It is reassuring to see the new Liberal government of New Brunswick taking the social democratic tendency in its history seriously. It brings to mind the good old days in Québec under Liberal premier Jean Lesage, or the federal Liberals and their acquiescence to the NDP on social programs in order to stay alive in the House of Commons.
As I have mentioned in past articles, the Liberal Party is a centrist political formation, which has succeeded in presenting itself, chameleon-like, as all things to all people. It is clientelist in its approach and expert in the art of compromise, and therefore tends to tilt the scales in favour of the powerful, inevitably giving less to the common people. Unionized workers get a little; capital gets a lot. The people are heavily taxed; the corporations more lightly. Small and medium-sized enterprises are timidly supported; multinationals get all they ask for. The important thing is to maintain the appearance that everyone benefits from the system.
Historically, social democracy has meant upholding a promise. At the turn of the 20th century, enlightened bourgeois intellectuals and activists from the labour movement advocated for the participation of progressive forces in the political processes and institutions of various states, such as elections and the regulation of capitalism, rather than fomenting violent uprisings against the ruling classes. The most politicized readers may recall the debate between Rosa Luxemburg and Eduard Bernstein. Despite the limits of social democracy, it managed to score important victories. Acadians, on the whole, would not have their current standard of living had it not been for this movement.
In Canada, under the guidance of Trudeau (the father), Robichaud and Lesage, many Liberal parties took the social democratic road. In the early 1960s, Louis J. Robichaud was directly advised by intellectuals from Saskatchewan, Canada’s breeding-ground of social democracy, to institute his Equal Opportunity Program (see the biography of Louis J. Robichaud by Michel Cormier). But the Liberal Party in power at various levels of government has also proven to be resolutely pro-business and fiercely hostile to funding the common good, as it was under Prime Minister Paul Martin, New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna and Québec Premier Philippe Couillard.
Even on issues of personal freedom and inclusion, the main criteria of this political current, their record is mixed. The government of the current Trudeau denied entry to a group of African and South American participants in the 2016 World Social Forum taking place in Montreal, a conference which criticizes the development policies of the major global powers and institutions.
Now it appears that the Liberal Party of New Brunswick wants to take the social content of its discourse seriously. Good. They can start, for example, by improving nurses’ working conditions, granting to artists a professional status worthy of the name, limiting rent increases and controlling the prices of electricity and fuel.
It is understandable to want to enjoy the moment, as these Liberal government policies contrast sharply with what we have experienced over the past few years, but we must also soberly take into account their distinct lack of boldness.
These tepid measures can be described two ways. On the one hand, they simply involve cancelling or walking back decisions made by the previous government, such as fiscal policies that strongly favour powerful industries at the expense of everyone else. We are merely back to square one, which can hardly be called social progress.
On the other hand, some helpful decisions, such as recognizing the status of the artist and instituting a rent cap, show that we are only playing catch-up relative to standards that have long since been established almost everywhere else. In Ontario and Québec, such policies have existed since time immemorial, and have even been updated. Such social benefits are now taken for granted.
This is not to detract from those politicians who have taken on important projects. The previous Conservative government received very little gratitude for one of its few correct decisions, namely the almost full municipalization of the entire province. Minister Daniel Allain showed resolution, if not for enacting the legislation, then at least for ensuring that we would no longer be the only province without some sort of local government for all citizens. The public response, a collective sigh of “About time!”, could not have been a very gratifying result.
However, these measures are notable for their timidity. At most, we are acknowledging our social and regulatory backwardness, and applying band-aid solutions. Rental property is a good example, where the Holt government has committed to doing the bare minimum. A lease holder’s rent cannot be increased arbitrarily, as the landlord pleases. But as soon as the current tenant moves out, the landlord can increase the rent at will for the incoming tenant. The real estate speculation of the landlord class can therefore continue, and rents will keep increasing at the expense of the tenant class. Where such protections are already in place, people are analyzing the flaws in the system in hopes of pressuring elected officials to make further improvements. Who has not heard about the growing phenomenon of “renoviction,” whereby landlords evict tenants in order to renovate their property and charge higher rent? The bullying this involves has been vociferously condemned elsewhere. New Brunswick could have chosen to be in sync with current developments by factoring these problems into the equation. Not only could we adopt policies to catch us up to current standards, but we could even pass cutting-edge legislation on the issue.
But not here. We will remain socially backward while people elsewhere confront these injustices. We will be left to hope that, after many years (if the tendency holds), a political force of the extreme centre will think fit to address the new problems that arise.
Are we really bound to this fate? When will we see a truly progressive political movement? When will we see an ambitious program of Equal Opportunity for the 21st Century?
Alain Deneault is a professor of philosophy at Université de Moncton, Shippagan Campus.
This commentary was originally published in French in Acadie Nouvelle on December 12, 2024.
