an NDP/Liberal coalition?

First of all, it's rather interesting that on left blogs and websites throughout Canada, there seems to be a sort of jubilation around the idea that the NDP and Liberals will join forces to take out the Tories and form a coalition government. Go to Rabble for just one example among many.

But the reality is, however, that such a coalition really represents labor's parliamentary voice being subverted by the twin party of the Conservatives - the Liberals. Sure, there *are* differences between them, mainly in the constituencies they mobilize around election time, but their class basis is identical to the Conservatives - they are both the parties of Bay Street.

Such a merger then, places the aspirations of millions of working Canadians who want 'change' in a similar place as those held by their American counterparts who had faith in an Obama presidency representing their interests - namely, into the hands of a corporate party willing to promise anything in order to gain power, but being little different in structure or outlook once power is attained.

such a situation is actually quite disastrous for the future of the NDP on a couple of fronts - first of all it sends the message that ABC (Anybody But Conservative) politics is the way to go...if the Liberals are more viable at the polls in more places, then why not just vote Liberal? It gives way too much ammunition to the strategic voting argument.

secondly, it forces the NDP into a position where it will have to make attacks on working people in order to stay in power.

and finally, rather than being a response to the economic crisis, as it's being presented by both the Liberals and NDP as well as the media coverage, it actually ignores the root of the problem. The present downturn is a direct consequence of capitalism as a whole to be sure, but more specifically the severity of the current crisis is a direct result of decades of neoliberal economic policy. One doesn't have to have a tremendous memory to recall that the Liberal party throughout the 1990s were at the forefront of the neoliberal agenda, engineering the largest cuts in Canadian history to programs like healthcare, unemployment insurance (renamed "Employment Insurance" in a move that Orwell would be proud of) and so on, even pushing through NAFTA after coming to power by promising not to do so - basically devastating living conditions for many working people, while ensuring that the money they lost went to the corporate elite.

It is precisely this kind of politics that's behind the current mess - and it's very important to recognize that the current crisis facing the Conservatives actually represents a worldwide political crisis created by the economic one - it is a crisis of legitimacy, as decades of slash and burn neoliberal ideology is being challenged by demands for bailouts and 'stimulus packages'

It's very important that we understand that the key factor moving forward is organizing and building working class resistance, because it's precisely that fightback which will be decisive in the coming period, not blind faith in a parliamentary coalition, no matter how much we may despise the party it's pushing out of the way.

Only working class resistance can ensure that issues like restoring cuts to public services, ending the war in Afghanistan immediately, investing in public sector jobs, protecting pensions, getting rid of 'security certificates' and other issues like these are pushed to the forefront.