Commentary
How Can All of
the Political Parties Have Won When the Canadian People Lost?
In the days following the October 14
federal election, every political party contesting the election issued
statements declaring themselves “winners” in the election. The Conservatives
claimed that they were winners because they had been re-elected with a minority
government, despite the fact that they went into the election expecting a
majority. Also, despite the fact that the Conservatives obtained the votes of
less than 22 percent of eligible voters, according to Stephen Harper this
amounts to a solid mandate to implement the entire Conservative agenda.
The Liberals, despite losing 16 seats
and dropping to their lowest ever percentage of the vote, claimed to be winners
because they prevented the election of a majority government. This claim is
repeated by the Bloc Quebecois, which reduced the Conservatives by one seat in
Quebec. However, it is not the Bloc Quebecois, but the working people of Quebec
who deserve the credit for depriving the Conservatives of a majority. The BQ just happened to be the only
party positioned to defeat the Conservatives in Quebec, so the people had
nowhere else to turn.
The NDP also claimed to be winners in
the aftermath of the election because they picked up a few seats, mostly at the
expense of the Liberals. The fact that the NDP is still the fourth largest
party in a parliament comprised of four parties seems to have escaped Jack
Layton’s attention.
As for the Green Party, it is also
claiming a victory, despite not electing a single member, because its leader
Elizabeth May got to debate with the “big boys” and managed to hang on to a
greater percentage of its pre-election support than in previous elections.
For the working
class and broadest sections of the people the election result was a defeat. The
Conservative government will not re-orientate the economy from the serving the
interests of the rich minority to serving the interests of the working class
and people. It will carry on with its anti-social agenda for at least the next
18 months to two years with little or no danger of losing a confidence vote in
the House of Commons.
For that matter,
none of the federal parliamentary parties presented a programme
to re-orientate the economy. Their response to the deepening economic crisis is
to shift the burden onto the working class and people. While the Canadian
people are in danger of losing their jobs and their homes, immediately after
the election Stephen Harper handed over $25 billion to the big banks to ensure
that the owners do not lose their fortunes. Not a single federal parliamentary
party objected to the bailout. Once again this election underscores the
necessity for the working class to begin discussing how it can provide itself
with all of the instruments necessary to get rid of this anti-worker system
once and for all.