The Liberals formed a minority government 17 months ago with 135 seats in the 306-seat House of Commons.

New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton indicated November 9 that the party would no longer support the Liberals, saying Martin would not commit to curbing the privatization of Medicare, the government-funded health-care system that continues to be eroded.

The NDP is a labor party formed in 1961 with affiliation from the trade unions.

Canada’s ruling billionaire families and their political representatives face deepening problems in stabilizing their rule, to a large degree because of growing competition from other imperialist powers—especially Washington.

Recent polls show support for sovereignty in Quebec remains near 50 percent, as high as it has ever been. One of the two main parties that have alternated in the government, the Conservative Party, no longer has any base in Quebec. The Bloc Québécois, a bourgeois nationalist party that supports sovereignty for Quebec, controls 54 federal seats there to 21 held by the Liberals.

Speaking before the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) national council December 2, Martin described the election as a referendum. “The Quebeckers [sic] have a choice between a party devoted to the destruction of Canada and us,” he said.

Canadian capitalists have for many years had less success than their U.S. counterparts in driving down workers’ wages and working conditions. Resistance among working people to the employers’ antilabor offensive has been growing in recent months. There have been strikes and mobilizations by meat packers, teachers, truckers, and Quebec’s public sector workers, among others.

Reflecting the lack of self-confidence among Canada’s rulers, the beginning of the election campaign has been marked by a coarsening of bourgeois politics. Conservative leader Stephen Harper accused the Liberals of representing “organized crime,” a reference to an ongoing corruption scandal involving prominent Liberals in Quebec. The Liberals replied by threatening legal action.

Most unions have indicated they will campaign for the NDP. Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti, speaking before the British Columbia Federation of Labour convention, called on union members to reelect incumbent New Democrats and help the party make gains in ridings (electoral districts) where they were close last time.

Canadian Auto Workers leader Basil “Buzz” Hargrove endorsed the Liberals at the CAW council meeting where Martin was invited. “This minority government deserves to go back to Ottawa, with even bigger numbers,” he said. He called for support to the NDP in ridings where the NDP has the best chance to win.
 
 
Related article:
Communist League in Canada fields candidates  
 
 
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