The polls are tightening up in Election 44 and we have a live one on our hands. With the Conservatives taking the lead, it’s anyone’s guess who will form government after election day, right? Well, not exactly. The problem is that the popular vote doesn’t really mean squat. It’s little more than a temperature check for the national mood and leaves Canadians in the dark about where we really stand in this election.

Choosing when is the right time to let go is hard. The decision becomes much easier when the pain and suffering outweigh the benefits of living. Over the last 14 months, we’ve seen an economy on life support—capitalism kept alive by injection after injection of public money. Are we ignoring the suffering it brings and simply keeping the system alive because we cannot imagine life without it? Is it time to let go?

The rich get richer. It is a notion that has come to be accepted in our society. But, when Canadians hear that the 44 richest have amassed an additional $78 billion to their net worth during the COVID-19 pandemic, the natural reaction is anger. The idea that just a few dozen people would add so many zeros to their banks accounts while so many Canadians are struggling is offensive.

In our tradition, we seek t’shuvah not only for ourselves, but also for the entirety of the Jewish people. It’s time. It’s time to admit the sins done against the Palestinian people and begin the long path of repentance. It’s time to listen to the voices demanding an end to violence and occupation that has been ever present throughout the entirety of our lives. It’s time to end this and vow: never again.

Fulfilling the promise of democracy is no small order. It is far easier to turn away from promises made on the campaign trail than to spend political capital delivering on pledges. Unfortunately for the Liberals and Conservatives, that is what the job demands and what Canadians expect. Obfuscation and outright lies simply won’t cut it. Can the NDP answer the call?

Wartime brings with it more than just death and carnage. In the difficult choices that must be made for the good of a country, it gives leaders a choice. They can continue being politicians, worrying about the next election, or they can seize the moment. Justin Trudeau has chosen the former, and Canadians are paying the price with their civil liberties and their lives. Now is the time to invoke the Emergencies Act.

Now is not the time for timidity. The NDP is ostensibly the only party willing to take on a Green New Deal and make it a part of its platform. Andrea Horwath and party insiders, however, are too afraid of the cries of populism from the Liberals and Tories to give the people what they are craving. Standing with the voters isn’t populism, it is how elections are won. And winning, well that’s good politics.

Poverty is the product of policy decisions. When elected officials give billions of dollars in handouts to multinational conglomerates or nearly a trillion dollars to the big banks in liquidity support, they are making choices of their own. They are saying that the one in five children living in poverty by no choice of their own in Canada are less important to them than shareholder profits.

The fabric of our society is dependent on some semblance of equity and the issue of wealth inequality has been the demise of monarchs and empires. A progressive wealth tax may be the only policy that can prevent Canadian society from completely unraveling. Is the danger of doing nothing to appease the tiny fraction of Canadians with extreme wealth who will be affected worth the risk? We cannot afford to find out.