1919 General Strike, Winnipeg, Canada
VANCOUVER (Canada), February 11— Canadians once thought that they lived in an island of sanity and calm in an insane, chaotic world. That illusion has been shattered.
Start with the downfall of Justin Trudeau. The charismatic and once popular Prime Minister is now deeply unpopular. Canadians are fed up with inflation, especially the high cost of housing and food.
Canada has become one of the world’s most expensive places to live. Housing costs more in Vancouver than in Paris. A modest one-family house costs around 1.75 million Canadian dollars (US$1.2 million; 23 million Rands; 1070 lakhs Indian Rupees). Rents are correspondingly high.
Whatever the cause, Trudeau had nothing to offer.
His own party (the Liberals) rebelled against him. Dozens of Liberal members of Parliament, and his former deputy and close ally Chrystia Freeland, called for his resignation. Trudeau still managed to hold on to power. He has promised to step down once the Liberals elect a new leader (supposedly March 9) but meanwhile he has “prorogued” (shut down) Parliament.
Meanwhile, Canada’s main trading partner (Trump’s USA) is threatening to impose devastating 25% tariffs on all Canadian exports to the USA. Massive unemployment would soon result.
Canada has its own Trump waiting in the wings. Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the opposition Conservative party, is almost certain to be elected as the next Prime Minister in the 2025 general election. Poilievre has called Trudeau “a Marxist” (not true) and “wacko.” He has had to apologize several times for “unparliamentary” language such as disparaging First Nations people.
Poilievre is a big supporter of Israel and the Ukraine war. He wants to defund UNRWA (the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees) and to cut back foreign aid to divert the money to the Canadian Military. He opposes transgender care, immigration, and unions.
It is no longer possible to think of Canada as an island of safety in a sea of chaos and fascism. It is a capitalist country with complicated connections to the rest of the world. It is subject to the same forces as everywhere else, including countries like France (Le Pen), Germany (the AfD), Argentina (Milei), and of course the USA with Trump.
Notably, Canada is subject to capitalist overproduction, which inevitably leads to trade conflicts and increasingly to wars.
No doubt some Canadians long for the “glory days” of Trudeau, but this is futile. No capitalist politician can hold back fascism. Liberal politicians pave the way for fascism. They disarm the workers as did Allende (literally) in Chile.
In Canada, as elsewhere, the choice is between fascism and fighting for communism. And the potential for communism exists, given the history and the diversity of the working class. One third is francophone. Canada has many immigrants from all over the world, especially from South Asia and China.
Part of the Canadian illusion was the denial of class struggle. But Canadian workers have fought back against exploitation at least since the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. The Communist Party was influential during the industrial strike wave of the 1930s. A 1976 general strike targeted wage caps imposed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (Justin’s father).
But even general strikes can’t hold back fascism. Only communist revolution can do that. There are already some ICWP members in Canada, but we need lots more. Please join us!