The mounting threat of the far-right in Canada is reaching a level which can no longer
be ignored. Their politics seek to set working people against one another, fueling
racism and anti-immigrant sentiment, feeding on their anger so that the corporate
forces in the country can continue to rob them blind.
Gains made over decades by the working class in Canada are under threat and our
right to collectively organize and fightback against their attacks are in jeopardy.
Whether it is Poilievre at the federal level, or Ford provincially in Ontario, we’re
witnessing a right-wing that is both on the rise and becoming more emboldened. As
their power and influence grows, the far-right have increased the intensity of their
attacks. They play pretend that they are the everyman all while rolling back the wins
working people have fought for over decades: stripping back environmental
protections, human rights, social services and the public sector, rights for Indigenous
and racialized people, LGBTQ+ rights, and the right for working people to collectively
organize.
Right-wing politics gaining power in our country is an existential threat to the labour
movement when our strength is growing for the first time in decades.
Poilievre in power would mean revisions to the Rand formula will be back on the table,
as will increases to retirement age. His aim is to weaken our social security system. Ford
in power has meant the increased and accelerated privatization of our healthcare and
education systems. One need only look abroad, to our neighbours to the south or
overseas in Europe to understand the far right’s plan, and see they are attempting to
carry it out in Canada as well.
Given their regressive, anti-worker agenda, it is a surprise to some that working people
in the country are shifting their support to the right. The fact is, working people are
angry – and they have good reason to be. Over the last several decades working
people’s living standards have been on a steady decline. Wages are down, prices are
up, and the housing crisis is putting a strain on Canadians which hasn’t been seen in a
lifetime. All of this has made working people hungry for change.
The far-right is taking advantage of that hunger and attempting to mobilize working
people’s anger to their ends. Their goal is to swindle working people with easy solutions
and catchy slogans; to oer them a dollar in tax cuts while stealing twenty more for
corporations. It’s why while they say they are fighting for workers, they spend most of
their time carrying water for billionaires – their real constituency.
Like we have in the past, like in our successful fight against Tim Hudak, it’s time we
stand up and beat back the right and their anti-worker agenda. The work won’t be
easy, but we have something they don’t: our members. The good news? Our members
are already standing up, with renewed militancy and winning historical contracts across
sectors. The labour movement is fighting back against the decline in living standards
for working people across the country. But, we must do more.
Affiliates will need to make a serious commitment to engaging their members actively
and regularly on this issue, to have difficult political conversations, and show them the
dire threat posed by the right. This fight cannot, and will not be won by passive
engagement alone. There is no room for hesitation, and we must use every tool in our
toolbox: lunch room meetings, workshops, home visits, one-on-one conversations,
mailouts, and more.
Countering the far-right must become a centre piece of every union’s regular business.
It must be reported on at every meeting, and doggedly pursued by every officer, every
staff, and every steward.
Therefore, the Executive Board recommends that:
- That aliates adopt the Labour Council’s anti-right campaign into their local
unions and invite the Labour Council to their Executive Board meetings to have
this important discussion. - That the Labour Council work with the OFL and CLC to ensure that the 220,000
members in the region encounter this campaign in their workplace and in their
homes. - That affiliates commit their elected officers, staffers, and steward to promoting
this campaign at every lunch room meeting, every workshop, every home visit,
and commit to having one-on-one conversations with members to engage them
in understanding the dangers of the far-right and why union members are voting
against their class interest in Poilievre and Ford. - That the Labour Council and its member affiliates make this campaign a centre
piece of the union’s regular business.
