This federal NDP leadership race presides over a caucus of just 7 MPs in Parliament and no party status. But this is not a unique situation for the Canadian left-wing in the House of Commons. Nor does it mean that the working-class can’t influence public policy in Canada. With Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government still 5 seats short of a majority government, working-class Canadians should start asking NDP leadership candidates how they would wield this balance of power as they make their first public appeals at the Canadian Labour Congress’ October 22nd leaders’ forum in Ottawa. They can look to one hundred years of progressive influence that social democratic Parliamentarians have had in Canada for answers.
Before the NDP and its predecessor party, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, an ad-hoc “Ginger Group” of fifteen MPs was formed in 1924. While belonging to left-wing party factions or sitting as independents, the Ginger Group used their small, but outsized, influence to push for progressive policies during the majority government of Prime Minister McKenzie King, such as the establishment of Canada’s first publicly funded pensions in 1926.
It is this kind of progressive influence that has also historically differentiated Canada from the United States. The US has never had a full-fledged labour party or a social democratic party that could wield significant political power and influence. Canada’s Medicare system, the envy of progressive US policymakers like Bernie Sanders, was the result of Tommy Douglas’ NDP and its outsized influence during the minority governments of Prime Minister Lester Pearson. All the while, there has never been a social democratic government, nor a real coalition government, that could directly implement these policies.
Leadership candidates need to demonstrate how they would counterbalance the Americanization of Canadian politics with the weight of the working-class behind them.
The NDP and the CCF, however, do form provincial governments where progressive, working-class policies are tested and proven. Social democratic provincial governments have been able to pioneer many groundbreaking working-class policies such as public ownership, social programs, and workers’ rights. The birth of Canadian Medicare in Saskatchewan under the CCF preceded its adoption across Canada.
Progressive US Democrats today, like Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, must contend with a political party that does not necessarily align with their values. They continue to fight for the working-class, but only to hold on to meager gains and cannot dream of universal programs like healthcare, even when Democrats are in power. This especially hampers them in defending democracy against the Trump administration’s lash outs, when establishment Democrats prefer appeasement that pushes US policy right-ward. For progressives in Canada, versions of Canada’s parliamentary left have delivered policy for the benefit of the working-class far ahead of the US.
The Parliamentary Confidence and Supply Agreement was the last such push by Jagmeet Singh’s NDP on Justin Trudeau’s minority Liberal government to deliver working-class policies such as anti-scab rules to empower labour unions, the start of pharmacare and dental care programs, and just transition legislation. Arguably, this has demonstrated more policy movement in Canada while holding the balance of power, than Thomas Mulcair’s Official Opposition NDP, at its zenith of 109 seats.
In this pivotal position, but diminished state, the NDP leadership candidates need to pitch Canadians on their plan to advance wins for the working-class in Parliament. Their policy visions need to include how they would use their power to turn proposals into reality. Leadership candidates need to demonstrate how they would counterbalance the Americanization of Canadian politics with the weight of the working-class behind them. From defending democracy, to fighting inflation, and building on the foundational working-class wins already achieved, leadership candidates should bring up this history when they talk to Canadians throughout the leadership race. It is certainly needed to help articulate how they would continue to use the outsized influence of progressives, delivering change for Canadians needed now more than ever.
