05) DEFEAT THE CORPORATE AGENDA

 

People’s Voice Editorial

 

            Speculation is mounting that PM Harper may drop the writ for the Oct. 19 election as early as mid-August, to allow his Conservatives to maximize their huge financial advantage. The Tories will try every sleazy trick to stay in power, over the objections of the vast majority who reject their far-right corporate agenda. The Conservatives are the main enemy of the working class and its allies, and their defeat must be the priority for the labour and democratic forces.

 

            But “strategic voting” is not an easy formula for victory in this election and beyond. For one thing, such a strategy is extremely difficult to coordinate and implement during a short campaign period, especially given the partisan battles among the main opposition parties and their supporters.

 

            More important, to varying degrees (especially the Liberals under Justin Trudeau), these parties accept the premises of the neoliberal austerity agenda which has devastated working people here and around the world. Despite some useful policy planks such as a national child care program and higher minimum wages, Thomas Mulcair’s NDP promises to stay inside the “balanced budget” lines drawn by big capital, refusing to consider public ownership of resources and banks, or a shifting the tax burden onto the wealthy and the corporations. The Greens object to Harper’s police state laws, but present no alternative to neoliberal economics. None of these parties ever questions Harper’s imperialist foreign policy.

 

            The defeat of the Conservatives must go beyond the ballot box, towards creating conditions for a stronger movement for “people’s needs, not corporate greed!” That’s why the Communist Party of Canada is fielding a larger number of candidates in this election, calling for fundamental change, not for a kinder, gentler version of neoliberalism and war. During the campaign, we will examine these issues in depth, and we welcome your feedback!        

 

(The above article is from the August 1-31, 2015, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)