The Conservative Party of Canada Policy Declaration is an Anti-Worker Manifesto

A review by Gary Porter

Recently I came across the Conservative Party of Canada’s Policy Declaration as updated by its membership in September 2023. This appears to be the collective view of a broad layer of Tory activists.

Pierre Pollievre's face appears frequently on every medium to tell anyone who will listen how hard he is fighting for all Canadians and especially for the interests of workers. Carefully reading this small 65 page book makes it clear that Pollievre is blatantly lying.

I cannot, in this article, cover all of the Tories’ assertions, but let’s look at some of them. Text from the Tory pamphlet is in italics.

Early in the Declaration, it covers basic principles. Here are some examples:

A belief in loyalty to a sovereign and united Canada governed in accordance with the Constitution of Canada, the supremacy of democratic parliamentary institutions and the rule of law.

In other words, the Tories accept the governing system established by the settler colonist British capitalists. What a surprise.

A belief that the best guarantors of the prosperity and well-being of the People of Canada are:

·      the freedom of individual Canadians to pursue their enlightened and legitimate self-interest within a free competitive economy;

The Tories quickly dispel any recognition of collective interest. For them, common, collective and social interest, such as good education and healthcare or building an alternative green energy grid, do not come first, or even second. They do not appear at all.

·      the freedom of individual Canadians to enjoy the fruits of their labour to the greatest possible extent;

The Tories are concerned that freedom is not interpreted as freedom from hunger, illness or homelessness. No—they are concerned that individuals enjoy the fruits of their labour. Really? But all the products and services you and I create with our labour are seized and sold by the boss. Do they want our labour returned to us? Absolutely not. The word “individuals”, to Tories, means bosses. The phrase should be written, the freedom of individual bosses to enjoy the fruits of our labour to the greatest possible extent;

·       the right to own property.

For a party completely dedicated to the capitalist system and the private profit of the 1%, this is mandatory.

·       a belief that a responsible government must be fiscally prudent and should be limited to those responsibilities which cannot be discharged reasonably by the individual or others.

Here we have the credo of neoliberal austerity, the advocacy of low budgets and the reduction of social programs such as childcare and pharmacare.

·      a belief that it is the responsibility of individuals to provide for themselves, their families and their dependents, while recognizing that government must respond to those who require assistance and compassion

This speaks for itself. Do not rely on government. Look after yourself. While they may indicate that those in real need should receive assistance, they are cutting back Medicare, education and climate change programs in provinces run by Tories and leaving desperate people on the streets. We have won some rights and important social benefits by fighting collectively over many, many years against both the Tories and their capitalist Liberal Party colleagues.

16. Property Rights

The Conservative Party believes the government should seek the agreement of the provinces to amend the Constitution to include property rights, as well as guarantee that no persons shall be deprived of their just right without the due process of law and full, just, and timely compensation.

Here we have a new way to defend the private property of the rich. Let’s put their mostly inherited ownership of the productive wealth of Canada right into the Constitution. Of course, apart from possibly a home, heavily mortgaged to the bank, we do not own anything. So this is not for workers at all but for the rich.

17. Rights of Workers

The Conservative Party of Canada:

I. supports the right of workers to organize democratically, to bargain collectively and to peacefully withdraw and withhold services while:

a. respecting the law,

b. respecting the right of other workers, without sanction, not to participate should they so choose, and

c. respecting private property;

The Tories claim to support the right for workers to strike, but they also support the “right” of scabs to cross the picket line. So they do not in fact support the right to strike.

ii. believes that Government should work with unions and employers in areas of Federal jurisdiction to develop dispute settlement mechanisms and encourage their use to avoid or minimize disruption to services to Canadians;

iii. supports the right of union workers to a secret ballot in any strike vote and in all union elections;

Votes on Boards of Directors of boss corporations to lock out workers or hire scabs are not taken by secret ballot. How workers choose to operate is nobody’s business but their own. Once again, this is anti-labour.

iv. supports right to work legislation to allow optional union membership including student unions;

This is the anti-union system used in the southern states in the US to fight unions and fight the democratic principle of majority rule.

v. supports the requirement that unions be subject to full, transparent annual financial reporting so long as they enjoy a not-for-profit status and receive public support in the form of tax deductibility of union dues;

Why not also open corporate books to the public as long as corporate bosses can deduct their expensive lunches and beverages from their taxes?

vi. believes that the federal government must act to ensure that members of unions under federal jurisdiction have control over the use of the funds collected in the form of mandatory dues. The federal government should legislate the following:

a.   federal Public Service unions and unions in federally-regulated industries must explicitly detail on an annual basis for their membership the portion of their budget allocated to political donations, donations to media organizations, and to political activism and campaigns;

Five words: Mind Your Own Damn Business.

b.   federal Public Service Unions and unions in federally-regulated industries must allow members to opt out of the portion of their dues that are allocated to the activities in above.

vii. We believe that mandatory union membership and forced financial contributions as a condition of employment limit the economic freedom of Canadians and stifle economic growth.

Such measures would never be applied to businesses. It is a transparent attempt to block unions by majority vote to form alliances, organize in their own interests politically and state their views on key issues publicly. The entire Tory approach to unions is suppression. Once again, decisively anti-worker!

18. Free Speech

The Conservative Party recognizes that open dialogue is the basis of any democratic society. For this reason, the Conservative Party supports freedom of speech for all Canadians. The Conservative Party will promote policies and legislation designed to protect freedom of expression (speech) in the public square, including media and internet platforms in accordance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We will safeguard Canadians’ Rights to create and access content on the internet without government sanctioned censorship and nullify unconstitutional restrictions.

But the Tories’ actions repeatedly demonstrate that they have no problem, as their actions repeatedly demonstrate, suppressing the speech of the Palestinians and their allies, trans people or union members. They do not, in fact, support free speech

19. Protecting Free Speech on Canadian Campuses

The Conservative Party of Canada will incentivize federal funding to Canadian universities that have implemented Chicago Principles. Such a mandate would mean schools must abide by and protect freedom of expression as it is described in the Charter. Failure to protect free expression would result in losing federal funding.

Now we see what they mean by “free speech”. On many campuses, students have adopted the principle “No Platform for fascists, racists or sexists”, and I agree with their right to do that. Why should we be forced to admit those who advocate the ridicule and oppression of some of us or lose government funding for our schools for not allowing it? You can be sure that no university loses funding for banning a Palestinian or an Indigenous rights advocate. Here we can begin to see the natural alliance between the Tories, the Nazis and the Proud Boys. Picture Pollievre in an SS uniform—it is a more honest look.

20. Unfair Hiring Practices

A Conservative government will restore merit in Canada’s innovation by directing hiring practices associated with federal research funding away from ideology and instead emphasizing first and foremost, supporting and retaining Canada’s research talent, irrespective of personal immutable characteristics.

The Tories are completely opposed to any attempt to redress years of oppression against various groups in our society, or any attempt for schools or workplaces to attempt any representative student body or workforce. They certainly do not oppose the over-representation of the wealthy or advantaged.

21. Defending Canada from Foreign Interference

The Conservative Party of Canada will uphold and defend Canada’s sovereignty and democracy by supporting robust measures to counter foreign interference in our elections, democratic institutions, and with Canadian Citizens.

The Tories are not referring to the massive influence of radical Zionist organizations who constantly seek to win and hold the support of politicians as they occupy, brutally oppress and murder the Palestinian people. They are not referring to the endless flood of American propaganda. They are, however, referring to the alleged and unproven allegations against China as part of the mounting American-led cold war against the Chinese workers’ state. The Chinese are defeating the US and the West in open and fair economic competition. The American response is to attempt to throttle China, to hold it down and to hold back the success of the Chinese people. It is immoral.

22. Protecting Workers: Those in Unions, Public Sector, or in

Self-Regulated Trades or Professions

The Conservative Party does not support forced political, cultural, or ideological training of any kind as a pre-condition of employment or practice. Those employed in the public sector, unions or self-regulated trades/professions should not be forced to make affirmations, or participate in ideological programs, as a condition of employment or practice

What are the Tories talking about? I doubt they are talking about pledges of allegiance to the capitalist state or expressing support for Canadian troops enforcing capitalist exploitation in faraway places. No—they are talking about the education of workers and students against sexism, racism and violence arising out of decadent capitalist society in the workplace and on campus.

28. Tax Relief

The Conservative Party supports both immediate and long-term broad-based tax relief. Reducing personal income taxes is a priority for the Conservative Party because it increases take home pay and raises the living standard of all Canadians.

We encourage the government to continue the process of reducing business taxes. Reducing business taxes encourages both foreign and domestic businesses to invest in Canada, meaning more and better jobs for Canadian workers. Lower business taxes mean more jobs as well as greater returns for pension plan members and those who own RRSPs, mutual funds and common shares.

This argument that more investment means more and better jobs is clearly not true. If corporate thieves invest in other countries, we will have no jobs. If they invest in the secondary stock market, mortgages, hedge funds, etc., we will have no jobs. In fact, it would almost be an accident if jobs were created. Let the rich pay their taxes. In fact, let them pay way more taxes. Let workers earn $100,000 tax-free to pay the bills.

We believe that government should reduce capital gains tax and eliminate tax on capital gains that are reinvested. Lower capital gains taxes encourage saving and investment which means more capital for Canadian businesses, more jobs for Canadian workers and bigger returns for Canadian investors. Therefore, we support new measures in which the lifetime capital gains exemption for small business owners, farmers, wood-lot operators, and fishermen were increased.

Of course the Tories want to cut capital gains tax. Who has capital gains? Me? You? The rich make capital gains when they get paid out on the shares of a business. They should pay the income tax rate.

Were believe that payroll taxes should not exceed the amount necessary to properly fund Employment Insurance because unnecessarily high payroll taxes are a tax on job creation. Lower payroll taxes encourage hiring and business expansion.

Canada’s tax system must be built on a foundation of fairness. In this regard, we encourage the government to continue to close loopholes such as the use of offshore tax havens which erode the Canadian tax base and allow companies to avoid paying Canadian taxes. The Conservative Party supports the concept that all taxation must be fair and be reasonable. The government should work to eliminate instances of taxation on taxation.

We encourage the Conservative Party to move to a less progressive tax system by reducing the number of personal income tax brackets.

Honest to god, the Tories call for a less progressive tax system. They want higher incomes taxed at lower rates. Note that all of their tax proposals are for the capitalists and their highly paid vassals. Definitely anti-worker.

The Conservative Party is committed to bring public sector pensions in-line with Canadian norms by switching to a defined contribution pension model, which includes employer contributions comparable to the private sector.

This measure tells us the Tories intend to cut pensions for all federal public sector workers. This is to be done by removing a guaranteed pension benefit and making the benefit market-based. If the market declines, defined benefits require extra payments to guarantee the benefits promised. Defined conntributions do not. In addition, the contributions by employers, in the Tory view, should be reduced to the levels paid by private capitalists. Very anti-worker, very pro boss.

The Conservative Party supports specifically anti-China policies, such as kicking China out of the World Trade Organization.

They support NATO, AUKUS and QUAD, all aggressive imperialist alliances.

Of course, in foreign affairs, the Tories full-throatedly support Canadian imperialist companies ravaging the resources in the Global South. Our mining companies, among the biggest in the world, are notorious in these countries for dirt-cheap wages, refusing to pay even the dismally low taxes and royalties they have agreed to pay, helping to overthrow democratic governments who demand a fair deal and supporting alliances such as NATO that exist to support Canada and all the other Western vultures.

Finally, the Tories support the Israeli genocide without reserve, and they support the US-led cold war against the Chinese workers’ state, agreeing to the illegal sanctions, blockades, military threats and outright lies and propaganda used because China’s largely state-owned major industries and central economic planning are beating the pants off global privately owned imperialists. But China is not threatening us—the bosses are.

The Tories are a firmly capitalist and anti-labour political party, as they always have been. Do not be fooled by Pierre Pollievre’s lies. He is a capitalist snake.

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