On Monday, September 20, Canada reelected Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to another minority government over the opposition Conservative Party. Both establishment parties promised working-class constituencies a recovery from the ravages of the pandemic. But a look at the fine print reveals that the results of this election will likely deliver little to the working-class communities hardest hit by the difficulties of the last year and a half.

On August 15, Justin Trudeau dissolved Parliament for a federal election. His first speech warned that resurgent COVID-19 infections and a possible near-term “global recession” would have grave consequences for future generations.

His gloomy outlook appears justified. In 2019, a federal report on metal-producing industries noted that, even before the pandemic, much industrial production was already weakened by a “global oversupply.” Weak exports in steel, cars and car parts, mining, and the like saw GDP growth slip to its slowest in four years.