No coalition with the Liberal Party!
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12 SOCIALIST ACTION SEPTEMBER 2015 ment by Amnesty International to the same effect.
Jerry Natanine of Nunavut, the mayor of Clyde River, was tossed because, in his words, “I often side with the Palestinians because of all the hardship they are fac ing and because nothing is being re-built over there.”
In Toronto Centre, the party brass silenced star can didate Linda McQuaig for publicly stating the obvi ous, that much of the Alberta oil should be kept in the ground if Canada is to meet its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
These positions are problematic for the NDP lead ership, particularly in Quebec, where such issues strongly resonate and the party enjoys a commanding lead in the polls over the Liberals, the Conservatives, the Greens, and the nationalist Bloc Quebecois. The BQ is tainted by its association with anti-worker laws enacted by its provincial cousin, the Parti Quebecois, in recent decades.
That should not be confused with an absence of sup port for Quebec sovereignty. The staunchly federalist Mulcair will still have to ride the tiger of Quebec’s na tional aspirations, given that up to half of his MPs will likely hail from that nation/province, drawing much support from ex-BQ voters.
This is the longest election campaign in modern Canadian history (a tactic the autocrat Harper may already regret). Much can still happen to change its course. The point, however, is not simply to interpret the train of events, but to influence it.
An NDP victory will open the space for leftist ideas. It will likely secure and restore home mail delivery, un-muzzle scientists working for federal depart ments, eliminate some of the egregious tax breaks for the rich, lift the lid on the murder and disappearance of thousands of aboriginal women, raise the minimum wage, and possibly establish quality, public child care for up to a million kids.
Those who advocate national Pharmacare, and pub lic ownership of Big Oil and Gas to facilitate a major shift to green energy systems, will gain a much wider (Above) NDP Leader Tom Mulcair. (Below) Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau.
hearing as a result of an NDP win. Those who promote steeply progressive taxation of big business and the rich to reduce glaring inequality and to meet human needs, those who want a foreign policy based on soli darity with the oppressed and firm opposition to war and imperialism, those who demand an end to state spying on everyone and a halt to repression of social justice seekers will feel the wind at their backs.
At the same time, it is clear that the NDP tops, who are now trying to establish their bone fides with the Canadian corporate elite, will resist efforts from be low to hold them to their progressive pledges. They will step on the toes of leaders of labour affiliates. They will disavow social protest movements.
Their commitment is to capitalism with a human face. It is hard to imagine a more monumental contra diction in terms, even at the best of times. Today the world economy is in recession, with waves of desper ate refugees fleeing the ravages of imperialist inter vention and environmental disasters induced by the heartless private-profit system.
If the betrayal of Syriza, a supposedly radical leftist party in Greece, was predictable, the retrenchment of an NDP regime in Ottawa is almost a foregone conclu sion. And an NDP coalition with the Liberal Party, or even with the Green Party, would only furnish more excuses for retreat from a progressive platform, let alone rule out a Workers’ Agenda—so the notion of an NDP alliance with any capitalist party should be rejected in principle.
The merit of fighting for an NDP government is not diminished by the pro-capitalist outlook of its leaders because the prospects for socialism depend on the class struggle, not on the low political horizons and the narrow career ambitions of party officials.
For the class struggle to advance the interests of the vast majority, partisans of the working class should be organized to fight for socialist measures. That effort must take place both inside and outside the party and its labour affiliates.
An NDP victory will raise the confidence of working people to assert their demands. It will alter the rela tionship of class forces to the disadvantage of Capital and in favour of the popular majority.
In the remaining weeks of the campaign, socialists will seize the opportunity to canvass their neighbours in support of local NDP candidates, collect signatures on the 4Ps petition being circulated by the NDP So cialist Caucus (see page 9), and urge people to Vote NDP, without illusions. n