Federal Election 2025
Alternatives in This Election
What are the alternatives
in this election? Since choice is a decision-making process
between different possibilities, the implication in this
election is that the choice is between Carney and Poilievre.
Canadians are told by the cabal of media, pundits and experts
that this choice is to be made guided by which of the two people
Canadians think can stand up for Canada against the U.S. and,
more specifically, the tariffs of Donald Trump and his threat to
annex Canada if the country does not submit to his demands.
All of it denies the role of the people and their serious concern for Canada's future and the well-being of all the members of the polity, not just the rich whose interests determine the "solutions" both Carney and Poilievre have to offer. The alternatives in this election are not between Carney and Poilievre or any other cartel party vying for positions of power and privilege.
The alternative is for Canadians to intervene in the election in a manner which empowers themselves. The aim is to make sure they, not ruling elites, set the direction for the economy; take the path of ending the power and privileges of ruling elites; and position themselves to renew federalism and democracy in a manner which favours their interests, not the supranational narrow private interests both Carney and Poilievre represent.
Carney coats the Liberal agenda to pay the rich and further privatize everything in the public domaine in talk about shared colonial values and identity while he is also taking immediate measures to increase spending on war preparations. This is not surprising since, whenever there are greater conflicts among the governing elites and between the governed and the governors and amongst allies and their coalitions, when all arrangements are giving rise to conflicts, there will be emphasis on values and national interest over public interest. This is what we see today with Carney's oft-repeated statements. He portrays the image of "one nation" by emphasizing "shared values" and the need to step up military spending.
His vision is at once
colonial, eurocentric and egocentric, a mixture of conservative
love for Victorian values of duty to King and Country and his
training as a neo-liberal financier and technocrat who thinks he
has all the answers on how to manage the economy successfully.
According to his neo-liberal narrative, there is no alternative
to capitalism if only he can control the productive forces
according to his prescriptions. These prescriptions are
presented as flexible; as if they can accommodate disparate
demands – be they those of Doug Ford or Danielle Smith or the
unions, and even Donald Trump – so long as all adhere to the
plans he has for Canada deemed to be in Canada's "national
interest."
His is the culture of the boardroom where everyone defers to the CEO. As media pundits and others point out, he has yet to master how not to become "testy" when questioned on things he does not consider relevant to the message he is intent on conveying. They predict this could be his "Waterloo." In other words, due to his lack of experience in campaigning, he could suffer a decisive setback and even go down to defeat if he is seen to be arrogant and not answer questions which the media declare raise "the concerns of Canadians."
To be political is thus defined in a manner that Pierre Poilievre is good at. Poilievre is said to be a career politician, good at campaigning, quick on his feet and so on. We are left to understand that to be a good politician means being a good attack dog who does not get rattled under fire because he sticks to the message.
Nonetheless, Poilievre is said to be hampered at the start of this election by the fact that, having lost his Axe the (Carbon) Tax advantage and Trudeau as a punching bag, he has yet to find a winning three-word phrase on which he can hang his campaign this time round. He is seen to have been flummoxed once Carney dramatically, Trump-style, let the media into his first cabinet meeting – said to be an unprecedented move – whereupon, with a triumphant flourish, he signed his Order-in-Council to rescind a Trudeau measure which imposed a tax on Canadians to cover the costs of "greening the economy."
The cabal of media, pundits and experts prattle on about Poilievre's decision not to let the media accompany the leader on campaign planes and buses, speculating on what this indicates as concerns the Conservatives' strategy for this campaign. They focus on Poilievre's lack of support in this campaign from Doug Ford, François Legault and other Conservative leading lights – blaming his belief that he had the election in the bag until Carney came along.
What is significant is that what Poilievre stands for is not discussed by official circles who reduce politics to saying his support is concentrated in places that don't determine the outcome of a federal election in terms of seats. They have yet to deal with the fact that Poilievre has former Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaking on his behalf. Harper even signed a letter sent to Conservative members across the country, arguing why Poilievre is the right choice in this election. Ford, Legault or no Ford and no Legault, the clout of Stephen Harper and the evangelical vote cannot be dismissed. The Poilievre campaign is also based on the most ruthless microtargeting to confuse, mislead and track electors. As is also the case for the Liberal campaign.
Besides telling Canadians
their choice is between the two cartel parties, Liberals and
Conservatives and their leaders, Canadians are also told that,
to provide certainty in these chaotic times, it is best to have
a majority government. Taking all this into account and more,
despite polls that currently give the Liberals a majority of
seats, the outcome of this election is as yet not a foregone
conclusion.
Quebeckers, Canadians, Indigenous Peoples, Inuit and Métis are
in no mood to succumb to attempts to play on their
concerns. They are very aware of the dangers posed by the
threats of Donald Trump and the danger of war the U.S. striving
for world domination poses, but the use of police powers by
those who usurp positions of power does not have their
support.
Their security and future and that of the country lies in their fight for the rights of all, not in choosing between one champion of neo-liberalism and Canada's integration into the U.S. war economy and another. It lies in activating the human factor/social consciousness, which means their own agency, to humanize the natural and social environment. It lies in fighting for political renewal, modern arrangements which empower the people, not those with power and privilege, and in preparing the conditions to establish an anti-war government to make Canada a Zone for Peace.
This is the alternative. It is an alternative which puts human
persons at the centre of the solution of the problems which face
them. The time to fight for this alternative is now!
This article was published in
Volume 55
Number 3 - March 2025
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/Articles/M550031.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca