We know the tactics that have been deployed to undermine our democracies. But who is behind them?
David Adler is the Co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International, a left-wing political international with over 70 member groups, including trade unions, political parties, peasant organisations, and social movements, that mobilizes progressive forces around the world. The Progressive International is a relatively new organization, developed to counter the so-called ‘Reactionary International’: the networks of right-wing institutions, organizations, money, and political power that have sought to undermine working-class democratic power.
Canada is not immune to the forces of the Reactionary International, and has taken part in it through the decades. Adler describes what’s behind the power undermining democracy in Canada and around the world, and how organizing progressive forces is needed to defend democracy.
This interview was recorded at the Broadbent Institute’s ‘2026 Progress Summit: Defending Democracy Across Borders,’ held March 4-6 in Ottawa.
