecessor’s more sophomoric disposition. What remains to be seen is whether or not this experience will be used to secure the wellbeing of everyday Canadians, or to further line the pockets of wealthy corporations. Unfortunately, the track record of ostensibly progressive politicians paints a rather bleak picture.

Another consequence of this election was the utter defeat of the left and its capitulation to the centre. The disastrous performance of the NDP marks a historic low point for the Canadian labour movement and Singh’s resignation will force the party to take a long hard look at itself if it wants to survive without its official status in parliament. It’s either they truly become the party of the Canadian left by embracing socialism more overtly, or doom themselves to obscurity or dissolution by continuing down the path of toothless social-democracy or left-liberalism. Consequently, Canadian leftists need to consider their allegiance to the NDP and their reformist practices and weigh their merits over more radical democratic socialist and revolutionary voices slowly bubbling up into the mass political consciousness.

Whatever the future has in store, it’s clear that we all have our work cut out for us if we hope to prevent the looming collapse of democracy. Whether the Carney government will create an island of peace in an increasingly chaotic world or give in completely to the power of capital, the next few will be trying years for all of us. The strong Conservative opposition will no doubt stifle any attempts at progress, risking to derail our parliament into a real hindrance to democracy rather than an organ of it (as Marxists have argued over a century ago).

—M.