A Pathetic Official Opposition

The cartel party system is a conveyor of imperialist disinformation. This disinformation is based on the false premise that working people have representation through liberal democratic representative institutions -- now defunct -- and power-sharing agreements which constituted Canada in 1867, with amendments from time to time including those imported into the Constitution in 1982 to provide what are called "reasonable limits." The spokespersons of the cartel parties are so overwhelmed by their own ignorance and refusal to face the reality of a failed economy with recurring crises, that all they can do is utter dogmatic partisan positions to defend power-sharing arrangements which no longer exist and say their pay-the-rich schemes are better than those of the Liberals' program. "Trust us. Don't trust your own five senses and experience about what is going on," they chime in unison.

Following the Throne Speech the opposition parties decried various aspects. The leader of the Conservative Party complained amongst other things that the speech did not address western alienation. The NDP leader lamented that it is all words and no concrete pledges and that a Liberal law to provide paid sick leave was the very least he requires to support the speech. The  Quebec premier and leader of the Bloc québécois were outraged that Quebec's jurisdiction is being trampled on -- which is in fact the case for the provinces as well.

The Liberal government put forward schemes to directly take over provincial jurisdictions such as when the Throne Speech said: "The government will work with Parliament on Criminal Code amendments to explicitly penalize those who neglect seniors under their care, putting them in danger." The Liberal government is attempting to capitalize on the deep anger felt by Canadians when several cases of neglect causing large numbers of deaths surfaced in privately-owned residences, where families have taken owners to court to demand accountability while governments at all levels dithered. It is clearly meant to present the federal government as some kind of saviour over provincial governments, where health care jurisdiction mainly resides in the current power-sharing arrangements, by targeting some cases without really addressing the problem of the human rights violations which take place on a broad scale.

The Throne Speech says: "The government will also work with the provinces and territories to set new, national standards for long-term care" but does not mention the need to redress decades of cutbacks in health care for which the federal government was just as responsible as the provinces. The outbreak of the pandemic exposed the cupidity and neglect of some of the private residences but also exposed the cruel neglect of governments in public long-term care homes as well, with years of cutbacks and privatization, where the profit motive is given free rein over the well-being of the elderly. These are the results of the anti-social offensive endorsed and promoted by all levels of government. Health care workers have played a key role in exposing this and demanding accountability. More importantly, the pandemic has brought forth the demand for the right of all working people to the highest possible standard of care in their retirement in a society worthy of calling itself modern. This, the Throne Speech does not address, not even remotely.

The Liberals claim they are preparing a broad plan for the future with this Throne Speech but somehow do not see upholding the principle that health care is a right as part of the future of Canada. The new broadscale pay-the-rich offensive being prepared has several provincial governments speaking about putting in place grandiose projects for modern home care places and the enlisting of thousands of new health care workers in seniors' homes. However, so long as the aim is not to guarantee the rights of all working people and, on the contrary facilitates human rights violations, what those projects will mean and who they will serve can be surmised based on the people's experience. 

While the Opposition parties and media raise the issue that provincial premiers are demanding a greater share of the federal health transfer, the real dispute is with the intentions of the federal government to set up its own pay-the-rich schemes which threaten the direct connections that the provincial authorities have with the U.S. imperialist economy.

From their very narrow and partisan positions intended to discredit the Liberal Party, the cartel parties are incapable of sorting out any of the problems the people, the society and the social and natural environment face.

None of it sets out to create a public authority to take control of long-term care with the aim to serve our seniors and ensure that neither they nor the staff can be abused for private profit. Such a public authority must be made accountable for its actions, beginning with the modern treatment of staff and ensuring workers have a say over their conditions of work, which in the final analysis are the conditions of the seniors in their care. But changes to the Criminal Code will merely be used to weed out inconvenient truths, not make the private interests accountable for their super-exploitation and greed.

But the response of the opposition parties and media does not analyze what the measures being taken will do to Canada, the economy or the natural and social environment. Trudeau's brinkmanship and divisiveness can be seen in his bravado that you either side with him and serve Canadians or you go back to the status quo. By offering even more pay-the-rich schemes on an even grander scale, Trudeau's stand is precisely the "business as usual" status quo which Canadians demand be ended.

Private business prides itself on competition and its resourcefulness and initiative yet demands public money to survive. This will further exacerbate all the problems Canadians and their economy and society are facing at this time. The Throne Speech and the antics of the cartel parties in government are a grave regressive danger to Canadians in the face of the pandemic and economic crisis. It is essential to raise the demand that governments Stop Paying the Rich and Increase Funding for Social Programs which the working people control.