The 2025 federal election demonstrates the failings our electoral institutions from a democratic perspective. But here it is important to remember they were never created or kept in place with democratic objectives in mind. Canada’s voting system is a pre-democratic hold-over and it remains in use because it serves those that benefit from it.

In the 1960s, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress forged a bond and came together to form a new political party—the NDP. Both organizations need to rediscover that fighting spirit to become a political force once again. Otherwise, they will wither and fade into irrelevance and oblivion.

The Online News Act has proved to be the biggest media disaster since Canada’s ill-fated experiment with the convergence of newspaper and television ownership at the millennium, which media owners also lobbied for. Whichever party wins today should repeal it in favour of more well-considered remedies to our growing media problems.

There is no more utility in technocratic fixes. We need to lower housing prices and address the knock-on effect falling home values will have on older Canadians. We must restore housing affordability while simultaneously improving our public pension and elder care systems. Every Canadian deserves both an affordable home and a dignified retirement.

Whether Ben Carr likes it or not, the Communist Party of Canada will remain in this struggle for more popular democracy, as we have unflaggingly for generations. No aspersions can revise that record, and no bubble can keep us from wielding these freedoms we are proud to defend.

Oil and gas executives, and the politicians who parrot their talking points, are looking out for corporate owners while using workers as cover. What workers actually need is a well-funded plan to help them transition from the oil and gas sector. This would allow Alberta to become less reliant on a single sector, which is in long-term decline.

Canadians have an opportunity in this election to demand that politicians sincerely commit to divesting from American imperial warfare. Rather than fixating on the merits and demerits of the F-35 and jobs, they should press political parties to affirm their commitment to international law and human rights—and demand they follow through.

The first book from The Breach’s new publishing arm Breach Books, The Poilievre Project: A Radical Blueprint for Corporate Rule, is a short but incisive analysis of Pierre Poilievre’s ideology. Martin Lukacs’ deep and methodical analysis yields a nuanced portrait of Poilievre as a more radical far-right break from the history of Canadian neoliberalism.

People in Canadian prisons are barred from using the internet or email, and printed materials are limited and hard to come by. Most prisons have a library, but access can be heavily restricted due to rolling lockdowns and bureaucratic obstacles. This lack of access to information creates significant barriers that extend far beyond an individual’s time in prison.

Despite Poilievre’s flagging popularity and disagreements within the Canadian right over his divisive style, the Conservative leader refuses to pivot from Trumpian politics. In fact, he is reinforcing his Trump-like image in the final days of the election, including by threatening crackdowns on Canadian universities to suppress criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.