Opinion

Canada's Sudden Democracy Movement

Can the NDP and the traditional left catch up with this spontaneous uprising?

By Murray Dobbin, 25 Jan 2010, TheTyee.ca

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Stephen Harper has reaped a whirlwind of protest for his shutting down of Parliament. The brilliant strategist is, of course, also a malignant anti-democrat and his contempt for democracy, Canadians, and anyone who has the temerity to disagree with him has again tripped up his clever manipulation of the system. Perhaps this cynical prorogation was the straw that broke the camel's back. After four years of countless examples of running roughshod over democratic traditions and principles, Canadians, who are slow to anger, have had enough.

The result is the most encouraging political development in twenty years, since the broad movement against free trade in 1987-88. That movement successfully tapped into Canadian core values, brought together social justice organizations, labour and other civil society groups and won the hearts and minds of Canadians on the issue (only to be defeated by the first-past-the-post electoral system in the '88 election).

But that time the opposition was initiated, organized and funded by labour, the churches and social justice organizations. This time it has been purely spontaneous -- begun by a Facebook member who simply wanted to express his anger (see today's Tyee interview with Chris White). Today, while there are still lots of organizations, there are no genuine movements. After years of slow decline all of the movements which once commanded attention (as opposed to demanding it) have faded into obscurity -- especially for the general population these movements used to influence.

Indeed it could be argued that the decline of these movements is what permitted the coming to power of Stephen Harper.

A political vacuum on the left

Social and labour movements historically have played the role of helping create the political culture -- the playing field -- of formal party politics. Political parties do not develop policies and strategies in a vacuum. They assess the conditions, the parameters of what people will tolerate, the values that people hold, and develop their policies and strategies accordingly. From a progressive perspective the best outcomes prevail when both sides of this formula are working at their peak; when movements are strong and one or more political parties are smart enough, and share the same values, to take advantage of the political space that movements create.

It is no coincidence that the most productive period for good social policy, the 1960s and early 1970s, paralleled the time when movements -- student, anti-poverty, anti-war, labour, women and aboriginal -- were at their strongest.

Today they are at their weakest. The labour movement -- with its considerable capacity for analysis, research and financial resources -- is virtually AWOL in the struggle against Stephen Harper and his right-wing policies. Civil society organizations for the most part are demoralized and confused about what to do next.

The environmental movement is hampered by its failure to understand the exercise of political power, and is stymied by the Harper government's total rejection of their agenda and its refusal to even engage in the debate. The women's movement -- which moved issues far broader than just women's equality when it was a force -- has been dead for a decade. The once-radical aboriginal movement is now little more than a collection of quasi-governmental bureaucracies whose interests are rooted in the status-quo. Despite the tragedy of the Afghan war and widespread Canadian opposition to it, the peace movement is almost invisible. Several efforts have been made in the past ten years to re-constitute the Action Canada Network, the powerful anti-free trade coalition, but to no avail.

As a result, the NDP, traditionally the party that was able and willing to move into the space created by social and labour movements, has become hyper-cautious, fearful of proposing anything outside a narrow range of small 'l' liberal policies and sometimes -- as with the tough-on-crime issue -- moving far to the right.

One example of this caution is the NDP's refusal to even talk about tax increases on the wealthy and corporations because it knows it would get hammered in the media. It will not risk tax-talk unless there is space created for it by a vigorous civil society movement for taxing wealth. But even as we move towards Harper's first "restraint" (read program-slashing) budget there is a deafening silence from the labour movement.

A new democracy movement born?

And so, the left -- extra-parliamentary and parliamentary -- is put in the position of leading from behind. A close examination of Canadians' stated values demonstrates that they are far ahead of the organizations that have historically provided them with leadership. That is one of the most amazing aspects of this democracy movement. It has bypassed the moribund progressive organizations and taken the fight straight to the government, tapping directly into Canadian values and anger. This is an unmediated, spontaneous, grassroots movement -- a welling up of outrage at an arrogant, quasi-dictatorship. It's as if, tired of waiting for the traditional organizations to speak for them, Canadians who care deeply for their country are taking matters into their own hands.

But what happens now? After Saturday's incredibly successful demonstrations -- 60 of them, with great turn outs, including over 3,500 in Ottawa -- will the movement continue until democracy is restored and Stephen Harper and his wrecking crew are sent packing? The movement has the potential to re-energize progressive movements of all kinds, across the country. Let's hope that it grows and matures, because if it does not there is every likelihood that Stephen Harper will continue dismantling the country; not just its institutions, but the social programs and activist government that Canadians have built and still support.

A chance to reenergize labour

And what of the labour movement which used to help initiate and lead such movements? Here is their chance to assist this one by providing it, with no strings attached, the resources it needs to continuing growing and developing into a mature, permanent movement. No existing organization or combination of organizations has, at the moment, the moral authority to provide the needed leadership. But they can provide solidarity and material support. And then they might find their way again and add their voices, and those of their members, to the call for democracy.

A genuine movement with broadly popular goals of democratic reforms -- including new legislation putting restrictions on the use of prorogation, a proportional representation electoral system, and increased checks and balances on the currently unfettered executive power -- could form the basis of a rewriting of the Canadian political system.

Until today the prospects for such reforms were poor indeed. But if the opposition parties are astute enough to take advantage of this outpouring of democratic sentiment, they will put such reforms, especially proportional representation, on the front burner. The first party to make that reform, and others, a key part of their next election platform could reap the benefits of the first spontaneous mass movement Canada has seen in decades. [Tyee]

Murray Dobbin's "State of the Nation" column now appears every other Monday in The Tyee and Rabble, and he also publishes articles on his blog.

42 Comments:

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  • Van Isle

    2 years ago

    I still think that those

    I still think that those pricks in Ottawa don't give a tinkers damn what Canadians think. We can protest all we want, they'll just laugh it off. FYI I did attend a rally on Saturday, for what it's worth; at least I showed up, not like a lot of ................ And oh, by the way, for those who will dismiss me as being a "lefty", I've never been a member of the NDP or any "left leaning" party in my life.

  • W Laurier

    2 years ago

    Good Article

    Good article, Mr Dobbin. Canada's left is indeed lost in the wilderness. Instead of being progressive such it was in the past, it is locked in the past. We live in a very different world now then even ten years ago and much more so than twenty.

    In my opinion the left has to get a more positive message out about why we should vote for their ideas. All I see the left doing is automatically opposing everything and then not really offering any real alternative other than trot out slogans and ideas that are years old. In addition, the left has to distance itself from cranks, crack pots, haters, haters, name callers and most importantly public sector unions.

    I think there is hope for a credible alternative in Gregor Robertson who is turning out to be an excellent mayor of Vancouver. I enjoy hearing him talk because he is so forthright and down to earth. No ideological tirades, just the business of running the city in the best manner possible. He would, and his party, make an excellent choice for the Premier' office.

  • Frank

    2 years ago

    BS

    Nice try Wilf but its your side that opposes everything. You oppose alleviating child poverty, you oppose fixing homelessness, you oppose government getting back into providing low-cost housing, you oppose increasing the minimum wage, you oppose reversing the growing disparity between rich and poor.

    No matter what the issue, and a lot of them are discussed here, if it helps people, you say "No" to it.

    As I said to r'man, you and he are the most negative people I've ever met. But of course in your minds "negative people" are those that see the problems you'd prefer to see ignored.

  • Tbarnston

    2 years ago

    Left vs Right is irrelevant

    The whole Left vs Right framework encompasses far too narrow of a spectrum to be relevant any more. What really matters is do you believe in freedom and democracy or corporate fascism.

    As Dobbin points out, many left movements have become reliant on the status quo. Labour has evolved into a symbiotic relationship with corporate power whereby labour serves largely as a training, benefits adminstration, and human resources service provider to corporations.

    What we need to see happen is people from various political and ideological viewpoints getting together and working together on issues where they agree, and making progress on those matters. Restoring democracy to Canada is clearly one of those issues.

  • Urbanismo

    2 years ago

    Our pretty GG

    "Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean strongly believes that the 21st century should see us seeking out values that are common to every civilization. In her opinion, our horizons have now been expanded to encompass the world and require even greater solidarity." Thus says the official GG web site!
    I have watched on telly as our pretty GG gobbles seal meat with her Inuit "peers". I have admired her hair-do's as she sheds crocodile tears for her Haitian brethren . . . but . . .

    "It is this call for solidarity that Her Excellency emphasizes everywhere she goes in Canada and abroad, " . . . really a call? Or just grandstanding!

    Am I being impolite, unpatriotic, to ask of this lady who is, "seeking out values that are common to every civilization" why so blind to our own democratic values?

    Why so ready to roll over when Mr. Harper comes, twice mind you, asking, to comply with his undemocratic slight of hand: to avoid his parliamentary responsibilities?

    The GG is under no constitutional obligation to compliantly acquiesce to every Prime minister's demand: surely, if she is the beacon of democracy in Canada, as her web page implies, she needs to act like one!

    Ummmm, I'm wondering is this lady of the "Haitian elite", those with their boot-in-the-face of every struggling Haitian: the high end progeny of those undemocratic, do-as-I-say-not-do-as-I-do Napoleonic revolutionary deposers of Toussaint Louverture, the rightful leader of Haiti way back!

    She sure acts like it.

    I'd like to know more, yunno, in-depth, no official hagiography, of this lady's back-ground! Why did she come to Canada?

  • alive

    2 years ago

    just suppose:

    Urbanismo, I agree!
    I also wonder how this relief operation would have turned out, if by chance it was Cuba that was hit and not Haiti?
    My bet is that once again "some people are more equal than others"!

  • Grania

    2 years ago

    Left...Right...Outa Sight!

    The time for division of Left and Right is over. We are Canadians with Canadian values and I greatly appreciated this article. Frankly; I think a coalition government with people elected because of individual skill and merit is the way to go. How many of us really vote for a party anymore. Not many. Most of us try to figure out how to defeat the worst candidate and vote for somebody we do not really want in order to do so. The last time I voted for somebody I thought was the best of a bad lot; I probably helped to split the vote and we ended up with Harper...again!

  • anarcho

    2 years ago

    Partly true, but...

    While Murray does make a valid point, there is more happening than meets the eye. For example, the nation-wide protest against the Olympics foolishness. With First Nations there is the on-going, and Canada-wide, struggle to find out what happened to the bodies of the children killed in the residential schools. There are the anti-poverty movements and their actions. A network of immigrant support groups has been organized in all major cities. As for environmentalists, while there have been no major actions like Clayoquot, there are local protests such as those in West Vancouver and Victoria over highway building and development. Generally, enviros as focusing less on large scale action and more on local initiatives like seed-saving, local production and countering petroleum dependency in their own communities.

    Across the country there are thousands of involved activists, few of whom are connected with the mainstream left.

    It is inevitable that the smaller scale and local will be much less likely to catch the media's attention. As for issues that ought to be large scale, such as the Olympics protest or the First Nation's children, we have here the failure of the mainstream left through its cowardice to throw its still considerable weight behind these struggles.

  • Ahda

    2 years ago

    a distracted populace?

    Thanks, 'Left vs Right is irrelevant' and others that raise the perspective above oppositional partisan thinking. Also, my sense is that many of us are reeling from the effects of access to real news through the new media - online. I often experience a feeling of trying to catch a drink from a fire hydrant while attempting to be an engaged citizen. Whether it is big oil on the water, election reform or equal treatment for the under privileged, we can become overwhelmed and distracted. Then there is that portion of the population befuddled with the dazzling, largely American entertainment engine. But, in spite of all that there arose a demand for open, frank consultation through that medium that once again, enabled us to register our vote and connect locally on a specific issue - Facebook. That gives me hope that we CAN focus.

  • deeby

    2 years ago

    Help from the labour movement...?

    Quote:
    Here is [organized labour's] chance to assist this one by providing it, with no strings attached, the resources it needs to continuing growing and developing into a mature, permanent movement.

    Just like they did during Operation Solidarity?

    In my opinion appealing to organized labour for anything that doesn't exactly coincide with its interests, is a recipe for getting co-opted/hijacked.

    Please join in, but leave your union cards at home.

  • W Laurier

    2 years ago

    Good Point, Deeby

    In my opinion, no political party should be beholden to any particular group, be in the construction trades for the Liberals or the unions for the NDP. In particular, giving the unions a 50% vote block at NDP party meetings is a major factor holding them back.

    This is why we need a credible third party like we have here in Vancouver. We have, in my opinion, the best city management in living memory with the Vision people, who are beholden to nobody but the voters. It is very refreshing and I hope we see them move into provincial politics.

  • SicPreFix

    2 years ago

    W Laurier ...

    said:

    Quote:
    In my opinion, no political party should be beholden to any particular group, be in the construction trades for the Liberals or the unions for the NDP.

    Okay, that's fine. Now, what about, oh, I don't know, the banks and insurance companies for the Conservatives? Do you oppose that too?

  • Skywalker

    2 years ago

    Predictable reaction

    Not surprising you get the same mushy nonsense from those who would prefer that political parties all become the same. Wilf, Tbarnston, alive and Grania who preach that the left should become more like the right in order to gani popularity peddle a very self-serving agenda. When the left becomes more like the middle they become irrelevant, that is a fact and that is what they advocate. David Lewis's "corporate welfare bums" are as prevalent today as they were then. Murray is right in saying that no one wants to talk about making the corporate sector pay its fair share. Stats. Canada repeatedly reports that the gains made by the few are much greater than the gains made by the many.

    You even get a repetition of the of the self-serving crap that the NDP by working with Labour is somehow compromising its principles but the right-wing tories by working with the corporate interests is somehow different and more noble. What a huge load of rubbish and to say "no party should be beholden to a particular group" and not recognize that the right-wing parties do just that is self-righteous, dishonest drivel.

    Democracy is based on every person having equal vote and POLITICAL INFLUENCE. The founders of democracy never envisioned that corporate entities should be more influential in making decisions that effect people, than individual voters. We have government by corporate dictates messaged by a corporate media as being good for us.

    We don't have a democracy and what these guys peddle is a protection of the position of the elites. If the NDP does not start taking positions which are principled, even if they are the tough positions, they will become irrelevant. The average person listens to the privilege accorded business and corporate interests every day, then listens to socialism that is offered them while they get "free enterprise" and wonders who is the government really working for. You got an example of that on the issue of prorogation and it will happen again.

    Harper is viewed as an autocratic coward and business puppet who runs when the heat is applied and that is why the polls reflect his downward trend.

  • W Laurier

    2 years ago

    Yup

    "Okay, that's fine. Now, what about, oh, I don't know, the banks and insurance companies for the Conservatives? Do you oppose that too?"

    Absolutely. A political party should only be accountable to voters, not organisations like banks, corporations, unions or whatever.

  • deeby

    2 years ago

    Why bring up political parties?

    I didn't. I was just remembering Jack Munro selling out a populist movement because it was in big labour's interest to do so.

    Maybe I'm being unfair, as I'm sure there were a lot of smaller, more democratic unions that weren't consulted....Anyway, I don't trust big labour to act in the interest of a large populist movement. And why should they really? Their constituencies are too narrow. As I said, leave the union cards at home...they're not needed.

  • Frank

    2 years ago

    deeby

    Your instincts are probably right. If big labour was as solidly NDP as our opponents claim David Lewis and Ed Broadbent would have been prime ministers.

  • Skywalker

    2 years ago

    Now go the full distance.

    Assuming you have a method to prevent the rich from buying a government election then find a way to prevent the media from being dominated by corporate interests. If you can bribe a government with good press or hold it hostage with the threat of bad press then the democracy is undermined because the guy who "buys ink by the barrel" has more influence than the average. Then, when you have all that or even before, get rid of the useless unelected senate.

  • W Laurier

    2 years ago

    Hmmmm

    "David Lewis and Ed Broadbent would have been prime ministers."

    Perhaps looking towards the future and not at the past would benefit the left in Canada.

  • Frank

    2 years ago

    Wilf

    What a hypocrital thing for you to say given your political views.

  • paisley

    2 years ago

    Help from the Labour movement....Deeby

    Good old Jack didn't help anybody except himself to end the solidarity movement. Jack turned out to be corrupt like many other leaders. In it for himself, that's it. His sell out hurt everybody and everyone I knew in the rank and file of the labour movement, at the time, thought him to be a self serving weasel.

  • Frank

    2 years ago

    Too much fun not to kick

    "Perhaps looking towards the future and not at the past would benefit the left in Canada."

    A guy calling himself Wilfrid Laurier said this :)

  • Crass

    2 years ago

    And why do we want the most

    And why do we want the most right wing government in recent Canadian history to go back to work? The less they do, the better it seems to me.

  • Stephen Rees

    2 years ago

    Free Trade?

    "the broad movement against free trade in 1987-88"

    which was not exactly successful, was it!

  • Frank

    2 years ago

    Stephen Rees

    Murray Dobbin in the article already added

    "(only to be defeated by the first-past-the-post electoral system in the '88 election)."

  • RMacArthur

    2 years ago

    The TRUTH will topple the Harper-Cons

    The freeflow of info is OUR Weapon of Mass Destruction. The Harper-Cons, with their love of fallacy and straw-man tactical maneuverings are no match for a rapidly awakening Canadian populace. Morality, ethics and the rule of law, all serve to nullify little Stevie's partisan induced hate-filled games. As more and more people start researching the issues for themselves and sharing their findings with their brothers and sisters, apathy begins to dissipate and purpose sets in. The more we grow, the more they weaken. The more we share, dialogue and debate the less relevant they become. We are witnessing the awakening of true democracy here, driven from the bottom up, for the people by the people. The only thing capable of stopping us now is ourselves. So keep the freeflow flownin' because against it, Harper's got nothing.

    "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." ~ George Orwell

  • Skywalker

    2 years ago

    Stephen Rees

    I guess you identified one of the problems of "our democracy". At the time Canadians were opposed and if Free Trade had gone to referendum it would have failed. Mulroney rammed it through and while the populace had its revenge on Mulroney, the action could not be reversed except with some major fallout that would not have been the case if we had never entered into the deal in the first place. No matter if the majority are against, the government can commit the country to something detrimental and there is no turning back

    It also shows how having two major parties more or less occupying the same part of the political spectrum, you can't get much of a change. The MSM still makes sure that whether you get a Tory or Liberal, life will more or less stay the same. That is unless you get a Harper reactionary reformer and then it's a whole new game. Mulroney or Chretien is not the same as the difference between Harper and an unknown Ignatieff. It is that unknown that is the greatest obstacle in getting rid of Harper once and for all.

  • greengreen

    2 years ago

    Great analysis. Two

    Great analysis. Two thoughts:
    1. How did the right do it? Read Not A Conspiracy Theory by Donald Gutstein. After the 60's and 70's, the right set out to win...and they did. It is way past time for the left to make that first decision to win.
    2.How much of the demise of the left has been crafted by the MNM?
    A fine example: B.C. gov't spent $940,680 on Olympic tickets for their fat cats and freeloaders. Front page news? Continual coverage?
    Can you imagine if the NDP was in power and did this? It would be #1 story in every newspaper and t.v. newscast and radio talk show for weeks, months and years. Until the left can get control of this they will have a difficult time...the right are much better at manipulating the perception of reality.

  • Eduard-Hiebert

    2 years ago

    Left? Right? Why bring up political parties?

    I quite agree! The differences across the spectrum from left to right is getting to be much todo about less and less as each party plays ever more their part in a good cop/bad cop routine. A routine that is good for the corporate minded party system but ever more chilling to democracy, inclusive of the natural environment, that does not vote but gets to bat last. "Democracy" means the collective path forward as self-determined by the citizenry collective. Which party even remembers that democratic government is "of the people, by the people, for the people"?

    Murray Dobbin himself says the NDP (which should be read "today's NDP and under Jack Layton's thumb) have become "a narrow range of small 'l' liberal policies and sometimes -- as with the tough-on-crime issue -- moving far to the right." Murray even questions "Can the NDP and the traditional left catch up with this (the prorogue rallies) spontaneous uprising?

    Given this dis-ease with the left, why would Murray then conclude that "if the opposition parties are astute enough to take advantage of this outpouring of democratic sentiment, they will put such reforms, especially proportional representation, on the front burner."

    PR simply does not deliver what its proponents claim. A rational and basic analyses finds otherwise. First, almost all PR proponents correctly see the first-past-the-post system, more correctly called a single-mark ballot system whose time has come to be replaced citing the 40% popular support translating into 60% of the seats as totally unacceptabile.

    However the most common forms of PR, namely mixed PR constitutes parliament with most of the MP's still elected by the undemocratically incompetent single-mark ballot. Daaaa? How is that a fix? The second component by which MPs are elected is truly little more than a Party fix, It does nothing to correct that many MP's elected by a minority will still be elected exactly the same way! The Party fix portion of PR does not correct what is wrong, but as a band-aide gives party central even more power as those candidates without a district constituency of support, need to be even more loyal to their fuehrers than the single-ballot elected!

    For a more complete analyses, and a truly democratic fix, please see "FPTP bad! MMP worse!! "Vote 1, 2, 3..." better!!! Stops vote-splits, overruns & phony majorities" at http://ereform.eduardhiebert.com/better.htm

    For a solution available at the very next election, and this without one change in the law, please "Taking back our democracy!" at http://ereform.eduardhiebert.com/v123p.htm

  • Des

    2 years ago

    The Problem

    with being third in any race is that the two front runners can easily work together to prevent the third from getting into the lead. That has always been the NDP's problem, even when it was the CCF.

    As with the current prorogation. The NDP proposed legislation to prevent a Prime Ministerial coup (evidently not a sin when committed by a Conservative, but anathema when advocated by the Opposition) but rejected out-of-hand by Ignatieff. Well, at first - until the idea polled positively. Now Ignatieff supports some sort of regulation of proroguing. Is it any wonder that Jack Layton is hesitant to make any proposal if it can be lifted so easily? The same thing happened with the IE.

    But any socially democratic progress must be pushed by the NDP regardless of which of the other parties gets the ultimate credit. The people deserve that effort, despite that fact that most of them don't recognize the social democrat roots of most of the progressive legislation in Canada.

  • ME2

    2 years ago

    Get with the plan, NDP

    Well, even though I re-joined the NDP prior to the last election, I'm now letting my membership lapse.

    Today's NDP philosophy is nothing but Left-of-center Liberalism, ground which the Liberals can reclaim at any time they see the public shifting away from its current preference for Conservatism.

    The NDP will continue going nowhere, doing nothing but sapping away the energy of Leftists, until it presents the public with with a visible choice, other than being the best of a bad lot.

    Is the NDP a SOCIALIST party? If it is, it had better start telling everybody it is, and start showing some pride in the fact.

    Its philosophical Achilles Heel - the Albatross hung around its neck - ie its traditional opposition to "Capitalism". It is long past time that Lefties came to grips with the uncomfortable fact that NOBODY is about to do away with that economic tool - not even Communists are willing to deny that fact, except through circumlocution.

    The living threat today is Fascism, the turning over of all State power to the Capitalists, which is the very antithesis of Democratic process. As we see in the US "Meltdown", uncontrolled Capital becomes parasitic upon the Nation, even upon itself.

    Obama's dilemma is seen in his extreme difficulty in re-regulating the financial industry, and in doing the same for Public health. He faces heavy opposition from the Fascists in his own party, besides that of the Republicans.

    Their main tool for such opposition, the one that destroys all logic in the American psyche? Just mention the term "Socialism", and you've thrown a grenade into any US gathering.

    It seems to me that a golden oppounity now exists for the NDP to show that it is not "anti-Capitalism", but is instead Anti-Fascist.By showing there's a world of difference between the two, it can easily demonstrate the absolute need for Socialism as the required regulator.

  • barney

    2 years ago

    Facebook Nation!

    Is it any coincidence that the slow but certain decline of activist movements (circa 1990) Dobbin correctly underscores began at about the same time the Internet and WWW began to take flight?

    Maybe we have become unwittingly pacified by the promise of Internet revolution to know or care about the political kind - you know, the kind that used to draw 100,000 peace activists on Vancouver's streets, the kind that used to fill the lawn and streets surrounding the Legislature. The kind that used to have province's and cities under the threat of general strike if screwed over once too much.

    For all the hype surrounding this supposed spontaneous Facebook revolution -- which is destined to have a Twitter-message-like shelf life of about a day or two -- it's still a pale, impotent version of the older varietal, which truly did, as Dobbin notes, command attention rather than beg for it. A sustained grassroots movement cannot exist on Facebook and prorogation alone! The only reason this outcry looks so impressive right now is because there has been zero outcry on a mass scale in Canada since 1988! Hell, any kind of protest these days, including the crazy guy picketing the Royal Bank downtown for three weeks running, comes off as revolutionary.

    Otherwise, Dobbin's assessment of social activism and the state of the left is spot on. I'm too old and seasoned to believe a single spontaneous Facebook campaign can change this in any real, substantial way. It may cost Harper a few numbers in the next round of polls, but once the Olympics kick in and have us chanting those ridiculous jingo jingles about Owning the Podium, I Believe!, and such crap, prorogation will be but a faint memory. The crisis in the left is much deeper and more complex than a Facebook fad can ever hope to remedy.

    Forgive me for saying what seems painfully obvious: the Facebook Emperor has no clothes!

  • knowalittle

    2 years ago

    Politics

    I assume no one has heard of the Canadian Action Party ?. This represents the people, the only party that does. www.canadianactionparty.ca

  • Jeffrey J.

    2 years ago

    Right On Point

    Murray Dobbin perfectly nails the analysis of todays ailing political system. As he describes, each former activist thread has been pounded down by corporate media and clever manipulation until they are virutally silent. Labour unions have been repeatedly villified until nearly everyone thinks they're BAD (bad for business maybe, but not for working people). The once vibrant women who explained the true nature of chauvinism have also been repeatedly villified, and to this day I meet young, strong women who understand equality, but will add "but I'm not one of those femininists". The list goes on.

    But it is important to recall, this isn't their fault (labour, nor women, nor environmentalists). This is by design. Villify a group in public using the corporate media, over and over again, and presto, you no longer have broad based dissent. That's why in every third world authoritarian regime, the first thing you do is take over the local media. Sort of like the US and Canada.

    But thankfully, it is the citizens in general, our great majority of people, who KNOW in their hearts when a lie is a lie, when a political system is based on fraud and greed. This has ALWAYS been the driving force for a more civilized world.

    We must all step forward and join these open movements, do what we can in any way. The majority needs everyone to help.

    Great coverage.

  • Stephanie

    2 years ago

    Anarchy, Good for the Canadian Soul?

    For decades, I have stated that unions are a great theory, it’s just the people involved that have screwed it up, and the same goes for the concept of democracy. I quit all political activism and involvement after the debacle of Solidarity. I no longer put my faith in any organization, regardless of their intended purposes, simply because people are fickle and will continue to be pawns to greed, power and ego.

    “Social and labour movements historically have played the role of helping create the political culture -- the playing field -- of formal party politics.”

    “Today they are at their weakest. The labour movement -- with its considerable capacity for analysis, research and financial resources -- is virtually AWOL in the struggle against Stephen Harper and his right-wing policies.”

    With regards to comments made by Deeby and W. Laurier, I also concur…

    At this point in time, I will be deliberately hopeful that others will continue with the actions that started with the FB group “Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament” and the Jan. 23rd street demonstrations but I’m certainly not going to hold my breath waiting to see if they join political parties and make change from inside the system. Maybe a little anarchy would be good for the soul of the Canadian people and replace the decades of apathy that have resulted in what is supposedly a democratic political process in this country.

  • Frank

    2 years ago

    realisticman

    "I would have liked to have seen complaints and demonstrations about Chretien proroguing parliament, as he did to avoid the tabling of the report on Sponsorship Funds, but it didn't happen."

    Still always looking for others to do the work eh? If you wanted to protest Chretien why didn't you, Wilf, Luke et al get out there and do it instead of hoping the Left would do it for you.

    "It is somewhat disconcerting to see only, at best, 20,000 demonstrators across the whole country this past weekend, when the Facebook Group is supposed to be ten times that in size."

    Actually, that's an excellent ratio. 5 million people vote Conservative on a regular basis, when was the last time you saw 500,000 of them protest against Chretien? Even 50,000? Ah, that's right, you were all hoping someone else would do it.

    "Does this mean that when it comes to the crunch the rebels can only muster a 10% unhappy-voter turnout? You can get more than that out for a school-board election."

    Voting is anonymous.

  • Steppeup

    2 years ago

    realisticman

    you really miss the point of it all, don't you frank?.. the reason you didn't hear us complaining about when Cretien prorogued is because we didn't see anything wrong with him using a tool available to any sitting PM, be it liberal or conservitive. We didn't express outrage because we saw nothing wrong with it.

    The point frank, is the hypocrites who are so up in arms now, who were not up in arms then. We didn't feign outrage then, because there was none then. We didn't care. It was and is allowed by the PM to prorogue. The world wasn't coming to an end.

    We protest over "real" emergencies and assaults on Democracy frank. Not feigned ones like this. We protest when a coalition of idiots try to overturn an election three weeks after we voted, so that a seperatist would ahve the final say on policy in this country. We protest over that kind of assault on Democracy. Not over a PM doing what every other PM has done.

    I believe there were a few people protesting then Frank.And without three or four weeks to prepare. So get off your high horse frank. It looks foolish on you.

  • slyder1

    2 years ago

    WHAT REALY HAPPENED

    Why bring up political parties?

    I didn't. I was just remembering Jack Munro selling out a populist movement because it was in big labour's interest to do so.

    The Labour movement in Operation Solidarity had the government of the day lead by Bill Bennett on the ropes over the issue of non union labour working on union sites.
    Bennett was like a hitch hiker in the middle a hail storm on the prairies, with no where to run and now where to hide and then along came the IWA boss Jack Munroe and sold out the whole show.

    Jack Munro certainly did not act in the interest of the labour movement Jack acted in the interests of Jack Munroe.
    It was Jack Munro who sold out the whole labour movement to the government of the day and it has been a long slow down hill slide for Unionized labor ever since.
    And where is the IAW today? sold out and gone!

    I take my union card with me every where because I want governments to act in the best interest of all working citizens of Canada.

  • ROBBINS Sce Research

    2 years ago

    communitarianism

    Is this Bill Clinton's perspective? The French president is indicating in -global meetings-that capitalism has to be reconsidered. Harper will speak tomorrow--some Republicans are lighting their hair on fire over the suggestion that the system of capitalism requires change.

    I agree with the French president. This capitalism isn't working--those who expect to benefit will hope to stall for time--to control the agenda when the economy recovers and people get too busy -- . If fundamental changes dont' occur including moving away from the standard left right dog(ma) fights -- we will encounter this economic problem again and sooner than we think. The Americans are making a mistake with their financial institutions---cannibalizing the bottom third of the middle class--Harper is going to need to ask someone else for advice on this.

    Our banks, and financial institutions are no different than the US. They are arrogant and far more dogmatic than is helpful.

    We need greater balance--and unique ideas--not pandering to unelected people in certain parts of urban Canada who are not accountable to the people.

    It's too much corporate subsidy (banks included) and not enough progressive consumer and social policy.

    We will fail if we do not change.

  • RickW

    2 years ago

    Willie my man........

    Quote:
    Absolutely. A political party should only be accountable to voters, not organisations like banks, corporations, unions or whatever

    Ain't it great to be magnanimous when your "side" is in the driver's seat........?

  • RickW

    2 years ago

    Steppeup

    Quote:
    We didn't express outrage because we saw nothing wrong with it

    There quite a lot you don't see anything wrong with, isn't there? You really should remove those rose-coloured glasses. They're so yesterday..........

  • RickW

    2 years ago

    The thing about a clever despot....

    ....is that he (it's always a "he") let's the people yammer and rant, and doesn't let it get to his ego - because he knows it let's off steam so he can continue with his dark agenda. And the more yammering that happens, the more divisive the general populace becomes among itself - which of course only better serves the despot's ulterior motives. And if by some chance, a movement such as the Facebook protest gathers serious momentum, well, there's always the S.W.A.T. teams and anti-terrorist legislation......

  • Marysue52

    2 years ago

    The NDP needs to go Left, ILO being Liberal Lite

    Van Isle, being Left (with environmentally sustainable ideas ) is nothing to be ashamed of. Declare it from the mountaintops. It would be nice if the NDP brass were left, too, and as green as its membership. In any case, the Left-and-green doesn't own the media. The corporate side does, so the media just portray the world the way their rich and corporate backers want us to think it is. In reality, there's more Class Division than ever. We're heading back to feudalism very quickly; habitat destruction, even faster. Most people are so naive, brainwashed and just plain brain-lazy-ignorant that they don't even vote! In the election, the choice was between the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. How much more obvious could the better choice have been?

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