[Marxism] Canada coalition govt? Let's not give away the store

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Socialist Voice: Socialist perspectives for the 21st Century
December 1, 2008 
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=349

Coalition Government? Let?s Not Give Away the Store
By John Riddell. 
The Harper government?s economic proposals, announced November 27, aroused a
cry of outrage from unions and social activists across the country: ?Throw
the bums out.?

The Conservative plan for cutbacks, combined with and attacks on the rights
of unions and women, showed clearly, as CLC President Ken Georgetti said,
that the Conservative government aims ?to make working people pay for a
crisis they did not create.?

Efforts by the Liberals and NDP to forge an alternative government have won
wide of support in progressive circles, where many see a coalition as the
only way to bring the hated government down.

Leaders of four major national unions and three influential progressive
advocacy groups joined November 28 in an appeal to the Liberals and NDP to
join in pursuing this goal, since ?only a coalition government can provide
the leadership Canada needs.? )

These calls all assume that the coalition would be Liberal-led ? and none of
them has raised any programmatic agenda for such a government.

Is the prospect of a Liberal-led government really so appealing as to
deserve a blank cheque? Have the advocates of coalition forgotten that it
was the last Liberal government that originated most of the hated ?Harper?
policies, including the gutting of social services, attacks on civil
liberties dressed up as ?anti-terrorism? and Canada?s disastrous war in
Afghanistan?

>From all reports, the NDP is not calling for changes in those policies in
its negotiations with the Liberals. The Globe and Mail noted November 29
that ?a senior NDP official said that no policy issues are considered
deal-breakers.?

The Liberals say they favour ?an economic stimulus package,? but its content
is unknown. Certainly the Liberals will give government a much bigger role
in managing the economy. Every major capitalist government is doing that -
and Harper will do it too, once he gets his signals straight.

As Margaret Thatcher might say, ?There Is No Alternative.? Neo-liberalism is
in shambles; the economies are in utter crisis; government intervention is
capitalism?s only hope.

But there is no assurance that increased government spending will be
associated with social reform ? massive deficits were the hallmarks not only
of Roosevelt, but also of Reagan and Bush. A Liberal ?stimulus? package is
most likely to combine massive handouts to big business with attacks on
workers? wages and pensions.

The aim of progressive policy must not be to enhance the power of capitalist
governments but to increase that of working people. We cannot expect
Stephane, Iggy and Bob to do any such thing, even if the NDP has a few
Cabinet posts.

The only force we can depend on is the pressure of independent popular and
labour movements. In a situation of social and economic crisis, these
movements can become an irresistible force.

And here is the fatal weakness of the coalition government scheme. Locked
inside a Liberal-dominated coalition, the NDP would be unable to campaign
against capitalist attacks. Accepting responsibility for the anti-labour
measures of such a government could rapidly discredit the NDP and end its
ability to continue as the bearer of popular hopes for social change.

At the same time, labour leaders? current pledges of unconditional support
to a coalition will undermine the unions? ability to act independently in
defence of workers? rights and needs.

Tying ourselves down in this manner is particularly dangerous in the midst
of an economic crisis that is unprecedented, and shifting rapidly in
unpredictable ways.

Here the Bloc Québécois sets a positive example: whatever parliamentary
manoeuvres they wisely or unwisely engage in, they are determined not to
enter a Liberal-led government.

The best way to resist big business attacks and win immediate and specific
gains is to stick to the path of independence from big business and its
parties, and rely on the potential of popular movements.

On such a course, and in present conditions, it is by no means excluded that
we could prepare the ground for a Venezuelan-type outcome: a sweeping shift
in power relationships in favour of working people, the poor and the
oppressed, and their organizations.

To move forward in this time of crisis, we must avoid falling into the
deadly embrace of our enemies. As Muhammed Ali said, to be free to fight,
you need to float like a butterfly ? and sting like a bee.

John Riddell is co-editor of Socialist Voice. This article is reprinted with
permission from rabble.ca 



________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu