In a true democracy, government policy generally reflects the will of the people and prioritizes the interests of the most vulnerable citizens. By that standard, the United States is no democracy at all. Indeed, we Canadians should stop describing and thinking of America as a “democracy.” Instead, we should acknowledge the reality of what our neighbour to the south has become.

Canada, like most of the Western (wealthy) world, is a self-styled “liberal democracy,” broadly considered the gold standard in global development. Liberal democracies are founded on a commitment to universal human rights and freedoms, values codified in international law. But in the last week in Canada, we have seen these liberal values rocked to their core.

Many people are ready for more democracy, for real democracy, not just for better electoral democratic practices. All political action, no matter how specific or local, should be coupled with demands for more direct decision-making power by the very people to be affected by a decision or practice. Economic democracy, democratization of public and private institutions, should be the focus of invigorated struggles.

Unbeknownst to most progressives, Canada is part of a secretive colonial and imperial alliance in Haiti known as the “Core Group”—made up of ambassadors from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the United States, France, and the European Union—that has deepened the country’s political crisis and pushed through elections denounced by independent observer missions as fraudulent.

Instead of playing the game by the Liberals’ rules, the NDP should be straight with its voters: get us to 40 seats and we’ll get you a fairer tax system, a green economy, and electoral reform on top of it all. What’s more, an NDP blocking minority would change Canadian politics for good, as it has the potential of transforming its political culture, making it more democratic and collaborative.

Joel Bakan’s new book, The New Corporation: How “Good” Corporations Are Bad for Democracy, looks at how unbridled self-interest victimizes individuals, society, and the living nature on which we all depend. The problem has only grown worse as governments have freed the corporation from legal constraints through deregulation and granted it ever greater authority over society through privatization.

It’s official: Avi Lewis is running for the NDP in the next federal election, which may well happen later this year. He secured the nomination for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country in late May, and has hit the ground running on his campaign. According to Christo Aivalis, Lewis has an opportunity to make a real impact on Canadian politics within the formal arena.

The first day of the 2021 NDP convention was an interesting one, to say the least, writes CD columnist Christo Aivalis. There was much to celebrate, but at the core, the process was deeply flawed, especially in that there was far too little time to discuss and debate the resolutions delegates worked so hard crafting and prioritizing.

For too many elections, the NDP’s membership has fought to assert a left wing vision for our country and world, only to see election platforms either ignore or dilute those principles. When the next election comes, the NDP must trust in its membership and trust in the progressive values of Canadians. We can built a better world, but we can’t start that work if our leaders are afraid of what we believe in.

If both the new far-right and the liberal centre crave symbols untouched by history, then an eye for the absurd is crucial in moments such as this. Faced with a vision of America invading itself, the time is ripe to consider the breakdown of an empire which has thwarted popular struggles for decades. Only alternatives to this state of decrepitude can ward off even crueller self-parodies.