AFTER THE FEDERAL ELECTION
A New Socialist Editorial
The federal election is over and there is little to cheer about. Our situation threatens to go from bad to worse, and many worry that the worst is yet to come under the Tories. Things will not change for the better unless large numbers of people recognize the danger signals and mobilize to defend their rights and interests.
The Liberals faithfully served corporate interests, while cynically promising reforms that were never delivered. Martin helped paved the way for the Tories through huge cuts in federal program spending and transfers to the provinces, increased military spending and Canadian intervention in Afghanistan and Haiti.
A clear majority of people voted against the Tories, so the Tory minority government does not signify strong support for a right turn or social conservatism. And as a minority government, the Tories face constraints on what they can achieve.
However, the last thing social movements and the Left should do is sigh, say it could have been worse and go back to sleep. We should not make the mistake of underestimating our enemies. The Tory campaign showed that Harper was not a bungler but a man on a mission.
The Tories may decide to bide their time and strike a relatively moderate pose, except on issues such as a crime where the right-wing tide is running high. However, no one should be fooled. If they succeed in obtaining a majority in the next election they will ruthlessly implement an anti-worker, anti-woman, anti-queer, anti-environmental, racist and militarist agenda.
People who have experienced the right-wing Campbell and Harris governments in BC and Ontario know what this means. Big tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy have inevitable consequences, gutting badly-needed public services and increasing privatization in areas such as health care.
In the absence of rising, outwardly-engaged movements and radical ideas, this election seemed isolated and marginal. But this need not be a permanent state of affairs. The current situation is dangerous but also holds opportunities.
How can the Tory agenda be defeated?
Some will look to elect the Liberals as the lesser evil. This election CAW President Buzz Hargrove go so far as to ally himself with Paul Martin, abandoning any notion of working-class political action independent of the parties of the ruling class. This is the road to nowhere. The last thing we need is a Liberal-labour alliance akin to the Democratic party in the US.
What about the NDP? From a Left and activist perspective there was nothing to cheer about in the Jack Layton campaign and its appeals to “working families.” The direction of the federal NDP has become crystal clear — it is moving to the right. The NDP differentiated itself a little by opposing corporate tax cuts, privatization of health and the Bush agenda. But it called for a balanced budget, promised no new corporate taxes, offered its version of “get tough on crime” and refused to challenge the Canadian military’s role in warlike occupations.
The NDP may sometimes try and act as a parliamentary brake on the Tories. But Layton’s talk about cooperating to “make parliament work” makes it plain that the NDP wants to avoid bringing down the Tory minority government, for fear that voters who buy into the reactionary “we don’t want another election” sentiment would punish the NDP at the polls.
The Conservatives will only be defeated if they are challenged in society at large by visible and vocal opposition organizing itself and taking to the streets. Many do not want to take the Harper agenda lying down. New Socialist calls for people to not to give the new government a chance.
Renewed mobilization by unions, anti-poverty groups, students and a strengthened anti-war & anti-intervention movement are our weapons to defeat Harper. There is a crying need for a new women’s movement to defend the existing hard-won right to choose and to win universal quality public child care services.
It has been a decade since the last major pan-Canadian mobilization against the federal government around domestic issues: the 1996 women’s march against poverty organized by unions and the women’s movement. This of activism and the timid conservatism of the Canadian Labour Congress leadership means that for now mobilization against the Tories will probably be on a small scale unless they miscalculate and try to push through a particularly unpopular measure.
Nevertheless, it is essential to be involved in the rebirth of opposition and struggle. This is the best way to block Tory plans and make the next government less likely to launch a new round of attacks.
Only a new wave of protest and resistance can create hope and new possibilities for positive political initiatives on the Left, just as the global justice movement did in 2000-2001. New Socialist looks forward to being a forum for discussing how we can best fight back and win.
