The Economics of Austerity: How the USMCA is Disastrous for Windsor & All Canadian Workers

By J.G. Markham


On February 11th, 2020, the Windsor chapter of the Young Communist League - Ligue de la jeunesse communiste invited Communist Party of Canada - Parti communiste du Canada leader Liz Rowley to the University of Windsor Alumni Hall for a speaking event titled ‘The Economics of Austerity and the Politics of Militarism and Regime Change’. Rowley’s first point of discussion was talking about austerity, particularly the trade deal negotiated by the Liberal government known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and its effects on the manufacturing sector in Canada, which is deeply felt within the Windsor-Essex region.

Which way forward for the NDP?

People's Voice Editorial

The New Democratic Party's retreat towards "qualified support" for the Canada‑European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is raising serious concerns within the trade union movement, and rightly so. As OFL President Sid Ryan wrote recently, "this particular trade deal is being negotiated in secret and in the interest of multinational corporations. A number of affiliates have invested significant resources into campaigning against CETA and have been working alongside coalition partners to raise public concern."

The OFL President is not alone in his objections. Many trade unions and social justice movements - the backbone of the NDP's voter base across Canada - have campaigned hard to block CETA for years. The abject turnaround by Thomas Mulcair has shocked many of these organizations, which traditionally count on the NDP to represent their views on Parliament Hill.

Sadly, the NDP's change of course did not surprise observers who have followed its trajectory in recent years. Sensing a possible victory in the 2015 federal election, the party which claims to be the voice of "ordinary Canadians" is bending over backwards to reach out to big capital. This trend pre-dates Thomas Mulcair; recall Jack Layton's January 2009 speech to the Toronto Board of Trade urging workers to take pay cuts to save jobs, or his moves to water down the NDP's anti-war positions.

When labour activists gather at the Canadian Labour Congress conference this month, there should be no illusions about a Mulcair NDP government. Only massive pressure by trade unions and all people's movements can compel political parties to put people's needs ahead of corporate greed. Leaving the political struggle to the NDP caucus in Ottawa will not achieve this goal.

Stay classy, NAFTA

Canada has lost 500,000 manufacturing jobs – most of them in Ontario – over the past decade, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce economists noted in one of three reports by major banks this week on the devastation in the manufacturing sector. As a share of the Canadian economy, manufacturing slumped to 12 per cent from 20 per cent, while in the U.S. it held roughly steady at about 12 per cent of gross domestic product. In 2001, Canada had a $20-billion trade surplus in the Ontario-based automotive industry; that has been transformed to a $12-billion deficit. The energy sector, by contrast, has climbed to a $59-billion surplus in 2011 from $38-billion in 2001.


- Shawn McCarthy, Canada’s growing divide in riches, published in the Globe and Mail, March 3rd 2012