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Editorial: OUT OF THE ELECTION DILEMMA!
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IN MANY COUNTRIES, the working class and its allies have obvious choices at the ballot box. That's the case where Communist parties and other left-wing forces are strong enough to elect candidates and challenge for political power. More democratic electoral systems, such as proportional representation, allow working people to vote for Communists and other progressive parties without fearing their vote will be "wasted.
But Canada's backward "first past the post" system pushes people to vote for the "lesser of evils." This absurd form of democracy gives an overwhelming advantage to the parties with corporate backing and favourable media coverage - the Liberals and the Canadian Alliance in this campaign.
Given the viciously reactionary policies of the Alliance, many Canadians are tempted to vote Liberal. But in this particular election, the "strategic voting" option raised by some on the left is a deeply flawed idea. A vote for any Liberal candidate is a vote for one of the most anti-working class federal governments in decades.
Instead, this election must be used to strengthen the forces which aim to break the corporate monopoly on Canadian politics. Your vote for one of the fifty-plus Communist candidates is the clearest possible demand for policies that put people and the environment ahead of corporate greed. The platform of the Green Party contains important progressive demands, and despite the NDP's continued shift to the right, many left-leaning NDP candidates are worthy of support.
In the long run, the best way out of the "lesser evil" election
dilemma is to build a powerful, united movement based on the organized working
class and other sections of society whose interests are under attack by the
Liberal/Alliance/Tory gang. The more votes on Nov. 27 for candidates and parties
committed to such an approach, the sooner such a People's Coalition can become
a reality
| Editor: | Kimball
Cariou |