Will Canada’s NDP Fight Right-Wing “Pro-Worker” Populism With Actual Class War?
Pierre Poilievre, the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, presents himself as a friend of the working class. Some New Democrats claim they’ll fight Poilievre’s rhetoric with class war, but is the party up for it?
Pierre Poilievre, newly elected leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, speaks to a crowd in Ontario, Canada on September 10, 2022. (James Park / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Pierre Poilievre is the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. For months, he has been working to own the labor discourse, popping into left territory — aesthetically, not substantively — to argue for working-class affordability.
The message may be money-in-your-pocket populism at a time when few can afford life’s essentials, but the policy behind the messaging is retrenchment, austerity, and power to capital. To the extent that Poilievre has a platform, it is centered on cutting taxes, limiting state spending, and opening market space for big capital — particularly in resource extraction. Any benefits to workers would be incidental, accidental, or temporary.
Fighting on Home Turf
The Left must be wary of Poilievre’s cynical venture into what has traditionally been — and still ought to be — our ambit. He is playing a game. His campaign has been a strategic foray into pro-worker cosplay that will do no good for the folks he purports to care about. Of course, not everyone is fooled by his act. Shortly after Poilievre took the Conservative leadership, with 68 percent on the first ballot, the Canadian Union of Public Employees released a statement from national president Mark Hancock. It did not mince words.
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