Conservative pro-labour stance hardly surprising
THE FIXATION ON FOREIGN BUYERS IS PARTICULARLY CURIOUS. — JEREMA
Embracing government intervention more than anyone expected, the Conservative platform says the party would continue pandemic-related stimulus spending for two years before shifting into deficit-reduction mode.
The platform also contains several pro-labour policies that would typically be associated with the NDP, suggesting that reform conservatism, which sees a role for government in supporting those left behind by laissez-faire capitalism, is becoming more influential within Canada.
Reform conservatism acknowledges that unrestricted markets can sometimes unfairly deprive citizens of opportunities to flourish and has grown increasingly influential since the Trump era. It is currently advocated by Mark Rubio in the United States (who calls it “common good capitalism”) and Jason Kenney in Alberta.
Its slow ascendancy not only reflects voter frustration with worsening economic inequality, but also a rejection of the growing frivolity of progressive politics, which has become increasingly alienated from working class values.
Reflecting reformist views, the Conservatives have proposed a “Canada Job Surge Plan,” which would pay 25 to 50 per cent of the salaries of new hires for six months following the end of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. The Conservatives have also proposed increasing the Canada Workers Benefit, as well as an expanded employment insurance plan that would kick in when provinces go into recession, boosting salary replacement from 55 per cent to 75 per cent.
The Conservatives have said that they will work with unions to alter the Canada Labour Code so that they can have a more level playing field against multinationals. They have similarly promised to: make it easier to organize unions within firms that have a history of anti-labour activity; force companies to provide gig workers with financial contributions equivalent to CPP and EI; and ensure that large companies include worker representatives within their boards of directors.
These kinds of policies are not typically associated with conservative politics. Tackling unemployment through wage subsidization? Supporting businesses through generous financial aid rather than tax cuts? Fortifying the social safety net? Defending Canada’s labour movement? Giving workers a say in corporate governance?
It seems that the Conservatives have enthusiastically invaded the NDP’S turf.
Yet, unlike leftist approaches, reform conservatism is focused on providing equality of opportunity, rather than equality of outcome — ensuring that hard work and personal responsibility remain key factors for success. Relatedly, it does not vilify the wealthy, since wealth-generation is still attributed to personal virtue, and while it believes that government interventions can be constructive, it is nonetheless attentive to fiscal discipline and individual freedoms.
The conservative embrace of labour unions and social spending is based on the belief that everyone who wants to move upward through hard work should be given a fair opportunity to do so — and this lionization of hard work remains a conservative value.
But why would working class voters think that conservatives can be better friends to them than socialists? It boils down to the uneasy dynamics that underpins contemporary progressive politics, which, broadly speaking, is an alliance between: the working class — often marginalized, earthy and pragmatic — and champagne socialists — often privileged, idealistic and grandiose.
Over the past two decades, growth in the knowledge economy has boosted the influence of the latter, aligning progressive politics with economic and cultural privilege. This trend is epitomized by the ascendance of “bourgeois bohemians” or “Bobos” (a term recently popularized by David Brooks in The Atlantic), who are the kind of people who advocate for the working class but would be mortified visiting a trailer park — aka: they want to be society’s saviours but condescend to people unfamiliar with their elite culture (i.e. post-industrial lofts, pretentious gastronomy, spicy Twitter essays).
In response, many working class voters have migrated to conservative circles where they feel culturally respected — with Trumpism being a messy example of that.
Conservative politicians have traditionally embraced these voters through pugilistic anti-elite rhetoric that, while emotionally satisfying, offers few actual solutions to working class woes. Trump’s failure to improve the rust belt’s economic conditions comes to mind, as does Maxime Bernier’s angry politicking.
In this context, the Conservative platform seems to treat the pandemic as an opportunity to more constructively pivot Canadian conservatism towards the working class — capturing disadvantaged voters who feel alienated by progressive elitism.
Should this reorientation succeed, an important question will be whether the Conservatives can fully reconcile their pro-business and pro-labour wings. How do you navigate between competing forces that disagree on the size and role of government?
Maintaining peace between these two factions would likely be doable in the short term, when higher spending is justified by the pandemic. Unlike the NDP, though, the Conservatives at least recognize that spending needs to be reigned in, but what would happen when cuts pit business against labour? It’s an interesting thing to think about, but likely too speculative at this point.
When Conservative Leader Erin O’toole first declared he was betting on union support last fall many were surprised, while others were skeptical. Yet, of all the political shifts created by the pandemic, the rise of a prolabour Conservative party is in some ways not very surprising at all.