
Vancouver Is in the Middle of a Socialist Surge
Vancouver’s Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) elected all 12 candidates it ran in the city’s recent election. The democratic socialist party is now part of a progressive council majority.
James Adair is a socialist writer in Ottawa, focused on building left-wing institutions and practices.

Vancouver’s Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) elected all 12 candidates it ran in the city’s recent election. The democratic socialist party is now part of a progressive council majority.

Inspired in part by Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City, a new crop of socialist candidates is campaigning for municipal power across Canada.

Earlier this year, the Toronto Tenant Union held its founding convention. Its sights are set high: it aims to build a mass tenant movement capable of reshaping Toronto politics.

Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York has inspired the Left far beyond the city. But in Canada, as elsewhere, trying to replicate his style without rebuilding the institutions and political cadre that made it possible is a dead end.