The Harper government and the Canadian bourgeoisie’s embrace of social reaction and war

In the midst of the greatest crisis of international capitalism since the Great Depression, Canada’s Conservative government has pursued one overriding objective - ensuring the profitability and geo-political standing of Canadian capital.

Even as students and workers suffer from high unemployment and debt loads, the Harper government has through tax cuts and loan guarantees transferred huge amounts of wealth to Canada’s major banks and corporations. They have pledged to resolve the resulting budget deficit through austerity measures.

This attack on the working class will take the form of cuts to social services and public sector pay. Here at Queen’s and around Canada, students are bearing the economic pressures and will be forced to pay for the crisis at the expense of our education.

Even as a clear majority of the population rejects Canada’s participation in the neo-colonial NATO occupation of Afghanistan, the Harper government has extended the role of the Canadian Forces while defending and participating in the torture of both Afghani prisoners of war and Canadian citizens.

These assaults, on the wages and living standards of Canadian workers and students, on the people of Afghanistan, are expressions of the terminal contradictions of world capitalism. The Conservatives have but accelerated the policies inaugurated by the Liberal governments of Chrétien and Martin, relying on support by NDP and BQ. To oppose the Harper government’s reactionary program, students must break with parties of the pro-capitalist political establishment. To resolve this social crisis, students need a socialist program!